Thanksgiving Day Bargains - A Potluck Thanksgiving

My fondest memories of Thanksgiving are when I was a young woman and my partner and I would have potluck Thanksgivings for six to twelve people. This works equally well for single people when you are unable to be with family for the holidays.

A great many people are alone for Thanksgiving, and wish that they were not. It’s a shame that this is the case when we can so easily come together and share good times and make new friends. I think it is in the spirit of Thanksgiving to be generous and invite others to your table, just as the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive their first winters by bringing them food so they would not starve.

I used to ask around at the local university to find students who could not go home for Thanksgiving and had nothing to do. Some of them were from other countries and had never experienced American Thanksgiving. After a few years I learned to always give them a time to come two hours before dinner because they had a tendency to be very late, and I would call them early on Thanksgiving to remind them to come for dinner. It meant a lot to them and made it fun for us. You can also ask your neighbors who live alone, elderly, young singles, and even another couple. Ask them a few weeks in advance if possible and then stay in touch often until the day.

Pot luck suppers are a wonderful way to share the work so that one person is not laboring hard in the kitchen. It also becomes a delight to share with others. Even husbands, children, and others who do not cook most of the year can be given a simple recipe to complete or asked to bring wine, and most will enjoy participating.

Pot luck dinners are lively because many of the guests bring a favorite dish and it is fun to experience them. This also helps the guests to feel the Thanksgiving celebration is theirs, too, and that they have something to offer. Sometimes we would cook together with our guests. This takes planning your oven space, but it is worth the fun. I always made certain I had plenty of containers to send leftovers home with everyone. After all, leftovers is one of the joys of Thanksgiving, isn’t it?