Some Thoughts on Thanksgiving & Cooking

This is where I ramble on about Thanksgiving and Cooking....

After having hosted and cooked as many Thanksgiving dinners as I have(yes, I am older than dirt!), there isn't much novelty or thrill left in the task for me.  It's just become another big chore in the big list of chores I need to complete each year.
What I wouldn't give to be a kid again and have an older, more experienced cook in the family handling the Big Holiday Cookfest instead of me.

It use to be sort of fun years ago, planning and cooking for Thanksgiving, back when we were first setting up our household and traditions and when the children were younger.

As my enthusiasm waned a few years back, Hubby talked me into having the Holiday meal at a restaurant.  As I use to be a professional waitress at one time in my life, I really hated the thought of eating out on Thanksgiving.  I know that most of those servers would much rather be home with their families than working in the insanely stressful environment that Thanksgiving Day dining is for them.  Not only that but the amount a restaurant charges for a "special holiday meal" is alot more than you pay for a meal during a non-holiday day.  They use the holiday to pick your pocket a little more.  Plus the food is generally not up to par as their usual dining fare, the ambience of the place is sub par as well, and the owners try to cram more diners into the space and are anxious to get you out as soon as possible so they don't lose a single customer. This also holds true for the other big special eating-out holdiays like Easter, Mother's Day and Christmas(if the place is open for that one).  Holiday meals are the cash cow of restaurant owners.  But I digress.....

The Thanksgiving out was a nice change for 1 year(not having to cook or deal with leftovers) but not something I want to do again.

When #2 son was a bit younger, he had a burning passion for cooking and wanted to be a chef.  Those couple of years that flame burned, I had a ready helpmate in the kitchen for the Thanksgiving meal prep.  A little cooking, a little instruction(not much though, after all, this was crunch time!) and a little bonding.
Ok...a little stressing out too and raised voices when things didn't go well.lol
What did #2 son take away from those holidays in the kitchen?
He can cook enough to feed himself if he ever has to, unlike #1 son, who at 18 yr. of age, STILL needs refresher instruction to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
And #2 son can whip up some awesome real mashed potatoes!

Last year at Thanksgiving, I truly hit the cooking wall.  I don't even recall what I served and I am sure it was thrown on the table without a thought on my part.
The guests shoveled the food in without a word.
Two of my teens(or preteens)ate small portions and quickly left the table to retire into their bedrooms again.
#1 son was in training for wrestling season so I don't even think he ate a full plate.  In years past, #1 son would have been mistaken for a professional Competitive Eater in training at the Thanksgiving table.  I was left with tons of leftover food to deal with in a house full of people who don't necessarily like leftovers.  Even sending the guests home with full plates of leftovers didn't make much room in my fridge.

So this year I am trying to make peace with the Holiday and my approach to it by making some changes to our celebration of the day.
We still will NOT be going out for dinner.  I won't do that.
We are having guests again, like every year, but daughter will be working at her restaurant job and won't be eating with us.  #1 son isn't coming home for the holiday either, so it will just be 5 of us including the company.  I refuse to make a ton of food this year!  The 3 dogs are sad to hear this....

I have been waffling about even making Turkey this year.  I am NOT a big fan and it's hard to do the turkey thing and not have leftovers, even if you do just a breast.  I had bought a small boneless leg of lamb last month and was going to make that instead of poultry.
But I got a great deal on turkey at Price Chopper on Saturday, so it's a fowl meal again this year.  Albeit, a small turkey at barely 14 lbs.  I purposely chose the smallest one they had.

I considered cooking the bird ahead and just reheating/serving it already cut up.  This would take some of the pressure off of Thanksgiving morning but I really don't care for the smell of reheated turkey.  Maybe it's me but turkey has this odor that I can hardly bare.  As it ages, it smells gamier to me.
So freshly cooked bird thursday morning it will be.

While Thanksgiving is all about tradition and traditional foods, I've decided that you don't have to make ALL of them.  Growing up, Turkey day always included my Aunt Ollie's homemade Potato Rolls, Rutabagas(Turnips to you Northerners), Sweet Potato Casserole, Pumpkin and Pecan Pies. The rolls were a 2 day production alone and were started the day before when the pies & stuffing were made. 
I will be paring down the amount of food I cook this year so the rolls will have to wait until Christmas(IF I do them then), the Rutabaga will not be happening(hubby is the only one who eats this & you can't make just a little rutabaga) & 1 kind of pie has to go....the pumpkin wins, hands down.
I have store bought rolls is someone feels they really need them.

Wednesday will be stuffing and pumpkin pie making day.  We are divided in this family on the proper way to prepare Sweet Potatoes.
Growing up it was the nauseatingly sweet Casserole with the marshmallows(more calories than the pie!). I started making a more grown-up version of the casserole when we started our own family traditions.  It involves sliced sweet potatoes(not mashed), butter, brown sugar & maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and chopped pecans.  Not a marshmallow in sight!lol  It's still sweet but not requiring an insulin shot to eat it. 
My yankee hubby grew up eating sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving prepares as you would a baked potato....just roasted in the oven, served with salt, pepper and butter.  The kids have taken to eating them this way but without the salt and pepper and the addition of a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon.
So I've had to fix 2 versions of sweet potato every Thanksgiving dinner.

Our usual Thanskgiving meal use to include....
Turkey
Stuffing with sausage(sometimes with nuts)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes-2 verions
Rutabaga
Potato Rolls
Green Beans
Carrots
Cranberry Sauce
Gravy
Beets(in the last few years)
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie(sometimes)

This Year's Menu....
Turkey
Stuffing
Sweet Potato 2 Versions
Vegetable Melange(Carrots/Broccoli/Cauliflower)
Cranberry Sauce
Gravy-might do an Au Jus instead to lighten it up on the calories
Pumpkin Pie
Store bought Rolls if needed

I'll put more of an effort into the Table Setting instead of into churning out too much food.

And hopefully, I'll keep more of my sanity this year....

So what are your traditions at Thanksgiving?
Do you have any Must Have Dishes?

Sluggy