Sort of O/T: Thanksgiving plans

[Anthonynotes]

While working at my illustrious $6.25/hr dept. store job tonight (TJ Maxx, if anyone cares), a store promo running over the P.A./music system reminded me of that Thanksgiving fanfic thing I've been working on: the announcer tells us that "even though it might be Thanksgiving Day, be sure to have your holiday gift list ready for the day *after* Thanksgiving, for the great bargains at TJ Maxx. Get a jump on your holiday shopping, etc. etc." At least the store had the decency (for once) to actually *close* for Thanksgiving Day itself, leaving me with trying to plan what to do for Turkey Day.....which will likely consist of me making my own Thanksgiving dinner for myself (I live alone, and don't think it's worth the 3-hour trip to my mother's/a friend of mine who lives *near* my mother's for eating turkey and sweet potato pie). Was thinking strongly of actually making turkey and a few other "traditional" (for me) Thanksgiving items, instead of, um, tacos like last year. Accompanied with the TV set on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and duplicating the cable-TV experience perhaps by...playing a few Christmas specials (which seem to start running on Thanksgiving Day itself on the Turner networks/etc.). Admittedly kind of wanted to see "A Flintstone Christmas Carol" again (among the others I have on tape)...

What are others' plans for Turkey Day (or non-plans, for the Canadians here who've already celebrated the holiday)?

-B.

[Sharklady]

I'm going to make pumpkin pies from my former jack-o-lanterns, and donate some of them to the local homeless shelter. I'll devour the rest of 'em, as will my parents, my brother's family, and any other siblings who make it home this year.

If previous Thanksgivings are any indicator, I'll probably also end up assembling the raw-vegetable plate.

[Narfpinky]

Originally posted by Brainatra
At least the store had the decency (for once) to actually *close* for Thanksgiving Day itself...

It's nice to know that a store that's part of a major chain will actually be closed for a holiday that doesn't have to be Christmas. Hard to believe there was a time that most stores were closed on nearly all major holidays. Nothing is more irritating to hear "Buy this sofa-sleeper at our Thanksgiving Day sale". I really wonder how much money places make by staying open on holidays (or, should I say, lose, NARF!)

Well, enough of that...

I'll be having Thanksgiving with Mom & Dad, my Brothers, and my Aunt and Uncle.

Narfpinky

[Captain Caps]

My mom's brother Eddie, his wife and my Aunt Gail, and my cousins Erica and Ashley (upper-class names, I say...then again, they do live in Port Chester, New York, part of the upper-class Westchester County) will be coming to our house for Thanksgiving instead of us going to them. I'm trying to convince Mom to get some lasagna to serve alongside the turkey and all that, and she's agreed, but she hasn't done anything yet.

God, I can't believe that next week is the start of the holiday season. It's going by too fast, I tell you.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff

[Danielle]

We eat turkey. Say what we're thankful for. Get a day off from school. Finis. We usually don't invite anyone over; that kind of thing is for the "big holidays". (And meanwhile, I just finished reading a certain Thanksgiving fanfic which goes completely against that...but that's what we do.

[The Mad Hatter]

Yikes, Brainatra's story reminds me of the Thanksgiving I was stuck at college being the desk worker for a dorm, almost a thousand miles from friends and family... Thanksgiving Dinner was courtesy the International House of Pancakes.

But this year, I'll probably wander over to my parent's place, eat too much, then wander back to my apartment and take a nap.

[LightAngel]

I shall be heading over to my grandparent's house, where I'll be eating all the cheesecake! Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for Jell-O Cheesecake!!!!

[Danielle]

Originally posted by LightAngel
I shall be heading over to my grandparent's house, where I'll be eating all the cheesecake! Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for Jell-O Cheesecake!!!!

Yuck. Cheesecake. >-P Deeeesgusting!

[Joe Tully]

Going to Grannie's for cheesecake, huh? No surprise, given this picture I found of you on the web. Just type in Light Angel at any search engine and you'll get results.

[The Mad Hatter]

Yuck. Cheesecake. >-P Deeeesgusting!

Noooooo!! Not the cheesecake debate again!

[Narfpinky]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
Noooooo!! Not the cheesecake debate again!

There was one, poit?

Was there ever a stuffing instead of potatoes debate?


Anyway, Cheesecake. Mmmmmm. NARF!

[LightAngel]

Originally posted by Joe Tully
Going to Grannie's for cheesecake, huh? No surprise, given this picture I found of you on the web. Just type in Light Angel at any search engine and you'll get results.

Hahahaha!!! That picture does kinda describe me though. What's this about a previous cheesecake debate?

[Matthew Hunter]

And me, my grandmother's coming here to Fort Worth to visit us for Thanksgiving. It will be, sadly, my last Thanksgiving before going off to college next year. I've had some fun memories of Thanksgiving...I have most often spent it at my grandparent's house in Midland TX, though we often do it at home as well. Many great "family stories" come from those weekends...from one of the biggest ice-storms we've ever seen to just sitting around watching football (this was when the Dallas Cowboys did not suck.) Ah, the smell of turkey....Yes, we prefer stuffing, though we also have a couple of other staples: cranberries, oysters, a nasty spinach souffle recipe I wish my mother would tear up and burn, brussel sprouts, gravy, sweet potatoes, and biscuits, and sometimes pumpkin pie. Also, for those Canadians...it's ironic, because our Thanksgiving background music is almost always that of a Canadian. Anyone ever heard of Gordon Lightfoot? For some reason we ended up playing that "Gord's Gold" album a time or two on consecutive turkey days, and it stuck and became a sort of tradition. I think it started on my granparent's vinyl, then tape, then CD. That and classical music, there's a particular Bach piece my dad plays over and over again.

