Catching Up Before Christmas (Thanksgiving 2025)

We'll already be lighting our second purple Advent candle tomorrow, and I haven't even gotten around to blogging about Thanksgiving yet.  So I thought I'd document that celebration before the Christmas season starts to get really busy!

We had 25 people at our house on Thanksgiving: 12 adults and 13 children.  Joining us were sons #3, #4, and #5 and their combined 11 offspring, and also son #4's in-laws (his wife Braveheart's mom and dad, her brother, his wife, and their two small children). 

We tried something different this year and decided that along with the turkey, we would roast two large chickens.  We bought some plump, pasture-raised Thanksgiving chickens at the farm where we pick up our raw milk every week.  (Yes!  In our old age, my hubby and I have gotten a bit crunchy!  But raw milk has so many health benefits.  If you don't believe me, google it!)  The amazing thing was that we got almost as much meat from a 9-pound chicken as we did from the much bigger 20-pound turkey!  And I don't know about you, but I think turkey drumsticks are so not worth it.  They're always too tough.  But those chicken drumsticks were tender and juicy and thoroughly enjoyed by one of our grandsons.  I mixed the turkey and chicken drippings together and the gravy was abundant, which is a good thing; because according to my boys, gravy is the most important item on the Thanksgiving menu.  And that gravy was amazing--if I do say so myself. (I rarely brag about my cooking, which almost always falls short of my expectations; so hearing me say that is akin to spotting a unicorn.)

What a joy it was to have son #5's little fam with us for the week!

Most years, I admittedly try to do too much.  I actually enjoy all the prep work and planning, and just having the privilege of putting on this holiday feast for my kids and grandkids.  But finally this year, I took the pack off (partially) and let others do most of the side dishes.  We provided the turkey and chicken, gravy, stuffing, and assorted beverages.  I made a double-batch of caramel brownies and a cheesecake for dessert.  But the other gals involved brought the rest of the yumminess, including garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese casserole, spinach and pasta casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, ice cream, and hors d'oeuvres.  Son #5 and his family were with us for the week, and his wife Babisiu* made a scrumptious sweet potato dish.  So as you can see, I had it relatively easy this year.  And the food was so good.  (I probably enjoyed it even more because someone other than myself had made so much of it!)

BTW, I always cook my birds the day before.  After they've cooled, my husband carves them and puts them in casserole dishes, and we pour a generous amount of chicken or turkey broth in there to keep them moist while they're stored in the fridge overnight.  Then on the big day, all you have to do is warm up the casserole dishes.  Easy peasy!  The meat is always so juicy and tender, too, and doing it this way saves so much stress and makes it so that you can relax a bit and actually enjoy the day itself.  At least, that's how it is for me.  (Were you looking for advice about how to cook your turkey?  If so, you're welcome.  If not, sorry for sounding like I've got it all together.  I don't, believe me.)

For years, we've been using these disposable chafing dishes for our big parties to keep all the food warm. As the festivities were going on, my husband and I were discussing how maybe it was time to get some really good, heavy-duty, stainless steel ones.  We host big groups enough, we reasoned, that it would be well worth the money to invest in them.

 

Well, at one point I looked over at him and he was on his phone, and I asked him if he was ordering them right that minute.  And he was!  Mid-party, he was shopping!  He is so funny.  While he was on Amazon ordering the chafing dishes, he also ordered 36 place settings of inexpensive caterer-style stainless silverware, so that we never again have to purchase plasticware for our family gatherings.  No more aluminum chafing dishes, no more paper plates, no more plasticware.  We're getting serious here.

Picture-taking was not high on my priority list that day, but here's a snapshot of the kids' table.

And here's a sub-par pic of the adults' table.  Excuse the terrible lighting--someone should have turned off those lamps, I guess. 

So that was our Thanksgiving.  And now, it's on to Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year. My favorite.  God bless you, dear readers!  And Happy St. Nicholas Day!

*I gave my D-I-L this Polish term of endearment because my husband and I took a Christmas trip to Poland with her before she married our son, when he was on an Army deployment over there.  I just discovered that it means grandmother--which, as you can imagine, is not what I thought it meant!  I might have to give her a new blog handle!