Saving America, One Turkey Leg at a Time

The Thanksgiving Dinner Table is the Best Cure for Toxic Loneliness

American culture has always revolved around the nuclear family, easy foods, and work. Those small groups were seen as a symbol of strength, individuality and modernity, a contrast to those messy immigrants with their sloppy spaghetti meals with all the crazy aunts and uncles. However, our individualism has now become a source of early death from diabetes, suicide, and dementia.

It’s a short skip from individualism to loneliness. And American are just lonely now, with growing levels of toxic loneliness since the pandemic. Studies show that loneliness causes more than sadness. It also shortens a person’s life span with a host of diseases.

America has a lonely problem. And the best way to solve that problem is to have tons of people over to YOUR house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Yes, I’m making YOU solve this problem with our culture.

Seventeen adults, one toddler, a dog, and a cat will sit around my dinner table at 4:00 tomorrow, which may be our largest crowd yet. How are we doing it? Hello to being the oldest born daughter with slight OCD tendencies. I am insanely organized. Let me share my tricks, so you, too, can solve America’s lonely problem.

Create a Menu and Delegate

The week before Thanksgiving, I make a google doc and share it with family members. They plug in what they want to make or bring. I also delegate within the family. Steve cooks several side dishes and makes her great-grandmother’s cranberry recipe. The boys help with the shopping and the chopping.

The Binder

I only cook an entire turkey and cranberries and other side dishes once a year. I have to keep records of what worked and what didn’t, because I’ll forget all that information by the next holiday. I keep all those recipes in plastic sleeves in the holiday binder. I keep the previous years menus and lists in there, too, so I can remember what worked and what didn’t. I jot down notes on the recipes.

The Buffet

The best way to feed a large group is with a buffet. We arrange all the food in the kitchen with a stack of plates and cutlery. I use the good plates for the holidays, but it’s not mandatory.

Think Backwards

If I plan on having dinner on the table by 5:30, when should the bird go in the oven with time to warm up the side dishes? What can I do ahead of time?

I started prepping three days ago. I picked up the turkey from the farm, did the major shopping, and brined the bird on Monday. Yesterday, we roasted the pumpkins. This morning, I finished the shopping. We’ll set the table this afternoon, and Steve will make the pie tonight. Tomorrow, when I’m running a 5K Turkey trot, Steve will make Mac n’ Cheese and cornbread. I’ll shower and then make croutons and Brussel sprouts. When the turkey is in the oven, I’ll make the salad.

Easy!

Feminism Issues

While I do get annoyed that the burden for the holidays falls on women, my dudes really have been stepping up to do more of the work. It’s still not 50/50, but they do a lot. And even though it is a lot of work, eating and laughing together is the best thing on Earth, and I’m forever grateful that I have this crew in my life.

The Recipes

Ina Garten’s Accidental Turkey Recipe

Martha Stewart’s Mac N Cheese

Paula Deen’s Buttermilk Cornbread

Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin Pie (Steve uses store bought pie crust and makes his own pumpkin mush)

Enjoy your holidays!

On Friday, I’ll do a shopping newsletter with Amazon affiliate links. Thanks in advance.