Thanksgiving 2022: Review

 

So how did it go?  In the end, did I follow my rules for Thanksgiving 2022?

Every year, as we end a holiday, I make a few notes of what worked and what didn't.  I usually do this in my general homemaking pages of my personal notebook and not online, but since I was so bold as to profess my "Survival Plans..." for this Thanksgiving, I thought I'd be equally as bold and tell you how those plans went.

Menu:  I stuck to my menu plan. I did make one concession for an onion allergy, so I mixed up a portion of dressing without onions and set aside a portion of the green bean casserole mixture without any added onions.  I topped that with cracker crumbs.  Might as well have let it stand as I was informed by the one with the allergy that it's more a dislike and if they are cooked in smaller pieces, he didn't mind them so much.  Live and learn.

I did hear from one guest that it she preferred dark meat over white.  That was to be expected since we were serving breast meat and not a whole turkey.  

I did end up buying a second turkey breast which I cooked ahead of time and that was used to supplement leftovers for supper Thanksgiving evening and to make a round of sandwiches. I also put aside in the freezer, two recipe sized portions of cooked turkey and two breast frames for future use.

I had entirely too much stuffing.  Period.  I stuffed the breast, filled the pan surrounding the turkey breast, and the smaller pan minus the onions.  I now have two 8x8 sized pans of dressing in the freezer.  That's far too many leftovers and I will base stuffing on size of crowd being served in future. 

I had leftover green bean casserole, though I made just a 9x13 pan.  George's portion was kept to one end and was carefully separated from the majority.  I have about an 8x8 pan left.  I'll be using that this week to make a variation of Tater Tot casserole.

Other than those items there was not a lot of leftovers to deal with.  So that really worked in my favor.

Disposable pans...WHY have I so stubbornly refused to use these in the past?  They were awesome to have on hand, less than $20 for pie pans, 13 x 9 pans, and 8 x 8 pans.  I have a few of them leftover.  This is something I will definitely buy again.  To be honest, I did buy the pie pans last year but they were so super flimsy.  I found the secret this year was to buy heavy duty foil pans.  They are the bomb!  I wasn't tempted to wash and save them, but these are heavy enough you might.  My purpose was to have them sturdy enough to hold heavy foods.  It's a once-a-year expense for me.  Not a big deal and definitely worth every single penny.

I didn't overindulge in the extra food storage items, but I did pick up two packs of heavy Ziploc brand containers with snap on lids.  I think they came two to a pack, held about four cups each and were perfect.  As I assumed, come end of meal, I had no suitably sized containers available to put anything into.  Again, worth every single penny.   

Clean-up this year was an old-fashioned sort of all the women (Pilar, Katie and me) pitching in and getting it done.  I dealt with leftovers, Pilar rinsed while Katie loaded, then handwashed what didn't fit.  I opted to use my day-to-day China plates for the main meal, and we ate off paper plates for supper that night.    I very much appreciated the help, and this went like clockwork.  Overall, it took not much more time than usual.

I bought a Never Any sliced ham for an alternative sandwich meat (turkey being the first).  We ate a bit of that, and a good bit more went into the freezer.  I'm not upset over that either.

My biggest pet peeve was the unknown arrival times of those coming.  We sat around all day on Wednesday waiting for company to show up. I prepared supper ahead and, in the end, they went straight through to the hotel in the next largest town. I know they were exhausted but a little bit of communication would have been nice.  We were hungry and waiting.  They were overtired and weary.  

And as well was the unknown. Was this one coming?  Were those coming?  Was that guest bringing his partner or not?  

As we talked over Thanksgiving afterwards this was the one point that proved to be a bridge too far for John as well.  He realized that it really caused unnecessary tensions when a clear answer "Yes, I am coming.  There will be two in my party."  "No, I'm not coming."  Pretty straightforward stuff and beats stuffing out of 'We'll wait and see.'

And finally, was the dilemma of 'helping to cook'.  I think many of you clarified something for me and that is that it is an expectation that women will gather and cook.  I have to be honest; I don't remember that in my family.  Most likely I think because Granny's and Grandmother's kitchens were galley sized and just about big enough for one to move about in.  Women might sit at a kitchen table out of the line of action, but my grandmothers cooked on their own.  Mama never made a holiday meal the day of the meal. She always cooked ahead and reheated which often led to over cooked meat.

Obviously for Pilar this was a family thing that they enjoyed doing together.  However, given the number of miles traveled and their late arrival, the lack of open groceries even in the bigger towns, and the small number of guests we were finally able to tally on Wednesday, I found the courage to text a very carefully worded message to skip the cookery, come and relax and enjoy herself.  It was well received partly because my phone substituted in a funny word.  Where I'd said I'd been doing a head count, the phone said I'd been doing a headache count.  Fortunately, Pilar found this very funny, and we had a good laugh over it and all was easy between us after.  I thank those of you who encouraged me to speak up.

My next concern was how to manage Mama's arrival and departure.  Katie offered to go get her and take Caleb, so he'd be out from underfoot while I cooked.  Everyone arrived back at the house around the same time, dinner was pretty much finished by 11:30.   Pilar and I took Mama home and had a nice long chat on the way home.  

All in all, the usual family drama mess aside, this was a more chill Thanksgiving than many I've had and worked out well. 

My survival plan worked!