And if anybody asks me..."The YAMS did it, the YAMS did it! Wahahahahahhh!"

-Matthew

[Sharklady]

> What's this about a previous cheesecake debate? <

Oh, that was something we got into earlier this year. Danielle mentioned in a post that she didn't like cheesecake, and I (a certified cheesecakephile) posted a reply to the effect that there's such variation among cheesecakes that she probably just hasn't met the right one yet, and other folks started weighing in with their own opinions about the virtues of cheesecake (or lack thereof) until it seemed there could be no neutral ground.

And then the whole buisness kinna simmered down and was forgotten.

Until now.

[Anthonynotes]

Well, I like cheesecake....hence a reason I threw it into that closing scene of that Thanksgiving fanfic story (let's see....the potluck-ish Thanksgiving meal I made up that the gang feasted on for Thanksgiving consists of: one ludicrously-oversized "turkeysaurus" and eight equally-enormous "gravelberry" pies (courtesy of the Flintstones, and a ref to an original-series episode), Yorkshire pudding, candy canes, candied apples, jellybeans, and pancakes (Pinky's mum), nuts and berries (Brain's mother), 1950's-style diner burgers and fries (the Fonz), Chinese food ("Jackie Chan"'s Uncle), walnut fig-dought surprise (Slappy), one giant-sized cake with strawberry frosting (Superboy), one large pot of collard greens, three (regular-sized) turkeys, six sweet potato pies, five cases of Diet Coke, three pots of macaroni and cheese shells, four pans of lasagna, eight dozen bread rolls (Axel's mother), and finally, strawberry sorbet and....cheesecake (Cher and a group of her fans). As Pinky'd say, "yummy....cheeeesecake, NARF!" ).

Though on planet reality, my mother's traditional Thanksgiving meal never included cheesecake, but does usually include: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese shells, collard greens, bread rolls, sweet potato pie, cornbread, a few miscellaneous vegetable side dishes, and for dessert, a cake. Beverages usually consist of soda. Background music: my mother's R&B CD's and/or an R&B Chicago radio station. Guests include: usually no relatives, though my mother's/sister's (if she's there) friends might show up. My activities would usually include: eating, talking briefly to said friends of my mother's (and answering their sometimes-unusual questions), and watching TV (yeah, that might include a few Christmas specials.....). About as "traditional" as it gets for our Thanksgivings....


-B.

[Nftnat]

@ our house it'll be the family having a turkey dinner & everyone except Mom taking in the Cowboys game when we're not doing stuff around the house. Admittedly it's not like when my grandparents were alive, but I still like it. I find I tend to look back on my past thru rose-colored memories. And whether the Cowboys stink or not it's my duty as a lifelong diehard fan brought up on Landry & Staubach to watch @ least a few minutes, be it the good (3rd-stringer Jarrett pulling it off), the bad (any loss I've forgotten), or the ugly (two words: Leon Lett). And in some ways it's even better, now that the Razorbacks also seem to have a Thanksgiving tradition, playing LSU in the annual Battle For the Boot.

And I do remember the cheesecake debate. Figures SL would beat me to explaining, tho I deserve it for not showing up here lately (anyone miss me?). For the record I never met a cheesecake I didn't like, but I respect the rights of others to not like cheesecake if they choose, so I won't say anything about it. But if the debate erupts again there'll be LightAngel to pay.

[Danielle]

Originally posted by Nftnat

But if the debate erupts again there'll be LightAngel to pay.

Yup. I'd watch out, LightAngel; I have an anvil with your name on it.


BTW, Sharklady, you said I haven't come across the right kind yet? Well, guess who went to a party and got six different types of cheesecake as a thank-you gift?

[LightAngel]

Okay, I apolozize for all the trouble I caused you guys. Geesh!

[Nftnat]

Fugeddaboudit, just having fun. We do that. Altho I'd worry if Danielle says she's gonna anvil you; she's done it before. If we ever get the old boards back you can go on there & find out about the Mad Anviller; Craig & I were anvilled in addition to Danielle (to get her off the list of suspects --- oldest trick in the book; dunno why I didn't see it sooner).

[Sharklady]

> BTW, Sharklady, you said I haven't come across the right kind yet? Well, guess who went to a party and got six different types of cheesecake as a thank-you gift? <

I hope you don't mean six *whole* cheesecakes- even for me, that'd be too filling.

But there's a heck of a lot more than six different types of cheesecake in the world. Just to name some I've actually encountered, there's New York cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, chocolate chip cheesecake, Italian cheesecake (made with ricotta cheese), hazelnut cheesecake, marble cheesecake, avocado cheesecake (*much* better than it sounds), chocolate-cherry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, Kilimajaro cheesecake (a particular airy variety), banana cheesecake, almond cheesecake, Neopolitan cheesecake (my own invention, w/ adjacent chocolate, vanilla, & raspberry dollops), praline cheesecake, Irish Bailey Cream cheesecake, passion-fruit cheesecake, chocolate mint cheesecake, cookie dough cheesecake...