Do You Cook or Eat Out For Thanksgiving?

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Never have tried to eat out on Thanksgiving, it has always been at somebody's house (family member or in-law). In all my years I do not think I have every hosted a Thanksgiving. Christmas I have done, but not a Thanksgiving that I can remember.

 

[AnnaS]

We cook/host here.

 

[AnnaS]

This story gets better every year. Getting dusty in here...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/entertainment/teen-grandma-thanksgiving-text/index.html

I remember this awesome story!! Beautiful they have been celebrating all these years.

 

[mumto3girls]

In my family we each have our own holidays that we host. My sister has had Thanksgiving since 2007 so we go there. I have done the dinner myself a few times—the year we lived in Boston and some family came to us, the year before my sister moved back to our area and claimed Thanksgiving as hers and Covid in 2020 (but we were by ourselves that year).

I do basically the same dinner for Christmas Day—but add a ham.

We generally don’t eat out on holidays—we might grab eggs rolls at a Chinese restaurant to add to our appetizer spread on Christmas Eve, but that’s about it.

Usually the host does the turkey/ham, stuffing, gravy, cranberries and rolls and the rest of the sides/desserts are divided up amongst the rest of the attendees. I make the mashed potatoes home or away and usually have something else—this year I have the broccoli casserole—mom’s recipe.

 

[Moliphino]

I usually go to my aunt's house. She does the turkey and potatoes, everyone else contributes for appetizers, side dishes, and desserts.

 

[marthachick]

There are 25 of us if we all show up. We eat at my Mom and Dad’s house. Every family brings something. We are having turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Some have sides they make every year. Some do new things. But it’s always too much food and I can’t wait because we didn’t get to have Christmas last year due to my parents having covid. Daddy nearly died from covid so this year will be extra special.

 

[JLTraveling]

I'm not much of a cook, but I'm a decent baker. So if I'm going to celebrate with family, I'll bring dessert. If it's just Dad and me, we'll either go out to eat or, more likely, pick up a traditional meal from a local restaurant a day or two ahead of time.

 

[diznymom]

I cook. I will cook just a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey for us.

 

[mjkacmom]

I cook dinner almost every night, my mom hosted thanksgiving my entire life before she died. I used to cook, but several years ago I started getting it catered, best of both worlds. This year I’m making mashed potatoes, gluten free stuffing, gravy, and pumpkin cheesecake (one kid has celiac, so I always have to make a few things). I’d rather spend time with our children (2 live elsewhere, 2 are away at college, 1 lives home).

 

[soccerdad72]

We always cook, but if it was just two of us and one was a vegetarian, I might dine out.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Depends on the year. There are only 4 of us at home and not a lot of extended family on either side. Even if we all get together, there's usually no more than 7 people. I go back and forth on which I prefer. If we cook, then there are leftovers. If we go out, there's no mess to clean up.

We are going to my mother's this year, my niece has already informed me that we are getting Cracker Barrel to go. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie so I'll probably make another dessert to go with it and maybe some devilled eggs and a vegetable. I guess it'll be a hybrid/combination of both this year.

 

[Shellsbutt]

I don't recall ever eating out for Thanksgiving, although I'm sure some in our family have discussed it. We alternate between my mom's, sister's, and my house for hosting. When it's at our house, my husband deals with the turkey, I'm not a good cook and prefer baking sweets! I would never eat out on a major holiday, been burned a few times-no to Valentine's Day, and Mother's day especially, those are the worst.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We usually go to DBIL's house an hour away. His turkey is fine (tho his wife complains about it.) He figures instant mashed potatoes are fine for the feast. This year I'll provide a potato-cheese casserole (passive-aggressive protest?) His four DD's (40-somethings) each bring a jell-o salad. Whutevs. I'd like to find a better alternative, but DH wants to visit his bro. Which is reasonable; they aren't getting any younger.

 

[Darcy03231]

It's just DH and I, so we order our Thanksgiving meal ahead of time from a local restaurant that specializes in turkey dinners. We select a pick-up time and get it nice and hot. We've been doing it this way for a couple of years now and it works out great for us. The dinners are big enough that we usually get two meals out of them.

 

[NotUrsula]

We tried going out for a few years when my MIL was still alive and tending to hole up in her house; we thought it was the one occasion she'd consent to go out. We mostly stopped because it turned out to stress her more than help, and we missed having leftovers.

Only 3 of us in the house now, but we cook WAY more than we can possibly eat at one sitting. We've since started staggering the "special" side dishes throughout the entire T-giving school holiday period to lessen the cooking load. So, everyone still gets their favorite sides for Thanksgiving, but not necessarily on Thursday, LOL. We like having a LOT of leftover turkey (usually at least 6-7 lbs of it) so that we can make a lot of affordable turkey dishes to freeze for later.

 

[nw6675]

Most of the time DH, DD, and I stay home and I cook. This year we are going out of state to see my parents and sister (and her family). I'm making the desserts, Mom makes the turkey, ham, and dressing, and sis does the sides and rolls.

My mom is SO EXCITED we are coming. I wish we weren't driving out of state on I95 with everyone else and their brother, but it will nice to be with them.

 

[evilmommie]

We cook/host on Thanksgiving and then the Sunday after Tday for the family members that are working on Thursday. Turkey on the Traegar!

 

[Smugpugmug]

We always cook. I don't think I've ever gone out to eat for Thanksgiving. It's just me, my parents and my sister so nothing too big. My mom and I are the ones that do most of the cooking. Usually we make a whole turkey and use the leftovers for turkey pot pie. We don't make a pie though so next week I'm going to pick up a pumpkin pie from Wegmans.

 

[RogueX]

Thanksgiving for us is pizza. We pick it up the day before and we're all set for Thanksgiving meal.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Mom's side of the family orders from the local grocery store. Mother-in-law depending on the year has done the same or gotten from a restaurant ordered well in advance. Father-in-law tends to do non-traditional like lasagna and such.

For Christmas we do eat out for breakfast (often at IHOP) for my mother-in-law. It works out the best in terms of timing for opening gifts and then needing to go to other places. Christmas at my aunt's is also sometimes orders from the local grocery store. It's a lot less stress and it's all roughly the same foods we'd be making anyways.