Turkey Day Traditions?

Was just wondering if anyone had any Turkey Day Traditions?

Every year (pre COVID), the Saturday two weeks before Thanksgiving I would open the doors to my little Philadelphia row home and have an MST 3K Friendsgiving. Doors opened at 8am and ran well into the night!

A well curated list of episodes played throughout in the living room, often with shows recorded from TV with their original commercials still intact (two hour episodes break the day down perfectly into increments that help me stay focused with all the cooking that needs to get done!), But I also would include some of the greatest hits from season 11 and 12.

We always end the night with a Christmas episode (looking forward to adding Emily’s contribution to the holiday selections!).

Anyone else do something like this? :slight_smile:

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There are times when me and my family have different Turkey Day traditions. For example:

Around 2010-ish: We had Turkey Day at one of my grandpa’s friend’s house.
2013: We went to a party house of some sort…? For a party. There, we had miso-flavored turkey.
2017: 2 months after we moved to a new house, we invited some of my mom’s current/new friends over for a party.
Every other year we would just have a nice Turkey Day dinner by ourselves.
Until one night on Turkey Day… during the DREADFUL 2020, I watched the Turkey Day marathon for the first time overall. And I LOVED IT.

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For many years, I’d just catch Turkey Day in fits and starts. I’d be prepping loads of cookies for the pot luck I attended at a former professor’s house. This tradition lasted about 20 years, before he retired from such large scale entertainment. Since then, there hasn’t been any consistent tradition for me.

For 2020, I ran the marathon and fixed the two of us a big pan of yellow curried coconut chicken. Much less intimidating than turkey, and super-delicious. (Mr. Potroast fixed us a heap of peanut rice noodles. [lip smack]) We also had a sour cream pumpkin chiffon pie. (I hadn’t tried my hand at one of those in decades. So I was pretty psyched at how well it turned out.)

No idea what this year will bring. :woman_shrugging:

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Before MST3K we had a big pig pickin’ at my great aunt’s place. In recent years it’s split between family time and me trying to watch the Turkey Day marathon on my phone in spurts between helping cook and eating because no one wants to watch with me.

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I catch Turkey Day sporadically because the day is too chaotic to plant myself in front of the tv for umpteen hours, but one really lovely thing about the latest incarnations is that they’re available in YouTube playlist form so that re-watches are easily possible.

2020’s Turkey Day did something especially wonderful:
they included commercial breaks, but instead of commercials, they played ambient Satellite of Love plinking and booping noises with that really relaxing low-frequency hum in the background. Fantastic for sleep!

Because of this, I found myself putting it on at bedtime through much of the holiday season. And as we approach Turkey Day 2021, I’ll probably get back into the habit.

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I actually love that they built in those little “commercial breaks”!

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Last year I parked myself in front of Twitch at the start of the marathon and basically didn’t move until it was over, except to walk the dog. I think I napped here and there, but I could be wrong. Planning on doing that again this year.

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Every year, we get a Casey’s breakfast pizza, watch the parade and then just chill at home eating tons of food.

I hadn’t really made the Turkey Day marathon a part of my tradition, because until my 20s, I spent too much time traveling between different branches of the family in different parts of the state.

But now that things have changed, and nobody is really hosting any big shindigs, I plan on sticking at home, eating Turkey and stuffing and watching the marathon.

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Your description completely captured that sound and feeling. I need an ambient music machine that can generate it all night

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Breakfast Pizza is a thing?! If I lived in the land of Breakfast Pizza I would give thanks every day.

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I saw the thread title and thought “ha ha, I’m english”, but then I realized that the last 2 Thanksgivings I went to Discord parties to see my friends in the states.

So, I guess my tradition is staying up stupidly late so I can talk to people in California.

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Guess I took this for granted, being a lifelong Midwesterner.

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I live deep in the heart of Casey’s territory. It’s not bad!

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Good or bad, it’s part of the tradition.

I enjoy it because nobody has to cook, and it doesn’t decrease in quality if you wait and eat more of it later that day.

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Even before MST3K, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. I take the reins in cooking and the schedule I plot out is a source of amusement to my wife.

(there’s a lot of moving parts, I need a plan)

So, a morning of cooking with MST3K on in the background, a feast around mid-day, a post-feast nap, and an afternoon of more MST3K and the eventually devouring of some late-day leftovers. It doesn’t get much better.

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Alas, they don’t deliver to England.
I needed a VPN to even access the site - obviously Breakfast Pizza is being kept from the British for fear we may overthrow the monarchy & rejoin with you guys for better brekkie options! I’m sharpening my pitchfork as I type.

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Your breakfast pizza is just a cheese pizza with beans and a British flag on top, right?

(Sorry if that seemed rude- I LOVE English beans)

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I actually liked the food when I was living over there. Perhaps we can work out some cultural exchange program and swap residences.

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Since I’m the one who’s on the hook for dinner (being a Massachusetts kid… I have firm opinions on the matter), whatever keeps me going from eve before (when I start) and day of is non-negotiable (plus the wife enjoys the show).

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Our most important household Turkey Day tradition is singing the Turkey Day Hymn at least once. Drives the dog nuts, embarrasses the child, and usually confuses the heck out of guests.

“We gather together to watch cheesy movies…”

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