Somehow, our usually small and simple Thanksgiving day feast turned into a banquet for 14.

So Bride and I usually have a small Thanksgiving day feast, we invite some of our single friends over and it is just a casual and intimate evening. Well not this year, I am not sure how, exactly, it happened but this year we are hosting a family party of 14. We are very excited to get to see everyone who is coming, not very often do four generations of my family make it to Florida at Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact it is a first. With just Bride and me in our home, we are not used to having a large group over for dinner, our families are in Texas and Ohio. For the week before Thanksgiving we were both kinda thinking holy cow, we were not even sure how much food to prepare for that many people. I found myself on Butterball.com looking up how much turkey to prepare. We were scouring the internet for recipes that were suited for feeding the masses that could be made by the novice cooks we are. We were freaking out! We have always had a disclaimer at our house, and if you have eaten here you know, if all does nto go well we can always order pizza. I am hopefully optimistic that it will not come to that.

So let me tell you about our traditional Thanksgiving. About 10 years ago we got together with some friends and started frying turkeys and that is the BEST way to eat turkey. There are some drawbacks to frying, those were resolved by my friend’s ingenuous idea. The biggest drawback is cost, the peanut oil to fry one bird make the ordeal not very cost effective. On top of that, you need the frying rig and what to do with the oil when you are done. Anyway the answer my friend came up with was - Fry multiple turkeys. Well how do you do that on Thanksgiving day, ya don’t. The birds are fried the night before. The sheer simplicity of the idea is what made it brilliant. Best I can recall it started with three of us in the driveway the night before. Over the years my friend has turned it into something completely different and WAY better. Just as a point of reference, last year I believe there were nearly 20 turkeys that got fried the night before, we had three pots going. Everyone brings a side dish and the first couple of birds are chopped up and with all the sides we get to have a gigantic Thanksgiving day meal, but we get to have it with friends the night before. Everyone knows Thanksgiving is spent with family so this early start with friends is just wonderful. The fried gobblers are then just warmed up the next day to be eaten with family, yes another Thanksgiving Day feast. I love my Buddy and his Bride for hatching this fabulous plan and hosting the annual event.

So that is how our Thanksgiving turkey is handled. With my family up north and Bride’s out west we usually just invite some friends who have no family in town over for dinner. Some years it is just the two of us. I believe the biggest bird we have had was about 10 pounds and that usually provided enough leftovers to allow us our fix of turkey sandwiches the next day. When Frying turkeys there is a limitation in the size, this limitation is set by the physical size of the cook pots. The larger pots could hold larger birds but it comes back to the cost of the oil and efficiency of the operation. Yes, it is a well orchestrated operation. There are those inside who are preparing the birds, various rubs and injections of flavoring fluids. There are those who are pot tending, that mainly falls to the host and that involves the actual dipping and removing from the hot oil. There are those who maintain the oil temperature by modulating the gas flow and air flow to the burners. And then there are the timers, those who calculate the time each bird is to stay in the oil and lastly there are the timers, those clock watchers who ensure each bird spends the required amount of time frying. It is pulled off with an ease that belies the complexity of it all. I love fried turkey. I have, over the years, spent time on each of the posts, although I have to admit that my favorite is the timer/clock watcher in one.

Sorry, I got carried away with the fried turkey story, my mouth is literally watering right now, I love fried turkey and I love hanging out with my friends frying them. Anyway, we have picked up the meat for this year’s family feast, what seems like a lot of meat to me. We have two turkeys, one is 11.74 pounds and the other is 11.16 pounds and we got an 8 pound spiral cut honey glazed ham. Each person I talk to tells me a different story about how to feed that many people. My Brother in law told me that for his small family they cook a 25 pound bird, I was shocked but I also know he LOVES turkey. Others indicated I needed at least 30 pounds of bird and a ham, others still thought 17 pounds of turkey alone was enough. Well I do know this, I ain’t buying no more meat, if what I have is not enough I will order that pizza. As I sit here writing this I can hardly contain myself, I am very excited about getting to see everyone who is coming. We will be having a relatively traditional menu, turkey, ham, mashed potato and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cornbread, some sort of cranberry something or other and of course the pies, pumpkin, cherry and pecan. I am sure there are some other items that will make it to the menu but that is a good start.

So back to how to deal with 14 people? Bride suggested we contact FEMA and the Red Cross to help us, we, of course, have no adult supervision in our house so how could we possible make this work. Bride and I have 2 small tables, each seats four, always seemed big enough with just the two of us. After considering how to get 14 in here and after a friend suggested, "Start with enough chairs! Roll with the rest...." I decided I would have to get some tables from work. I spoke to our studio manager and after telling him of my quandary he helped me figure out how many tables I would need and how to arrange them after I drew out our floor plan. I also do not own 14 chairs, he agreed to let me borrow those as well, whew, I was relieved I could at least give everyone a seat without putting someone in a lounge chair out by the pool. I am not sure what I am going to cover them with but I got seating and I got table space, for 14 people. Although there will be 2 tables, one in our dining room and one in the adjacent room that we use as our den. I suppose all the grub will be on the counters and the table in our eat in kitchen. Our initial terror past, we continued preparations and shopping. We have most of the things we need to complete a fabulous meal, and have verified that Papa John’s pizza will deliver on thanksgiving – just in case.

Once the initial terror disappeared we got back to being excited about everyone coming, we will have 4 generations here. I am primed for picture taking! Like I said the guest list includes 4 generations. My Aunt and Uncle, Dad’s Brother and his wife are coming and then there is me and Bride and then my sister and her Husband from our generation. My Sisters Son and his wife and their 2 daughters cover the 4 generations. My Niece will be attending as well as my Nephew and his girlfriend. A local friend will also be joining us. Totaling 14, at least today, if any of our Jacksonville friends want to come over, let me know, I can always get some additional chairs. Bride and I are very excited and can not wait to see everyone. Even though there has been some personal adversity in my life this year, I have A LOT to be thankful for. I am first and foremost thankful that I am able to host a family Thanksgiving this year, our first and hopefully not our last. I am thankful for my family and friends who have helped me cope with the loss of both my parents this year. I feel so blessed and have never been happier that Bride can still tolerate my dumbassedness. I am thankful for all the men and women serving in the military and sad that many of them will not be able to be with their families this Thanksgiving. But mostly I am just thankful that I have been given one more day on this side of the grass.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.