I think this year I'll deliberately burn the turkey

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

That's how I'm feeling about all holidays right now. I'm done cooking for anyone on holidays. I spend hours cooking, everyone gobbles it up with no thank you and then to add insult to injury, they all leave making me have to do the cleanup too.

My in-laws just invited themselves for the week of Christmas. DH said OK last night and then told me today.
That means my 15 year old son will lose his room since that is the only room with a bed big enough for 2 other than the master bedroom. He's going to be upset about losing his room for a week. It should be fun listening to him complain.
I'm tempted to have them sleep on the pull out couch in my office. Then they won't stay long.

I already know I'm having Publix do the cooking . Best of luck to you.

 

[buckler]

You need a voice activated oven like in last scene of the Carousel of Progress.

 

[Robinrs]

How about being the one NO ONE wants to cook???? I'd consider your situation a compliment!!

My Mom always did Thanksgiving, when she died my aunt took over. She passed, unfortunately, in July.

As large as my family is, no one is the cook my Mom and aunt was. Since I now have my uncle, who is the patriarch and everyone wants to see, I became the venue. I'm excited!!

The idea is EVERYONE else brings the food. I'm a baker so I'll do the desserts. My coworkers Mom is a caterer and she's doing the turkey. I'm sure I'll be posting something like this if it continues a few years...

 

[cepmom]

I feel your pain...I'm trying to figure out how to get out of Christmas Day dinner at our house. It's just my mother and stepfather and DH's parents that come over but I can't stand it anymore. I would love to just spend the day at home without anyone coming over...just our little family spending the day together. What usually happens is we rush through presents, then breakfast, then I am rushing around getting ready for company and cooking. After dinner,the kids can't play any of their new Wii games or watch movies because the guys take over the tv room watching some sports game and I get stuck in the kitchen with the ladies. We see DH's parents on Christmas Eve also so I won't feel bad not seeing them, but my mother only has me and my loser brother so I would feel guilty not having them over. ugh!

 

[Melmac]

Thanks for the support (and the laughs). Maybe next year I'll plan a Disney vacation on Thanksgiving. Maybe they could all join me for dinner at Boma and we could split the check.

I did my (Canadian) Thanksgiving this year at Le Cellier! I think next year, I will do something similar. Now, I need to convince the DH that Christmas away would be wonderful

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Two words:

Stomach Flu.

Seriously, I plan on having stomach flu this Thanksgiving.

Or kittens. I have found that rescuing kittens that require bottle feeding every couple of hours is a great excuse for avoiding any and all social obligations. (Of course, the social obligations one would actually like to attend are also out, but this is price of bottle fed babies.)

 

[bellebud]

we've developed a wonderful holiday schedule - we host thanksgiving the sunday before thanksgiving w/ my side of the family (I do the turkey and mashed potatoes, everyone else brings the other side dishes and desserts), then we go to dh's family on the thursday thanksgiving.

on christmas, we all have our own quiet christmas eves, we do christmas day w/ dh's family, then the 26th or 27th we do another christmas day w/ my family. everyone has plenty of time to enjoy each other - no more rushing around. (thank goodness my family is very flexible for all this to happen!)

AND - (this is the best part!), my brother decided this year that all the cooking and hours of clean up after are just not worth it - we're going to try ordering everything from the grocer - every family will chip in $50 - $75 dollars each, we'll use those "good" paper plates, and that's it! we have 6 families coming - 21 people - not huge, but not tiny. Now hopefully the food doesn't suck

 

[DarthKTrava]

Cook it like the Griswold's did in "Christmas Vacation"!

 

[deegack]

DH refuses to allow his mother to cook any holiday suppers after the year of the soup. For the big Christmas dinner (her words) she made tomato soup (Campbells from a can) with some shrimp in it. We each got four shrimp. This was after we drove 5 hours, sat on the sofa while FIL worked on the car, MIL did god knows what and SIL was in her room sleeping.

Anyway, I do Thanksgiving. I honestly tell them not to bring anything because most of what she makes is just plain gross.

 

[dis-happy]

You need a voice activated oven like in last scene of the Carousel of Progress.

 

[superme80]

I'm sorry. I did Easter this year, but it was just the 3 of us, my parents and grandpa. DH and I agreed no more traveling for holidays and since my sister moved in with my parents we will not be down there for any of the holidays this year.

 

[Stitchfans]

Maybe then my in laws would agree to someone else hosting Thanksgiving for a change.

So funny. I have the extreme opposite problem. I have been begging for years to be able to have a turn. I was told I did not have the room/table to seat everyone. We recently moved and I now have the room/table because I inherited my MIL's old hutch which folds out a table to seat 12 but now I am way too far for my family to come over for Thanksgiving.

That was also one of their excuses for me not getting a turn. In the past I was 45 minutes away from everyone now I am a little over 6 hrs

 

[PrincessInOz]

You all should move to Oz....we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here; so our major gripe is Christmas.

I'm sorry BIL pulled out of hosting...but I'm laughing and cringing at the same time!

