Every Thanksgiving (TG) my wife and I worked for a few days ahead of TG day to get many things prepped. Then on TG day we worked a long day to get everything done. And worked (got some help) to get all the family served.
Then, there is all the mess, dirty pots and pans and dishes to clean. It's tiring to say the least.
For years we kept on saying, next time we will make reservations at our favorite restaurant. Well this year we finally did it, (we're getting older) we made reservations at our favorite restaurant for ourselves and family.
It was great, the Turkey was "moist", smothered in savory gravy, with delicious sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli, green beans, stuffing, brussel sprouts, biscuits. I also had a side order of Mongolian beef that I had a craving for, it was great too.
When dinner was over, no dishes, pots and pans to clean, no mess, it was just great, just signed my name and we said thankyou to the servers and left!
C'mon Thanksgiving next year, it's so easy this way!
Thansgiving Dinner
Thansgiving Dinner
Cars 
Re: Thansgiving Dinner
That meal sounds delicious and it's certainly easier than putting it on yourself but you have to be totally confident of the restaurant you choose.
We did the same for Christmas, once. Although we knew the place and generally loved the food, the meal was poor and the service terrible - they just could not cope and the extra staff they'd taken on were totally lost.
So, I'm really glad it went well for you - if a little jealous.
We did the same for Christmas, once. Although we knew the place and generally loved the food, the meal was poor and the service terrible - they just could not cope and the extra staff they'd taken on were totally lost.
So, I'm really glad it went well for you - if a little jealous.
Re: Thansgiving Dinner
We have been going to this restaurant for several years, so we knew it would be great for our holiday meal.
Cars
Re: Thansgiving Dinner
There's an op-ed in today's Guardian...
Very sensible too, if you do that sort of thing. I tend toward soup and perhaps a Kedgeree at Christmas. Occasionally someone donates a cracker.
Christmas dinner? At home or in a restaurant? It’s at this juncture of the year, with Christmas dinner hurtling towards us, that you may well find yourself muttering: “Well, we could always go out!” Who could blame any home cook for wanting to shove this great burden on to someone else’s back, especially since every culinary TV show, magazine article and advertising break since mid-November has hammered home what a colossal faff Christmas dinner actually is. No, it’s not just a slightly posh Sunday roast with a few more guests.
Christmas dinner in the UK these days is more like a cross between dinner at Balmoral and 4 July at Mar-a-Lago. The table has to be heaving with holly-embossed crockery, the carrots must be bejewelled in star anise and Himalayan pink pepper, the turkey has to be brined in aromatic salt water and your roasties shaken in polenta and smothered in duck fat. If you’re the designated martyr organising proceedings, field-marshalling everything and cooking this tinsel-strewn palaver, it is common to try instead to divert it all to the local pub, where they’re doing “turkey and all the trimmings” for £79 a head (and including a cracker and a pre-dinner “glass of something sparkly”).
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/d ... out-at-pub
Very sensible too, if you do that sort of thing. I tend toward soup and perhaps a Kedgeree at Christmas. Occasionally someone donates a cracker.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left. ... Hold no regard for unsupported opinion.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious. [Fred Wedlock, "The Folker"]
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious. [Fred Wedlock, "The Folker"]
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Re: Thansgiving Dinner
And cries of Bah Humbug ring round the house for a week before and a week afterspot wrote: Sun Dec 07, 2025 3:53 am There's an op-ed in today's Guardian...
Christmas dinner? At home or in a restaurant? It’s at this juncture of the year, with Christmas dinner hurtling towards us, that you may well find yourself muttering: “Well, we could always go out!” Who could blame any home cook for wanting to shove this great burden on to someone else’s back, especially since every culinary TV show, magazine article and advertising break since mid-November has hammered home what a colossal faff Christmas dinner actually is. No, it’s not just a slightly posh Sunday roast with a few more guests.
Christmas dinner in the UK these days is more like a cross between dinner at Balmoral and 4 July at Mar-a-Lago. The table has to be heaving with holly-embossed crockery, the carrots must be bejewelled in star anise and Himalayan pink pepper, the turkey has to be brined in aromatic salt water and your roasties shaken in polenta and smothered in duck fat. If you’re the designated martyr organising proceedings, field-marshalling everything and cooking this tinsel-strewn palaver, it is common to try instead to divert it all to the local pub, where they’re doing “turkey and all the trimmings” for £79 a head (and including a cracker and a pre-dinner “glass of something sparkly”).
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/d ... out-at-pub
Very sensible too, if you do that sort of thing. I tend toward soup and perhaps a Kedgeree at Christmas. Occasionally someone donates a cracker.