The Thanksgiving Mega Thread

Yes, I realize it's still September, but I adore Thanksgiving.  The cooking, the smells, the friends.  And this year- some of my family's coming over.  I'm psyched. 

This year it'll be my largest- 17.  Serving:
Turkey- overall 24 lbs (11kg)
Whole Turkey- 9 kg (20lbs)
Turkey Crown 2 kg (4lbs)
Gravy
Stuffing (2 large uncut loaves worth)
Mashed Potatoes- 6 lbs (2.7kg)
Candied Sweet Potatoes- 8 lbs (3.6kg)
Corn Casserole w/dumplings (4cups corn)
Green Beans- 6 lbs (2.7kg)
Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin Cake
Apple Crumble
Pear Cheesecake

I think that'll be enough- they're pretty big eaters.  Any suggestions for amounts?  I'm paranoid that I'll run out of food.  Did I mention they're big eaters. 

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?

I haven't really done thanksgiving for the last two years (when I haven't been at my parents house) but that menu sounds delicious!  If I did attempt thanksgiving this year, the menu would be pretty traditional:

ham/turkey
cranberry sauce
stuffing
potato salad
green bean casserole
candied yams (the same recipe my family has used for years, of course!)
pumpkin pie

Simple, but I don't think I could handle anything more complicated than that!

Sounds good!

I'm not 100% sure what we're doing yet. I'd like to have people here but our house is quite small. We'll do something though.

Our menu is similar to yours. Green bean casserole though, and usually a fresh salad. I top our sweet potatoes with a coconut-pecan topping. And I have a fresh cranberry and apple salad in addition to the cranberry sauce.

Gotta have apple pie, too!

I can't wait!  I'm already thinking about Christmas.     This weekend was a big Hindu holiday so I'm in the celebrating mood.

We'll probably do some sort of vegetable stew, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, cranberry sauce, squash, bread.  Homemade pies of course too!

This will be my first Thanksgiving away from home and I'm really sad about it.

I'll miss my family and the extreme shopping the day after!

I haven't decided if I'll do anything yet, but may have a nice Thanksgiving-ish dinner the Saturday after.

I have a black tie dinner birthday on the 24th and I have offered to make a Thanksgiving type meal.

I'll be at my brother's in Atlanta.  He didn't seem terribly fussed over what we might be having for Thanksgiving dinner & wasn't even sure if they would cook turkey or anything special.  I really like this brother, but now I'm wondering why I made any special arrangements to go back specifically for this holiday -- because my original idea was 'Oh boy! A real traditional Thanksgiving in the US.' 

I guess you really can't go home again.  Still I am hoping that he & SIL come through & end up making it nice.

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?

Nothing... i don't celebrate it.
I've never in my life cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner, and i'm not about to start now at my ripe old age!

More power to those of you who are keen to do it, though! 

I just started thinking about this today!  I'm toying with the idea of an open house, because all of our new friends have kids and I'm not sure how to manage a sit down meal with 2 and 3 year olds. 

Dh & I will be back in the States with my family this year for Thanksgiving yeah.       Dh & I celebrated our first Thanksgiving last year here in the UK with my American friend & her Dh we had a nice time. Hope everyone else has a great Thanksgiving this year that celebrates Thanksgiving. 

I'm thinking about inviting some people over. Figuring out the logistics given my teeny oven and lack of baking/serving dishes is going to be tricky, though. I usually make crepes with a vegetable and goat cheese filling, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veg (most often corn and some sort of green bean dish), homemade cranberry sauce and cran-orange relish, homemade rolls, and pumpkin cheesecake with real whipped cream. Yeah, I'm a crazy Thanksgiving overachiever! But the only absolutely necessary bit is the cran-orange relish. I could eat nothing else and be happy. 

Regardless, it's bound to be better than last year. We'd been in the UK less than a week, and we spent Thanksgiving afternoon standing in a wretched street in the frigid wind waiting for an estate agent who never showed up. That day I was about ready to give up and go home.

I will be spending it back in the US with my family this year. My mama is cooking for everyone!    It's been about seven years since all of my brothers and sisters were together and since we are coming with the kids, all of the others have agreed to come as well. I can't wait! 

I am going home to be waited on by my family!
On Thanksgiving day, we go to relatives and on the Friday, we have a big dinner at home, with guests, which is really Thanksgiving dinner Part 2.
One year I made a fabulous sweet potato bread. I am not a big fan of sweet potatoes at all but it was delicious but I cant remember where I found the recipe.
With Thanksgiving the possibilities are endless really, but you must serve the ubiquitous turkey.
Homemade cranberry sauce rules. My family make fun of me because I insist on making it. They say its a 'heartland' dish so maybe they are being silly city snobs 

I'll be at my brother's in Atlanta.

We'll be at my brother's in Atlanta for Thanksgiving too!  Maybe we'll be on the same flight.   :)I'm just assuming I will be helping with some of the planning, shopping, and cooking.  We've done "joint effort" T-giving dinner for years.  Maybe you could get in on some of the planning with your sister-in-law?

We'll be at my brother's in Atlanta for Thanksgiving too!  Maybe we'll be on the same flight.   :)I'm just assuming I will be helping with some of the planning, shopping, and cooking.  We've done "joint effort" T-giving dinner for years.  Maybe you could get in on some of the planning with your sister-in-law?

Might do.  We're flying to Kansas the Saturday before (to see my mom), and then we're not actually flying into Atlanta until Thanksgiving Day (morning).  I have no idea what they're doing --  his schedule is so erratic, he's a pilot.