Post by oregonpachey on Nov 13, 2012 17:55:44 GMT -5
We are probably going to my aunt's this year which is awesome! However, we are being guilted into going to DH's grandmother's and I don't want to. We went last year and it wasn't very much fun. First off, we ate super late and DS was fussy. I was hugely pregnant and still had to stand on my feet and help in the kitchen because DH's two aunts couldn't be bothered.
We got the "Well your grandmother isn't going to be around forever" talk from MIL and I don't care. I haven't been to TG at my family's in years.
The food at my aunt's is a million times better, there is wine, and games after dinner. Oh, and turkey sandwiches.
I really don't get the no-booze families. I am sorry for y'all. In my family we start drinking with bloody marys in the morning and pretty much don't stop all day. Nobody gets wasted but nobody's quite sober either.
Post by Some Funny Name on Nov 13, 2012 18:31:23 GMT -5
I didn't read the rest of the post so maybe this has been covered, but:
I FUCKING HATE CHRISTMAS!!!! HATE. IT.
I dread it every year, do the absolute minimum that I can get away with, and am so fucking glad when it's over. HATE. IT. Do we have to do this every god damn year?
I really don't get the no-booze families. I am sorry for y'all. In my family we start drinking with bloody marys in the morning and pretty much don't stop all day. Nobody gets wasted but nobody's quite sober either.
I've never had a holiday with my family that involved booze, neither has DH. It's really not a big deal to any of us.
Post by iheartbanjos on Nov 13, 2012 18:52:34 GMT -5
DH and I don't live near family nor do most of our friends. We host Drunksgiving at our place and DH fries a few turkeys, we play yard games, and watch football. I should probably be sad that we aren't with family...but I'm not.
Post by aliceinfairyland on Nov 13, 2012 20:07:17 GMT -5
I'm hosting, but as usual I don't know if I'm hosting 7 or 25. It's a combined party with my ILs and my family. My family is embarrassing as hell, and my MIL helps and my mom tries to gossip about people I don't give a shit about. My mom and sister are planning to do a family photo on Thanksgiving. They have no one to take a photo, and my mom has decided that we have no suitable place to do outdoor photos, so she is going to drape my living room in white sheets. This is after she decided last year that only 2/3 of her kids who lived at home needed to be in the family photo, and that I should just go to her house without DH or DS to be in the family photos.
My mom is trying to create Christmas drama already. She may have to have surgery (but she doesnt know) and has stated that that she wont feel up to hosting or coming to my house. So idk wtf she wants me to do about it,
Post by Mrs.Beagle on Nov 13, 2012 20:07:59 GMT -5
My parents usually host Thanksgiving. They didn't do it last year due to my wedding, but they wanted to do it this year b/c it would be the last year in my childhood home.
My sister is finally close enough that she can come to Thanksgiving this year, and she insisted on having a "big family dinner" so we're going to our cousins. I love my extended family, but I was really looking forward to having dinner at my childhood home.
I really don't get the no-booze families. I am sorry for y'all. In my family we start drinking with bloody marys in the morning and pretty much don't stop all day. Nobody gets wasted but nobody's quite sober either.
Mine have booze, but with my side if you drink you can't drive home at all. So we have to stay sober to some degree since we have quite the drive home shortly after.
Drinking wasn't a big deal in my family growing up (my mom doesn't drink and my dad only drank cheap awful beer), but now that we are all grown up we drink a lot. Turns out my dad has alway loved a Bloody Mary, margarita, mimosa, sangria, red wine, white wine and good beer, but my mom held him back bc he didn't want to drink alone lolol. So now it's good times.
Except there is no booze at H's family bc they are all on the wagon more or less. So good for them, but damn it's boring.
Anyway, my ILs are a lot like V's - MIL is an okay cook and gets super stressed over entertaining, and their house is small so you can't get away, and throw in that H's brother and sister are total shits and yeah. My flameful is I want to spend every holiday with my family. My family is fun.h's family gets on my nerves.
I'm not a fan of most pies. I don't like the texture of cooked fruit or squash in that form.
Chocolate and banana pudding pies are the only ones I can stand. I can't handle the texture of pumpkin, sweet potato or fruit pies. Any of those things on their own is fine, but not in pie form.
