Anonymous wrote:I would buy the meal but serve it on real dishes, with everyone taking a turn to wash some.

My Thanksgiving, at least, generates a ton of pots and pans. I'm willing to wash what it takes to serve it by hand, but not what it takes to cook it.

I'd rather be served on a disposable plate than go to someone's home to wash dishes.

We’d be eating off nice paper plates and the rest would just be hand washed. Kids/spouse should be helping.

This happened to us a few years ago. Dishwasher crapped out the Sunday before T-giving. Thankfully, it was a smaller crowd and my dad is happy to wash dishes. So I bought some festive Turkey paper plates, used real silverware and serving platters etc. DH kept saying "Before you eat something, ask yourself: Can I eat this off of a paper towel?"

That's better than the oven not working! Then, you got a problem.
Even if you get the dishwasher, don't you need someone to install it the right way? Do the dishes the old fashion way. Clean them with your hands and some soap.

Or use disposable plates. If you are concern about the environment, then don't use plastic utensils.

Anonymous wrote:My saddest Thanksgiving ever was when my cousins were here and we went to their in-laws' for dinner (I usually host on Thanksgiving.) I had to eat my dinner from a paper plate. Decades later I still recall feeling like the hostess did not put in much effort and wishing I had stayed home.

Why are you hosting if you cannot bother to wash dishes by hand?

Really? Then it sounds like you’ve been blessed to have such wonderful Thanksgivings if this was the saddest one ever.

This reminds me of the phase one of my kids went through as a toddler. Everytime I told her she had to do something she didn’t want to (or couldn’t do/have something she wanted), she’d complain, “This is the worst day of my life.” I’d just hug her, and unfortunately having more perspective told her, that I hoped she was right, that I would be thrilled if the day that she had to put away her toys, take a nap, or not have candy before dinner, etc., was the worst day she would ever experience.

My parents have been doing thanksgiving with paper plates for 20 years LOL.

And the po who felt like the hostess didn’t make an effort… my god the DRAMA… LOL

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wash dishes. Can your formal china even go in the dishwasher?

Most people don’t use formal China anymore.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t use it for holidays unless they are hosting more than 18 or so.

I would buy the meal but serve it on real dishes, with everyone taking a turn to wash some.

My Thanksgiving, at least, generates a ton of pots and pans. I'm willing to wash what it takes to serve it by hand, but not what it takes to cook it.

Our dishwasher broke right before Thanksgiving last year. We took turns washing dishes and used paper plates for dessert.

Anonymous wrote:Buy Bussing trays. Load all dirty dishes in them and put them in the garage. Then when the guests leave, bring one bussing tray inside at a time and wash the dishes by hand. It is really not difficult.

What you do need to do is to make sure that your sink and counter is not full of dirty dishes in the absence of a broken dishwasher. Put them in bussing trays and keep them out of the kitchen.

I had to do this once. We bought a few dishwashing pans.

My saddest Thanksgiving ever was when my cousins were here and we went to their in-laws' for dinner (I usually host on Thanksgiving.) I had to eat my dinner from a paper plate. Decades later I still recall feeling like the hostess did not put in much effort and wishing I had stayed home.

Why are you hosting if you cannot bother to wash dishes by hand?

What the heck? Just wash the dishes by hand. What do you think people did before dishwashers? It’s not like someone’s asking you to kill and pluck the turkey.

We have two dishwashers so . . .

if dishes are the only issue, just buy nice paper plates (at least as nice as paper plates can get).

If you're discouraged from cooking due to the dishes that you'd need to wash by hand in the process, by all mean, get take out absolutely. You can also get take out and paper plates.

It's also nice to just go to a restaurant and not worry about cooking or dishwashing. There is really no right or wrong here, just your personal preference & choice.

Id enlist help to wash as we go if you are planning on cooking the entire Thanksgiving dinner: we did it for 20 years and it's not impossible without a dishwasher; would definitely use nice disposable plates from Party City or your nearest Dollar Tree If you're planning on sit down with kiddie tables etc.