I don't host Thanksgiving. I am a catering manager, so when Thanksgiving rolls around, the last thing I want to do is plan another dinner and event. However, I do have one piece of advice. Turkey breast. The whole turkey is gross. I've cooked a turkey once and was not at all prepared for what I was in for. Next time I host a family event centered around turkey, I will be cooking a turkey breast... I hope everyone likes white meat

I inherited all the holiday hosting after my Mom died a decade ago. That and some of her jewelry. I do all the planning, some of the cooking and leave all the turkey/ham or what not preparation to someone else. Because I don't see what sticking my arm up, and into, the innards of a bird has to do with being thankful. www.buenobaby.com

This year I am hosting my first Thanksgiving, forsaking my family for my husbands. He comes from a small family- his grandparents, his mother, and him. His grandmother has decided (in all of her old world Slovakian wisdom) that I am the one to take over the holidays. So, I'm having a quaint little Thanksgiving consisting of my husband, his mother, my son, and myself. Not only am I nervous, I feel terrible. My family isn't huge, but a good size. (10 or more of us ar every holiday) I have been forced into the position to host a tiny little event in comparison in my own home. Hopefully this will be the start of a wonderful new tradition, but I am far from happy about it!

For a look at what Thanksgiving would look like without my mother-in-law's help, go here: http://www.bloodmother.com/2008/11/thanksgiving-to-my-mother-in-law.html I hate the whole preparation for this holiday: the sheer monotony of having “traditional” food and the resistance from those members of one’s immediate family who cannot tolerate the slightest variance from the ridges in the canned cranberry sauce, all the stores you have to go to, the slicing and dicing and making room in the fridge, all the expectations and subliminal messages. I'm a reluctant matriarch. Yet, it all turns out okay. My mother-in-law, that sweetheart, flies across the country to be with us. What a trooper! My husband is her oldest child. That's motivation enough, but she’s also very good about staying in touch with her grandchildren here. Her other children never left Memphis, so this west coast branch is decidedly different. My niece is a Sarah Palin Fan Club member according to her Facebook entry. My son refuses to have a Facebook entry, and disapproves of mine. During her annual visit, she and I go to lunch, we shop, and we have cocktails. She’s open to some new experiences. I could take her to the Olympic Spa where Asian women purify and cleanse in rocking hot water. Then they lie naked on heated floor tiles to sooth away deep muscle aches. We could get a side-by-side massage from Korean women clothed in black bras and panties who’d scrub us down with salt or sugar and pummel us to within an inch of any fantasy of our choosing. I think my mother-in-law might be willing to join me because she’s the true matriarch. I’m just her acolyte.

We don't have Thanksgiving as I'm transplanted to the UK and it's just not done here (nor can I face turkey dinner in Nov and turkey dinner in Dec). But I find it highly amusing that some of the ladies refuse to stick their hands inside the turkey. On Momversation? We who quite professionally clean up every type of caca, vomit, god-knows-what that crosses our paths? Ladies, is this an attack of the vapours? As for traditions, they take a bit of time to build. We've ended up hosting Christmas for the past few years because (unbelievable as it sounds) it was just easier for us to have the clan come here than to pack up our 3-under-3 and go to them for a day or two. (Plus, frankly, my mother-in-law could probably use the break after decades of performing this hosting duty and-- with respect -- our meal tastes better). I like my traditions but have incorporated many others into our gathering -- my ex-sister-in-law's cranberry relish and pecan pie, my French mother's shellfish, and even (though I despise it), the English Xmas pudding (think soggy fruitcake drowning in fat and you'll get the idea). It all works out, though. It's our unique, traditional/new brand family holiday, and it works quite well for us. Sprink x

I have tried to host a traditional style Thanksgiving, like the one my family always had. But as awesome as those Thanksgivings were, I felt my family stuck to the tradtional menu too rigidly, in that we served tradtional items, eventhough no one really liked them, for example: Pumpkin Pie. Every year we would have like 6 pumpkin pies and some people didnt eat any of it, and those who did would take no more than one small slice. Also, there would always be cranberry sauce, which remained completely untouched. Now that I am doing my own Thanksgiving, there are no pumpkin pies, in fact no pies at alll. We are having cookies I ordered from my favorite bakery back in my home state and assorted flavors of gelato. We arent even having turkey, when I broached the topic and indicated that I was open to serving something else, everyone voted for a Honey Baked Ham. Fine with me!