The holidays are approaching…hell, they are on my doorstep, and I’m not sure what to do with them this year.
Thanksgiving is next week and for the first time ever I won’t be with a large group of family or semi-family to celebrate. When we lived in the states we spent Thanksgiving with my family or my husband’s family. I don’t think there were ever less than 12 people at any of our gatherings. When we lived overseas Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. We never had blood relatives in town, but there were people who we considered family there to celebrate with us. The kids usually had school that day so we planned to eat after they got home. The adults would gather in the morning and go bowling. Usually there was a baby or two to pass around as well. There might be a few toddlers that had to have a turn rolling the ball, but it was tradition. After bowling we would head back to the house hosting that year to finish cooking. Most years our house hosted. We had room, and I wasn’t the type that panicked when the hordes came over. In fact I loved having people over. I looked through recipe books and magazines to see what interesting things I could add to the normal Thanksgiving day fare for weeks ahead of time. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of fun. Our group grew to be so large that we eventually had to divide into two houses for dinner. After dinner one group would drive to the other’s place for dessert. It was always a great time. In 2006 I was in the states with family for Thanksgiving, and I really missed the celebration I knew I was missing in Turkey. Last year I had been back in the states for 4 days when Thanksgiving rolled around. Between my own jetlag and dealing with 4 kids with jetlag I really don’t even remember much about the holiday.
This year…well…this year is different. My kids will be with their dad at his parents’ house for Thanksgiving. Since my siblings and their families were at my parents’ for Thanksgiving last year they will be with their spouses’ families this year. My parents are going to be out of town for the holiday. That leaves me. What will I do?
I’ve been talking to Fleur de lis about all of it. She doesn’t have any close relatives so her Thanksgiving celebrations haven’t been traditional. Some years she worked, some years she celebrated with friends, and some years she ate bologna sandwiches sitting in front of her TV. This year she is spending Thanksgiving with me. We’ve talked about what we want to do about food. She suggested bologna sandwiches which just about made me gag. I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without turkey, cornbread dressing, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, and homemade rolls. But I can’t imagine cooking all of that for just the two of us either.
Midlife Natalie 
Maybe get just a turkey breast (they sell smaller ones with the skin and bones just without the other parts) or a rotisserie chicken and roast it the same way? One year my ex roasted a turkey breast and it was delicious! Or you could always opt for a small ham. You can still make all the sides, just smaller amounts.
Or just make the traditional huge dinner and freeze what you dont eat? That way you’ll have little bits of Thanksgiving to eat in the coming weeks! 🙂
There are always restaurants that do a Thanksgiving meal on T-day too. You might want to look into that. That way you can have all the goodies without the mess and huge expense.
I think it’s good that your T-day will be low key this year. You’ve had a lot on your plate and a nice quiet holiday might be really rewarding and memorable and allow you to truly reflect an all of the things that you are thankful for.
I hope that it’s great, whatever you plan to do. 🙂
OK, so I just saw you had a different blog and came over here to do some catching up and clearly I have been out of the loop for awhile. I just read back a few posts and I still don’t know exactly what’s going on. I’ll read some more, but….what’s going on?????
I endorse Jess’s comment wholeheartedly. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and perhaps some sashimi. New traditions need love, too.
do it up. cook you and fleur de lis a fabulous feast and enjoy it.
my ex and i always made a giant spread with all of our favorites. we’d keep a small portion of the leftovers and then divi up the rest and drive around passing them out to homeless people. don’t forget to give them pie, tho!
If you can’t imagine Thanksgiving without traditional food, make it. Cooking itself is an act of love. For your new love, of course, but also for you. It’s let’s you know that you matter.
I agree that you should go ahead and do a big celebration…just the two of you. You should make this first one special.
I was all alone on T-G. It was great. I went and got decadent favorites – none of which I had to cook – and dabbled in food delights all day.