Thanksgiving is just over a month away. How are you going to simplify this holiday of thanks?

Post your ideas here!
Aimee

Simplify? Hmmmm, but the fun is in all the hustle and bustle at least I think. My daughter's and I plan a week in advance what to cook for dinner (we like to change up yearly) and each day we do something different from decor, to outside decor, to shopping for the big day, to picking favorite movies for the family to see and look at while school is out. So, for me, simplifying isn't a factor. The busier the better. I love the holidays.

Sorry I didn't answer the question of topic. Happy Harvest!

Oh, good way to look at it!

I think for me getting back to basics is what lets me truly enjoy the holidays. When I promise too much and I get so busy, I tend to get stressed.

Thanks for responding!
Aimee

My aunt and I are going to try to talk my cousin and her family into going out this year. Less money invested in food and no fatty calorie-laden goodies to overindulge on afterwards.

it's usually just my daughter and I for Thanksgiving so we make it our day. There's no performance stress around here. We don't do the traditional Thanksgiving meal. It's a day we are both usually off from work and we have made that day a tradition of trying new things. We both love to cook and try new recipes. So that is the one day a year we decide what recipe we want to try, go buy the ingredients and actually plan the menu ahead of time. On Thanksgiving we don't go with the ordinary recipes. We pick something elaborate. We dress the dish up with decoration of twisted lemon peels, parsley etc. We set the table with the fine china and stemmed goblets and candles. Then after the meal we sit with flavored coffee or hot chocolate topped with whip cream and discuss the recipe. Is it worth making again? How good was it on a scale of 1-10? Can we tweak it or add to it? How easy or hard was it to make? etc.
On that day everything is dressed to the max, from the table setting to the after dinner drinks and dessert.

Bylen

Tradition makes our Thanksgiving, I don't think we'd ever do without the full harvest feast and the extended family round the dinner table and we do put out our best dishes, silverware, and glasses, but we've done our Thanksgiving potluck style as long as I can remember, reducing the cost and effort on our part. Leaning on tradition, our only decoration, besides the nice dishes and the family, is our cornucopia basket filled with produce that didn't land in the pot. We emphasize non material traditions, such as Thanksgiving letters to one another describing how we are thankful for all they are and have done in the past year. We put out photos of loved ones who could not be with us or who have died, on the buffet if there's room, the mantle otherwise. We put out suet bird treats and food from the table for the animals.

Mostly we retire around the hearth for hours afterward to talk and nap, visiting the leftovers when the will strikes. Rather than go shopping or watch football, I often read out loud from one of our many Christmas short story anthologies (sadly, I have yet to come across good Thanksgiving anthologies). My mother will often play the piano, and all the women in the family will want to sing along while the men tend to run off as quick as they can to fiddle with some computer or other. My Dad, being a shutterbug, will get pictures of the table and the family in their holiday dress around the fireplace. Eventually, we'll have turkey soup or sandwiches late in the evening and watch a movie, typically of the action adveture stripe.

All in all, Thanksgiving is a grander Sunday style dinner with a few extra relatives at the table. I'm not sure what I could cut out.