Martha Stewart recently appeared on the Today Show. When asked the exact time to serve Thanksgiving dinner, her answer was 2 p.m. Sorry, no can do, Pooh! Way too early.
In my family, the timing of the Thanksgiving meal was always a lively topic of discussion—and ultimately determined by whoever was hosting. If the holiday was at my Uncle David and Aunt Em’s house, the schedule revolved around football. They were die-hard New York Jets fans and season ticket holders. So when the Jets played the Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 1972, and they happened to be hosting, football took priority. Nobody sat down to eat until 4 or 5 o’clock. If we caught the tail end of the second game, great; if not, no one really cared. The fun was in watching their household go wild over the game.
When we hosted, my mom had a very different philosophy. To her, Thanksgiving was dinner, and dinner meant 5:30 sharp. She didn’t care who was playing or when. Nibbles were available beforehand, but she wasn’t about to serve a full meal in the afternoon, clean up, and then watch people raid the fridge again by six. Once dessert and coffee were finished, the kitchen was officially closed for the night. Our family was fine with that—it meant we could enjoy the first football game in its entirety before sitting down together.
My Aunt Lila, on the other hand, took a democratic approach. She simply polled the family, tallied the votes, and served the meal at the agreed-upon time.
Whoever hosted, the meal was all about family, fun and food making Thanksgiving my favorite holiday of the year.
It would be interesting to hear what time you eat the Thanksgiving meal. Do you agree with Martha or does your family have a more fluid approach?
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