Post by Doggy Mommy on Nov 13, 2012 21:53:47 GMT -5
MIL stopped cooking Thanksgiving dinner a couple years ago, and I am thrilled about it. For the last decade or so we have alternated years between my parent's house and mil and sfil's house. Dinner at MIL's is: turkey breast cooked within an inch of its life in the oven or a whole turkey cooked in a pan of water (basically, boiled turkey), gravy from a can, stuffing from a box, boiled green beans, and boiled potatoes. She seems to like boiling things. She refuses to let anyone help or bring anything, and then loses her dang mind getting it all done.
Last year, MIL wouldn't cook but didn't want us go to my mom's house (and they are never willing to go to my mom's house). I offered to cook. She said ok but only if I got a turkey from Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods. Fine. I made a *perfect* meal.... beautiful brined turkey, stuffing, rolls, roasted asparagus and carrots, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin cheesecake - and every last drop of it was homemade down to the homemade-from-scratch cornbread for the stuffing, and somehow I managed to time it all almost perfectly. Well it would have been perfect if they hadn't been so late!! I expected them to arrive about an hour before dinner for appetizers, but they showed up 45 minutes after I said dinner would be ready. The turkey got cold, the sides got cold or overcooked, and the rolls were in the oven too long and the bottoms got a bit burned. I'm still mad.
At my mom's house, the food is good but she's also crazy! She is super weird about what goes in what bowl and how the table is set and all kinds of stupid details. Last year I got yelled at for getting out dessert plates that were "the wrong size" by like 1/2 an inch. One of these days I'm going to make excuses to both sides of the family and just cook Thanksgiving dinner for DH, our dog, and I.
I don't think I could physically stand a holiday with my family without booze. I just don't like spending time with them, especially since it's been decided that it's cool for my 18 year old cousin to drink along with everyone else. Fucking classy.
Last Christmas I got exactly zero presents from anyone on that side of the family. Why am I getting up early on Christmas to go watch other people open presents? Petitioning to skip it this year.
This thread is making me really sad that we don't have family to celebrate the holidays with. It's just the four of us every year. I wish I had a big family and a packed house for the holidays. I'd even take the drama over being alone every year.
This thread is making me really sad that we don't have family to celebrate the holidays with. It's just the four of us every year. I wish I had a big family and a packed house for the holidays. I'd even take the drama over being alone every year.
I honestly am afraid this could be us someday as I am an only child so my moms family will eventually drift off I assume.
Still, four is a good number to actually be able to enjoy the day with. Sent from my SPH-D700 using proboards
This thread is making me really sad that we don't have family to celebrate the holidays with. It's just the four of us every year. I wish I had a big family and a packed house for the holidays. I'd even take the drama over being alone every year.
I honestly am afraid this could be us someday as I am an only child so my moms family will eventually drift off I assume.
Still, four is a good number to actually be able to enjoy the day with. Sent from my SPH-D700 using proboards
Well we do enjoy ourselves but its just DH, me and our 2 kids so it kind of feels like any other day, you know? Plus the kids don't care about the big meal or anything.
DH and I did Christmas just the two of us one year with no other family. I was bummed at first, but I made an awesome dinner with steaks, awesome sides and snacks, and a Martha Stewart carrot cake. Now I'm a little bummed when we have to spend time with family. I make up for it with the steak dinner on Christmas Eve. Last year we blew off family and did a double Friendsgiving with church friends early in the day and drinking friends in the evening. It was so great we're doing it again this year.
I sort of wish DH and I lived closer to his family. I love my ILs. I have to work on Thanksgiving day, so H is going out of town to be with his family. It was supposed to be their Thanksgiving anyway. He'll be back on Friday and we'll make our own Thanksgiving on Monday, but it just isn't the same when it's just the two of us.
We're spending Christmas with my mom and it's just going to be us and my sister. I like my mom, not so much my sister. But, again, I just feel like it's going to be boring. I'm not used to big family gatherings, but ever since having them with DH's family I feel like I've really missed out.
For the record, the food and booze is always excellent wherever we go, so at least there's that upside.
This thread is making me really sad that we don't have family to celebrate the holidays with. It's just the four of us every year. I wish I had a big family and a packed house for the holidays. I'd even take the drama over being alone every year.
For a long time after my maternal grandparents passed it was just the four of us and I loved it. Then when I met DH and thought a big family nearby could be awesome I realized nope just more cats to herd.
I love the times it's just us, my parents, FIL and my sister. So much better.
