Formal or Casual Thanksgiving?
- Thread starter Christmas-A-Holic
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We are mostly in comfortable and casual clothes. My husband and I are busy washing dishes and prepping food and don't want to get good clothes stained. The kids, should say, young adults, like to have their jeans on, which is fine. I have brought down the china the last couple of years because I figure, what the heck am I saving it for AND I think everybody behaves a little more mannerly when I set the table that way! But, I think that whatever way works for your family is the right way. What matters is making the memories and being together!
N my house we join hands and pray b4 eating but after that its very casual. Im the 12th out of 13 children its too many of us to do a formal dinner. :family:
Most Thanksgivings for me are "semi-casual" most of the time we end up eating at my grandma's house but in recent years we just go to whoever wants to host that year. When we're at grandma's we use the china & the whole nine yards. I'm trying to encourage her to use paper products for clean up ease. But hey the lady only gets to use her china so many times LOL!
Last year was one of my memorable Thanksgivings because it was so "spur of the moment" my great-grandmother passed away a few days prior to TG so we all piled up & headed to FL for her funeral, that was one day before TG. We didn't really plan to have TG because my folks & I had never had TG dinner with that part of the family. Needless to say we all got hungry on TG & made a quick run to Wal-Mart for TG dinner! I LOVED IT!
Last year was one of my memorable Thanksgivings because it was so "spur of the moment" my great-grandmother passed away a few days prior to TG so we all piled up & headed to FL for her funeral, that was one day before TG. We didn't really plan to have TG because my folks & I had never had TG dinner with that part of the family. Needless to say we all got hungry on TG & made a quick run to Wal-Mart for TG dinner! I LOVED IT!
I would say we do casual. It's my DH, son, Mom, Dad and me, so it's a pretty small group. One year I did Thanksgiving paper plates and the cleanup afterwards was wonderful, although I must admit, I usually have my Christmas plates out by then, but I will probably go back to the paper plates this year. Even though we dress casual, it's a nice casual with dressy jeans and nice shirts. I can't wait!!!
:sparkle:
Ours is a casual meal. We use regular plates versus paper ones. Since there is just the three of us, we try not to make too much......however there is no such thing as "too much" on Thanksgiving. We usually eat a little later than most, roughly 3 or 4 p.m. and it works out fine.
Ours is a casual meal. We use regular plates versus paper ones. Since there is just the three of us, we try not to make too much......however there is no such thing as "too much" on Thanksgiving. We usually eat a little later than most, roughly 3 or 4 p.m. and it works out fine.
L
Little Elf
Guest
It's usually casual because alot of the time we invite people who don't have a place to go for Thanksgiving and it makes them feel more comfortable.
Our Thanksgiving sounds a lot like yours!!! We have to wear nice comfy pants so they fit after all that good food! :smile:
We go to both my mother in laws and my parents house. It works out well because they live very close and my mother in law has a very early dinner usually around 1 or 2 o'clock and my parents have dinner around 3 or 4 o'clock. At both houses people are usually dressed about the same.. normally a sweater or button down shirt for some of the guys, jeans or nice pants. We dont dress up fancy but we arent in t-shirts either! My Mom does use her nice China but the food is set up buffet style..and they wait for my husband, son & I to get there so we can all eat as a family. My MIL's changes each year as far as paper plates or her good plates. Its buffet style there also and we eat at the same time but not at the same table.. 2 differnt tables..too many people for one table!
:carve:
:carve:
We invite everyone to our house, and it is very casual. We make the turkey, ham, and the basic sides along with other sides, and desserts. And everyone else brings something to add. We put everything on the counter top, and everyone takes what they want.
We are very casual for Thanksgiving. Buffet style, I use Hefty dinnerware. The octagon shaped plates. I like the red cranberry colored ones. I also use the plastic silverware that looks like real silverware until you pick it up and realize its plastic. I also use the plastic wine glasses or goblets I got from walmart. They look like glass but they are plastic. They are the only thing I have to wash after dinner besides the some of the serving dishes. For the most part, i use aluminum pans. If time gets away from me after dinner, I just cover them with foil and stack them nicely in the fridge for leftovers. The next day I transfer them all to ziploc bags if I havent stored them in bags already.
Now, lets talk about leftover storage. I read on here how some people use alot of containers to store their leftovers. Let me throw a tip out here. BUY ZIPLOC STORAGE BAGS FOR LEFTOVERS. They take up less space in your fridge. Also, buy the gallon size, quart size and pint sizes. They are great to send leftovers home with family and not have to worry about losing your containers. Actually the freezer bags work best. That way you have the option of freezing or storing your leftovers. I no longer use containers for my leftovers. Everything from soup to nuts goes in ziploc bags after dinner. The bag full of turkey takes up much less space than a container. I even store my gravy in one. Try it, if you havent already. Believe me, containers will become a thing of the past.
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Now, lets talk about leftover storage. I read on here how some people use alot of containers to store their leftovers. Let me throw a tip out here. BUY ZIPLOC STORAGE BAGS FOR LEFTOVERS. They take up less space in your fridge. Also, buy the gallon size, quart size and pint sizes. They are great to send leftovers home with family and not have to worry about losing your containers. Actually the freezer bags work best. That way you have the option of freezing or storing your leftovers. I no longer use containers for my leftovers. Everything from soup to nuts goes in ziploc bags after dinner. The bag full of turkey takes up much less space than a container. I even store my gravy in one. Try it, if you havent already. Believe me, containers will become a thing of the past.
:We are a mix of formal and casual I guess. I always serve a buffet style because I can't stand to have all those serving dishes cluttering up the table and I think it is easier than passing around dishes and platters. But we eat in the dining room and use our good china. We dress pretty casually.
Always casual 
It depends, but no matter what I use my nice china. I make place cards and have the nice wine glasses, etc. I usually set the table the night before. But, I still set up a little buffet area, this way you can take what you like.
But I say the same as TamaraQT, ziploc it all the way... I try to be sure I have extras so I can hand them out, but I was also reading past posts and I don't remember who posted it but they use old butter containers, etc. I like that idea too for handing out left overs.
But I say the same as TamaraQT, ziploc it all the way... I try to be sure I have extras so I can hand them out, but I was also reading past posts and I don't remember who posted it but they use old butter containers, etc. I like that idea too for handing out left overs.
We are very casual. We set up one of those long 8 foot folding tables with a nice tablecloth. All the food goes on it. Mama uses her good china for the meal but we use paper plates for the pies and cakes.
We all stand and hold hands while my stepfather says Grace then we all get in line to go get our plates Mama used to have a long formal dining table - she gave it away and now has a smaller table so we put the older people at the table, the rest of us find somewhere else to sit (usually in the living room so we can laugh and have fun )
We all stand and hold hands while my stepfather says Grace then we all get in line to go get our plates
Mama used to have a long formal dining table - she gave it away and now has a smaller table so we put the older people at the table, the rest of us find somewhere else to sit (usually in the living room so we can laugh and have fun )
Ours are always very casual. I really can not even think of one that was really formal so to speak. We usually just make up all the food, set it out on the counter & people just get whatever they want, as many times as they want.
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