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Thanksgiving Insanity

November 14th, 2007 by Megin Hatch · 6 Comments

hands holding raw potatoes fresh out of the groundToday I received a 2-page spreadsheet detailing Thanksgiving assignments. Seems crazy, right? Hold on to your hat. There will be 44 of us gathered around my sister’s tables. 44. I am the youngest of 7 children and my mom has 24 grandchildren. For good measure, my certifiable sister has also invited her 4 in-laws and 2 neighbors. And they are coming. There will be 3 turkeys and 20 lbs of mashed potatoes. There will be 7 appetizers and, blessedly, 14 bottles of wine.

Ummm, so would you mind inviting me to your house instead?

I’ve been assigned 10 lbs of mashed potatoes, an appetizer, and a dessert. The dessert and the appetizer are a breeze. Here is the challenge: nothing can be cooked at my sister’s house (which happens to be 3 hours from my own home). How can I transport 10 lbs of edible mashed potatoes?

Should I:

    a. peel and boil the potatoes prior to leaving and transport them in their water and mash them when we arrive?

    b. make them before leaving and reheat them in a crock pot when we get there?

    c. try your magical solution?

I am stumped. I will happily trade my appetizer recipe (which, to use a dead phrase, is to die for) for your suggestions:

Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

Ingredients:

  • 1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil (drain about ½ the oil off prior to using)
  • 1 eight oz package of cream cheese (must be room temperature)
  • 4 large tablespoons of sour cream
  • 4 large tables spoons of Hellman’s mayonnaise
  • 20 dashes of Tabasco or hot sauce
  • 1 large tablespoon of chopped garlic
  • Salt to taste
  • Cracked Pepper to taste
  • 1 – 2 Scallions for garnish.
    Preparation:

  • 1.       Puree the tomatoes, reserving the ½ of the remaining oil. Do not completely puree as some small chunks of tomato are fine.
  • 2.       Combine puree tomato, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Add reserved oil in small doses until the consistency is smooth but NOT whipped. It may not be necessary to use all of the oil.
  • 3.       Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  • 4.       Just prior to serving, chop 1 to 2 scallions and garnish the top.
    Serve with crackers or cut vegetables

    Yum. My mouth is watering. A key selling point is that this dip not only can, but should be made the day before!

    Meanwhile, about the mashed potatoes, - HELP!

    by Megin Hatch

    [tags]kids, children, moms, dads, parents, family dinner, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, family, Thanksgiving, mashed potatoes, cooking, heating, Sun-Dried Tomato Dip[/tags]
    Photos graciously provided by Dr. Hemmert, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved

    • Tags: Activities · Family · Food · Fun · Holidays



    6 responses so far ↓

    • IntheFastLane // Nov 14, 2007 at 10:34 am

      I don’t know if I can help you with the potatoes - but the spreadsheet sounds exactly like something my family would do. My side has around 35 and the husbands has closer to 40. Luckily they live in far different states so we don’t have to combine. Yikes!

    • Sarah // Nov 14, 2007 at 10:38 am

      I vote for the crockpot potatoes. You could always add milk if they seem to get dry during the drive. You could even cook the potatoes in advance and just reheat them in the crockpot. If you were really cutting the timing close, you could even buy a plug to convert the cigarette lighter in the car to an AC plug and leave the crockpot plugged in during the ride. (I admit, that is probably over doing it….)

    • Stu Mark // Nov 14, 2007 at 1:50 pm

      My vote is to bring a portable grill (or find out if they have a grill at the house)… It shouldn’t be terribly difficult to prep the potatoes at home, drive there, then cook them outside on a grill - heat’s heat.

      My other idea is to forgo the mashed potatoes and make any variety of baked potatoes. Again, you can do it on a grill at their house.

      Good luck. And also, this is why I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. That and my family are a pain in the arse.

    • Tere // Nov 14, 2007 at 5:49 pm

      You make me think of my very large family. We’re always a minimum of 50 or 60 people at these holiday gatherings…. it’s crazy but awesome.

    • Thimbelle // Nov 14, 2007 at 11:42 pm

      1. Go to Target or Wal-Mart and buy one of those silly little plugin electric single burners.

      2. Make and mash your taters at home.

      3. Load taters and burner into car. Drive 3 hours.

      4. Plug in burner, and reheat (gently! on low heat!) the taters.

      5. enjoy!

    • Megin Hatch // Nov 15, 2007 at 5:10 am

      You guys are like, really smart.
      ITFL: We come from 3 different states. We travel the farthest from ME through NH and into MA.

      Sarah- the AC adapter sounds really smart. I bet I would use that for many different things.

      Stu- Brilliant. The grill! I will see if they are using theirs.

      Tere- I am totally with you on the crazy. It’s about 70%-30% on the awesome.

      Thim- You think the burner would be better than the crock? I would think hey would stick to the bottom no matter how gently…

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