Post by MixedBerryJam on Nov 14, 2012 8:45:23 GMT -5
This is my first Thanksgiving since college (I'm 56) that I haven't cooked/hosted, since one of our regular attendees wants to do it this year. I pretty much do all the holiday meals for my family and am a bit nervous about being the guest. I'm bringing dessert, but don't know when to show up (2 might realy mean 2, but this family is always at least an hour late arriving, so I don't know if I should get there late (I am constitutionally incapable of tardiness). How long do I stay? What do I bring as a hostess gift? Too many unknowns. I do not like unknowns.
ETA: and here's another question ... I know this family doesn't make turkey soup with the leftovers. Would it be bad form to ask for it? As I understand it, Thanksgiving was declared a holiday so Americans would have an opportunity to make soup from the carcass at least once a year, and no reason other than that.
Unrelated:i'm sitting in a Dunkin donuts waiting for my car to be done, and a grown ass man, like retirement age, is wearing Axe. I can smell him from 2 tables away. Yuck.
This is my first Thanksgiving since college (I'm 56) that I haven't cooked/hosted, since one of our regular attendees wants to do it this year. I pretty much do all the holiday meals for my family and am a bit nervous about being the guest. I'm bringing dessert, but don't know when to show up (2 might realy mean 2, but this family is always at least an hour late arriving, so I don't know if I should get there late (I am constitutionally incapable of tardiness). How long do I stay? What do I bring as a hostess gift? Too many unknowns. I do not like unknowns.
ETA: and here's another question ... I know this family doesn't make turkey soup with the leftovers. Would it be bad form to ask for it? As I understand it, Thanksgiving was declared a holiday so Americans would have an opportunity to make soup from the carcass at least once a year, and no reason other than that.
Unrelated:i'm sitting in a Dunkin donuts waiting for my car to be done, and a grown ass man, like retirement age, is wearing Axe. I can smell him from 2 tables away. Yuck.
1. Is dinner at 2 or are they having people over for appetizers first at 2? If the latter, show up around 2:15 or 2:30. I hate tardiness too but you don't want to stress anyone out.
ETA: and here's another question ... I know this family doesn't make turkey soup with the leftovers. Would it be bad form to ask for it? As I understand it, Thanksgiving was declared a holiday so Americans would have an opportunity to make soup from the carcass at least once a year, and no reason other than that.
I'd only ask for the carcass if the host was someone I knew really well, and who knew about my obsession with making soup and stock from scratch. There are some folks that I would be comfortable asking this, but most of them also make their own stock.
It sounds like you don't know the host quite well enough to ask this without it being weird. Sad, yes. Maybe just buy a turkey when they go on sale just before Thanksgiving because the store wants to clear out stock, and cook it up later to make all the yummy stuff that needs leftover turkey and the carcass... That's what I'd do...
I don't have a flameful, but Swizzle's post made me think of something that pisses my mom off.
What say MM?
My sister always stays the night with her IL's (Xmas eve into the day). My mom doesn't understand why they have NEVER had a Xmas morning alone.
Weird or not weird?
Not weird, I've always stayed the night at my parents for Xmas eve. My extended family's tradition is Christmas Eve night and then we just stay at my parents (who host). It's been like that since DH and I were dating and he's cool with not having to drive the two hours home after a huge party.
My brothers however don't stay at my parents as they either stay at a hotel or go home.
My dad is being shitastic as usually about Thanksgiving. Every year same drama when it comes to who is hosting Thanksgiving. He always says that he has to support my stepmother whom is very immature and won't suck it up for the holidays because her inlaws (my dad's side of the family) dislike her and treats her bad. (I never have seen this personally) so she won't come to thanksgiving and apparently this means he won't come to Thanksgiving. I fucking don't care if he comes. I am spending Thanksgiving with my very elderly grandparents and I know they won't be around forever. He can either come or not come. That is on him.
I am so over it. I can't wait to see my Uncle D and my Auntie M. I am very close with them both. If my dad wants to be jerkface well more power to him.
My family is booze-tastic at the holidays. There's egg nog, wine, kegs of microbrew, a full bar, etc. On the other hand DH's family is the total opposite. All of the "kids" are now at least in college and only two years ago did they start sneaking in wine coolers (gross!).
I hate going to their holidays as it's all so creepy, they go around individually and each person opens their gifts and tells everyone what they received, down to the dollar amount. They also share commentary about which present they like the most and which they like the least. It feels so inorganic and everyone is just really passive aggressive. Plus the food is just not good.
At least DH isn't a fan of his family's holidays either?