My Brother offered to host Christmas last year for my family and our parents. My parents and I immediately accepted.

4 weeks before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if it was okay if he brought the food over to my place because it was bigger and we'd all be more comfortable at my home than in their place.

2 weeks before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if he can bring the food over the night before so that I could cook it on the day and the food would be warm and fresh out of the oven.

1 week before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if he could give me money so that I could go shopping for the food....

At this stage, I told him that I had everything in hand and had ordered the turkey 6 weeks before Christmas, pudding was done and cake was made.

I did ask if they could bring dessert, though

On the day, my parents pitched up to my place, complete with entree.

Neither brother nor I had told them about the "change in location"......my parents and I just knew.

Wonder who is hosting Christmas this year?

 

[Becky2005]

then BIL offered to host instead so only MIL would have to travel (we live close to each other and I have hosted every ... MIL has already made plans to travel down to us (non refundable).

So, in this particular case it really isn't your MIL's fault! It's your BIL's so hmm....can you just burn HIS portion.

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

I wish my mother or MIL would let me host Thanksgiving. I love to cook and host parties! I travel about 2 hours each way to be at one of their houses for the holidays. This year is my mom's year for Thanksgiving.

 

[ilovejack02]

OK. I don't actually hate my in laws. The problem is that MIL offered to host (great by me - I agreed immediately) and then BIL offered to host instead so only MIL would have to travel (we live close to each other and I have hosted every year for the past 7 years because I had the biggest house) and I was looking forward to being a lazy guest (maybe I might bring a side dish ), but this weekend he backed out (too much going on...like my life is so easy). MIL has already made plans to travel down to us (non refundable).

I'm stuck. So that's why I'm venting.

Some of my favorite memories with my parents are church on Thanksgiving morning and then off to a really nice restaurant for lunch. Later in the afternoon ladies hit what ever big box store is open to look at Christmas decorations.

I say make reservations : ) . Bet you don't get hosting duties the next year, or it becomes a new Punkin family tradition .

 

[teskak]

You all should move to Oz....we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here; so our major gripe is Christmas. And you forgot to mention that the Aussie Christmas is usually in the middle of a heat wave of more than 100 degrees for the week.I'm sorry BIL pulled out of hosting...but I'm laughing and cringing at the same time!

My Brother offered to host Christmas last year for my family and our parents. My parents and I immediately accepted.

4 weeks before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if it was okay if he brought the food over to my place because it was bigger and we'd all be more comfortable at my home than in their place.

2 weeks before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if he can bring the food over the night before so that I could cook it on the day and the food would be warm and fresh out of the oven.

1 week before Christmas, he calls me up and asks if he could give me money so that I could go shopping for the food....

At this stage, I told him that I had everything in hand and had ordered the turkey 6 weeks before Christmas, pudding was done and cake was made. Good grief - all of that cooking in summer!!
I did ask if they could bring dessert, though

On the day, my parents pitched up to my place, complete with entree.

Neither brother nor I had told them about the "change in location"......my parents and I just knew.

Wonder who is hosting Christmas this year?

If it cannot be cooked on a BBQ with a salad it is too darned hot for Aussie Christmas

 

[PrincessInOz]

If it cannot be cooked on a BBQ with a salad it is too darned hot for Aussie Christmas

That's why I do my baking in early November . Got a recipe for a Bourbon fruit cake that is served straight out of the freezer, thinly sliced.

Turkey goes in the Weber BBQ OUTSIDE to cook and we serve it with salad and some blanched asparagus.

The only 'hot' thing in the house is the plum pudding....but that is more because I adore plum pud and am prepared to put on a pot of hot water to boil it before we serve it.

 

[donac]

I have almost been hosting Thanksgiving for the last few years for dh's family. I say almost since we don't have it here. I spend the morning cooking here at my house and then packing the car and bringing it 45 minutes to in law's house. Last year I packed two coolers, two crock pots and several bags. I had told my mil that I would bring everything but that never got to someone. I had the turkey and all the sides and when I got there there were two pots of potatoes on the stove. I just didn't serve them. fil looked at them at the end of the day and said "We didn't eat many potatoes"

I do it for my mil who is not strong. BUT they have no oven. It has been broken for several years. My sil will not them fix it since it is gas and she is worried that the house might blow since mil is on oxygen at NIGHT.

We used to host Christmas but since mil can't travel I repeat the procedure again at Christmas.

I also do most of the clean up since one of my sil does nothing but sit all day.

 

[JoShan1719]

DH refuses to allow his mother to cook any holiday suppers after the year of the soup. For the big Christmas dinner (her words) she made tomato soup (Campbells from a can) with some shrimp in it. We each got four shrimp. This was after we drove 5 hours, sat on the sofa while FIL worked on the car, MIL did god knows what and SIL was in her room sleeping.

This was my favorite story. It's just so bad! I feel for you deegack.

I love doing Thanksgiving, I'm lucky it's just DH and I and our housemate. But DH keeps trying to get me to agree to going to my dad's house instead of me cooking. His reason? He doesn't like the clean up! I don't care, I love cooking for Thanksgiving.