Posted by: @squeakyandliza

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American ostomates!! I hope you all have a lovely day with family and delicious food, giving thanks for the good things in your life. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Been cooking all morning but sadly, it's just me, my wife and autistic adult son this year. Our usual guests, my wife's father, and brother passed away this recently, and her mom  is now in a nursing home 100 miles away. The great news though is that mom is in a super great Alzheimer's support unit and absolutely loves it there!

Happy Thanksgiving to this family in America. Enjoy with your love ones. God Bless.

@goatherder ...So very sorry to hear of your family members passing. It is difficult enough with one let alone two!! My ❤  goes out to you & your family. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American Ostomates here also. I hope you all have a wonderful time and are able to celebrate safely with other family this year!! 

I don’t really like preparing a turkey, and this year decided to order a family-size turkey dinner delivered from a local restaurant. We were very excited as this is a nice restaurant - and it was not very good, all in all too much money for a disappointment. My brother and his wife and kids had salmon they cooked on the grill outsid at their house, and I am thinking of just not having turkey next year. …. That is actually a freeing thought!

@llholiday I am so with you on the cooking of a turkey dinner! It is SO much work, and it’s gone in less than an hour. I have learned to cook my turkey the day before - so much easier! Since it’s covered in gravy and cranberry anyway, does anyone even know that it isn’t right out of the oven? No! I would love to have pizza this Christmas, but since my parents are quite elderly and rely on me for Christmas dinner, I can’t really bring myself to do that - I just don’t know how many Christmases they have left. So I will be the dutiful daughter who makes the perfect turkey dinner once again. But if anyone dares to bring up politics, or any controversial topic that messes with polite conversation, they will get  the contents of the gravy boat dumped in their lap! Oops - ever so sorry! (Not sorry!)

Cinderella (aka Laurie)

Thanks for the laugh, Laurie!!  And I would do the same thing. In hindsight, you won’t regret having made your parents the nice dinner, but you might regret not making it. If I would have known 2019 was going to be my Dad’s last Christmas, I would have gone out of my way to make it the perfect day for him. ❤️

Eric, my apologies for this topic I hope your not offended .  I  know most of us likely started out as Non Vegan. I am not vegan but eat little meat anyways, cranky guts!

Question, Don't you prepare a tofu turkey or something  like that Sir?? Please tell us about it. I may need an option soon by the sounds of it. Lol! 

@llholiday  ...Have you considered just ordering in advance 2 turkey breasts & drumsticks or whatever part you or the family enjoy?  I've ordered a few weeks in advance for the parts & cooking them up is a lot easier then the whole bird.  You can cook the parts on top of a pan of veggies & broth to save pots & pans use foil instead of a lid & recycle it. Toss your seasoning in a  bag & toss allowing turkey to thaw in the seasoning.  Use a boxed dressing & add chopped precooked onions & dried cranberries soaked in turkey broth or OJ or ¿  & add whatever seasoning you enjoy thats not in it. I use broth instead of water for it also. I always make the dressing in advance & Doctor it up. I'll whisk 1 egg per box  &  stir it into the cubes after everything else then put it in a greased bundt pan gently packed & bake it for 30 min. give or take along side the turkey. Slice it up & serve it with cranberry sauce in the center. I do as much in advance as I can. I'll even make the pies & freeze raw then bake the day before or 2. 

Laurie ...I hear you! I've been  fortunate as the last 3 years my son has taken over most of the prep work 2 or 3 days before with veggies & the bird as above. He also cooks & his wife & kids cleanup & do dishes after. Then games!  I still do the pumpkin pies though & usually an uncooked pineapple  cheesecake. I'm  gaining weight just talking about this...lol!  

I aviod unpleasant conversation by simply asking ahead of time to not talk about "work" related topics today.  To keep conversation pleasant I think of other fun or ? topics ahead of time &  choose 2 or 3 family to help redirect topics &  replace with interesting topics I know they all have so they can talk about themselves & there hobby or instead.  Photography, gardening, music....all sorts of things.

Liza ...So true. We can't fix the mistakes but we can make a favored dinner for our loved ones if they look forward  to the usual or if they too prefer something different.  I love my Mom & siblings dearly & know as you Ladies & Gents know also about all the work that Moms or Grandparents,  (if you still have them) ,  they put in a lot more work then we do into a special dinner back then.  Such a big meal with usually more people then we have at the table too & certainly not with the convenient appliances we have now to make things easier. This Christmas, If not Covid, we have washed out highways & slides this year so a 3 rd year at home without travel & added family that we all miss so very much!! 

Maybe next Thanksgiving!