Altered Thanksgiving Celebrations 2020
Well, we knew that the holiday season 2020 was going to be unique, so grab your Enchanted Key to Altered Perceptions. Make it a game! When you think: “I’m sad to be away from family and friends,” look for something positive in it. For example, “Even thought I’m sad to be separate from family and friends, what a testimony to our love that we’re sacrificing contact for our shared desire to stay healthy and safe!” Write these altered perceptions down on a running list.
If you normally host Thanksgiving, you know it’s a labor of love. You prep and cook for days in advance. This year, look at it as a break that can allow for new traditions. Most family members have their traditional dishes they prepare. This year, maybe the recipes are shared with everyone and each family recreates the menu and you eat together, while on Zoom. People learn to make dishes they would never be assigned otherwise. Earn some bragging rights!
Not feeding a crowd this year doesn’t mean you’ll be eating a bologna sandwich. Buy a turkey breast, a handful of green beans, two potatoes to mash, and make some of Rachel Ray’s “stuffin’ muffins.”https://kineticfix.com/2013/11/27/last-minute-thanksgiving-recipe-rachael-rays-stuffin-muffins/ We serve these every year, adding dried cranberries to ours and sometimes using paper muffin cups to help hold them together. Maybe make a pecan or pumpkin tart instead of a pie and you’ll still get to enjoy all of the holiday flavors.
Invite each guest to share with all attendees (on Zoom or otherwise) a fun recipe for Thanksgiving Day leftovers.
Since we have almost a week before T Day, see what games can be played together online. Popular escape rooms are now offered virtually. If you normally host 15 people and are physically by yourself this year, your cleanup will be a snap! What do you want to do with that extra time? Watch a movie together, while apart? Play a game? Make a craft? Listen to music?
Assign each Zoom guest to share a special memory from Thanksgivings past. You can ask each person in advance to recall the funniest memory, the most touching, the biggest food fail or an experimental dish that became a tradition. As you eat, guests take turns sharing, as they would if they were sitting around the table in person.
This week, do an Enchanted Key to Journaling exercise. List 20 things for which you are grateful. If you have more than 20, go for it! You’re feeling blessed.
Wherever you go or don’t go, whatever you decide to do, bring your creativity to the party, whether a multi-state Zoom celebration or a party of one. Acknowledge aloud what you’re grateful for, enjoy your favorite foods, even if in modified portions, and savor the uniqueness of this historical year in which we are major players.
Have fun. Be grateful. Stay enchanted.
Big hugs to all for a safe, healthy, and Happy Thanksgiving!