Thanksgiving dinner—do you get help or do it all?

[Solice]

Do you usually make the whole dinner by yourself, or does your family pitch in?
I’ve always done it all on my own,
but now that our family is getting bigger and we invite more people,
it’s turning into quite a lot of work (though I do love it!)

How is it at your house?
Do people bring something to the table?
And is it okay to ask someone to bring a specific dish?

 

[SnowflakeMom]

We host every year and we provide the turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a couple of apps and I always get a couple of pumpkin pies. We also provide the drinks of soda, water and I get a bottle of wine in case anyone wants a glass.

We have people that bring more apps, sides and other desserts. We have 20 or more people so doing it all on our own is a lot for sure....everyone is always happy to bring something/

 

[LadyLynn]

We usually have around 20 people and I do most of it, but some of the kids come the night before or early on Thanksgiving to help, so fixing the food is more like a party.

 

[Solice]

We host every year and we provide the turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a couple of apps and I always get a couple of pumpkin pies. We also provide the drinks of soda, water and I get a bottle of wine in case anyone wants a glass.

We have people that bring more apps, sides and other desserts. We have 20 or more people so doing it all on our own is a lot for sure....everyone is always happy to bring something/

We usually have around 20 people and I do most of it, but some of the kids come the night before or early on Thanksgiving to help, so fixing the food is more like a party.

You’ve both given me such good ideas!
Thank you so much for sharing ♥

I really like how, @SnowflakeMom you take care of the main dishes
and let others bring sides and desserts—that feels like a perfect balance.
And @LadyLynn, I just love the idea of turning the cooking into a party,
that sounds so cozy! I think I might have to try that myself later on ♥

 

[KimB]

I'm late to this party.

I cook from scratch, so Thanksgiving is a ton of work. I have no kids so my table usually consists of friends and my sister-in-law. In years past, I would host 20 or more people. Fortunately, I taught at a university so I could take Thanksgiving week off. Most of it was spent cooking. Back then I was hard core. I even did all my bread from scratch.

Last year, my niece and her husband were here for Thanksgiving. Their Winter home on Madeira Beach was destroyed by a hurricane and they came down to get the ball rolling on the rebuild. My niece's Mom lives in a condo my niece bought her only 20 minutes from me. I got to see her a lot. They liked the food better here.

So last year my niece helped me prep for the dinner. I only had eight people, but prepping and loading the dishwasher helped tremendously. She and I are alike in that we work fast and furious. It went well. They flew back to NY for Christmas, then came back again for two more months. I cooked a lot, but we had so much fun.

My niece called today. Her Winter home is still not completed. She and her husband will again spend Thanksgiving with me. I suspect it'll be the same thing, Her husband reminded me that he liked my cherry pie from last year.

I've always been a good cook and I enjoy it. I've slowed down a great deal due to health issues and age, but I still do as much as I can to make the meal memorable.