thanksgiving away from home in a rental house

[Anonymous]

We’re celebrating thanksgiving this year a flight’s distance away from home, in a rental house near my elderly parents who live in an assisted living. My brother and his family will also be staying nearby in their own rental house. My brother wants us to cook thanksgiving dinner together in one of our rental homes, versus all going to a restaurant. My parents will prefer that, too.

I think I have convinced him that we should at least order a cooked turkey. But I’m still concerned about logistics, like- we all fly in late Tuesday so we’ll be doing all the shopping on Wed, the day prior to thanksgiving which in my experience means a picked clean store and crowds - in the rental houses we won’t have cooking equipment beyond basics, like mixers and potato ricers etc, so it will prove hard to make some dishes and baked items - there may not even be decent knives to carve a turkey - I’m not sure we can all sit down to the meal in either rental (vs at home, I’d pull out card tables etc).

Am I overthinking and overworrying about this? Please don’t say that since my brother wants this, he should figure it out - the spirit is togetherness and cooperation. I’m just trying to figure out if this plan is unrealistic, in which case I’ll talk to him some more, or if I’m worrying about nothing - both could be true, as my brother is not detail oriented and I am a chronic worrier.

Thanks for your thoughts and advice, if you’ve been in these shoes.

[Anonymous]

You’re overthinking this. It can be done.

Check the grocery stores nearby. Do any offer premade Thanksgiving meals? If there’s a Wegman’s you’re golden, but many others do to.

Work out a plan, see what you need. Maybe pack some serving utensils. Foil pans will be your friend. Grocery stores have pots and pans too if needed.

You can do this, it will just take a bit of thinking ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

One year our host got sick Thursday morning and cancelled. We had to menu plan, shop and cook for my parents, my family, and my sister’s family all in a few hours. We made it work…with some planning, you can get it all done on Wed and Thurs.

Maybe consider also doing it Friday if you’re staying around all weekend to give yourself more time?

Simplify your dishes and meal plan now. Place a grocery order to be picked up Wednesday morning that includes any baking pans you might need. Instead of buying several new bottles of things like spices, bring what you need in small containers from home. I don’t usually fly for holidays but we do some long car rides and I have been known to pack a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder etc. And definitely rely on some premade things from a local store and add homemade family favorites.

[Anonymous]

You can do it—or a simplified version of it—but I would find this so stressful and not fun. It will be twice the work not knowing where anything is kept or even what utensils or serving pieces are available. I would order as much as you can and/or scale down your normal thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

What’s the table situation? Can you look at pictures of the rental?

If neither of you has a table large enough to seat everyone (even squished), or even seat most people, that would tip me toward going out (or all going to the assisted living place),

[Anonymous]

Can you fly with your knives & veggie peeler checked in your luggage? I'd toss in a few extra cutting boards and my potato ricer as well! Or send a set to your parents in advance (check out the Cuisinart Cutlery knife set 12 pieces on amazon -- a foodie friend of mine uses them as her travel knives).

Then pick up a grocery order on Wednesday AM as someone else suggested. You can also poke around for a good place to order a pie or other dessert. I agree that ordering a pre-cooked turkey might be the way to go!

Have a great time with your family!

[Anonymous]

Get the premade catered dinner and then concentrate on making just a few dishes special to your family.

In my family the special things are cranberry-orange relish and a relish tray with watermelon pickles. We can do without both but they are homey touches.

We had to go with grocery store catering at my mom's house due to workload on aging in place parents. It's really worked out. Now I look forward to it.

[Anonymous]

Ask the rental house people if they have card tables.

Ask if you buy some, whether you can leave them there after for future guests.

[Anonymous]

We did this last year for our huge family (6 adult children + spouses + slew of grandparents).

We all chipped in for a Thanksgiving meal from Whole Foods. A couple of us made a few side dishes to add that weren’t complicated, ie oven roasted root vegetables, sautéed green beans.

We set everything up as a buffet using as much of the counter space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get the premade catered dinner and then concentrate on making just a few dishes special to your family.

In my family the special things are cranberry-orange relish and a relish tray with watermelon pickles. We can do without both but they are homey touches.

We had to go with grocery store catering at my mom's house due to workload on aging in place parents. It's really worked out. Now I look forward to it.

This is the best option. Order ahead.

Also find out if the CCRC is offering a seated Thanksgiving dinner or meal. We did this last year - but hurry - you need to make reservations.

[Anonymous]

If he wants to cook he can do it, otherwise, restaurant or carryout.

[Anonymous]

I did this several times already.

See a grocery store or restaurant close to where you rented (and has good reviews), where you could order a full meal. Pre- order the full meal for either Thanksgiving morning or Wednesday morning or late evening (if you arrive Tuesday). Wednesday is better to make sure the turkey (even a pre-cooked one) thaws in the fridge and there are no surprises [main one is check what is available in the rental in terms of oven / stove / microwave but also enough pots / microwave dishes to reheat things, foil, etc].

So if you arrive Tuesday, get the meal Wednesday, you could also see what else do you need and get it Wednesday or Thursday morning and then just reheat.

In rentals, I get a pre-cooked turkey, it really saves on cooking time.

[Anonymous]

I feel you are over-thinking this. It should be fine to shop and cook Wed and Thur.
Divide the dishes to prepare between you and your brother now so you can each make your shopping list ahead of time and tweak your plans when you see what the rental has on Tuesday (ie roasted potatoes instead of mashed if need be).
Simplify some parts (ie steamed green beans

[Anonymous]

I get the flying part complicates things a bit since you can’t just drive with items like seasoning or premade dishes.

What helped when we stayed at a rental for Christmas was the host allowing us to check-in early and setup a delivery or groceries to arrive shortly after we checked-in.

See if your host will be amenable to the same. You can balance home cooking of your family’s favored dishes with premade items from the grocery store and/or a restaurant as suggested by other posters.

You can use disposable pans for cooking and serving, and have even these items delivered if your host is fine with your placing an Amazon order or similar there as well.

It’s definitely doable. My family would also divide and conquer, so the other members would also contribute to the cooking and would bring the dishes over to the main house - could help if cooking space is limited.

[Anonymous]

Side note - make sure your rental allows guests. Some are very strict and have outside cameras to monitor for parties.