I'm recently engaged and looking for a recipe to impress the in-laws at Thanksgiving.

But here is my real dilemma... My in-laws live 3 hours away and we're driving down to their home on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) afternoon, but we won't be eating our big Thanksgiving Dinner until Friday.

I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2) I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.

HELP ME!!

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:02 +0000, hlt
> wrote:

>I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
>I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
>up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.
>
>HELP ME!!

Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Nov 11, 9:51*pm, sf > wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:02 +0000, hlt
>
> > wrote:
> >I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
> >I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
> >up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.
>
> >HELP ME!!
>
> Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.
>
Excellent advice.

--Bryan

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:02 +0000, hlt
> > wrote:
>
>>I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
>>I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
>>up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.
>>
>>HELP ME!!
>
> Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.
>

Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her kitchen
(be it the fridge, oven, stovetop). The best (and most polite) thing would
be to call and ask her what she would prefer.

Jill

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:32:39 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her kitchen
>(be it the fridge, oven, stovetop).

I wasn't thinking along those lines. I was just thinking of space.
Maybe the refrigerator will be full of goodies for the big day so she
should bring ingredients that don't need refrigeration or maybe it's a
small kitchen and someone puttering around preparing their own dish
will put MIL out of whack. You never know until you ask.

>The best (and most polite) thing would
>be to call and ask her what she would prefer.

Agreed... and help (don't just offer to help) with all the
preparations, for gosh sake. You're going to be one of the family, so
don't park your butt on the sofa and act like a guest.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:32:39 -0500, "jmcquown" >
> wrote:
>
>>Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her
>>kitchen
>>(be it the fridge, oven, stovetop).
>
> I wasn't thinking along those lines. I was just thinking of space.
> Maybe the refrigerator will be full of goodies for the big day so she
> should bring ingredients that don't need refrigeration or maybe it's a
> small kitchen and someone puttering around preparing their own dish
> will put MIL out of whack. You never know until you ask.
>
That's sort of along the same lines...

>>The best (and most polite) thing would
>>be to call and ask her what she would prefer.
>
> Agreed... and help (don't just offer to help) with all the
> preparations, for gosh sake. You're going to be one of the family, so
> don't park your butt on the sofa and act like a guest.
>
> --

If the MIL is anything like my mother was, it's get out of my way and let me
cook My mom didn't enjoy cooking but she also didn't want anyone
"helping" when she was doing it. She'd much rather you park your butt on
the sofa and act like a guest... until it was time to set the table. Then
later when it was time to clear the table and wash dishes <G> That's when
she wanted help.

Jill

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:44:45 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>Then
>later when it was time to clear the table and wash dishes <G> That's when
>she wanted help.

That's the alternative, but future family members should never park
their butts on the couch and act like a guest before or after dinner.
Pitch in and help until shooed off and don't act stupid on purpose.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

sf wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:44:45 -0500, "jmcquown" >
> wrote:
>
>> Then
>> later when it was time to clear the table and wash dishes <G> That's when
>> she wanted help.
>
> That's the alternative, but future family members should never park
> their butts on the couch and act like a guest before or after dinner.
> Pitch in and help until shooed off and don't act stupid on purpose.


It looks like my son is getting pretty serious with his latest girl. She
will be coming down for the weekend with him for the third time in two
months. She is always asking to help. How different she is from one of
my sisters in law who never helped my mother with dinner and cleanup
before are after she married my brother. Hell, she took her mother and a
visiting aunt to visit my parents a few days after my mother got home
from the hospital with a knee replacement. She suggested that her mother
and aunt would like a cup of tea and never offered to help, leaving my
mother to hobble into the kitchen on crutches.

Ranee at Arabian Knits wrote:

>
>> Agreed... and help (don't just offer to help) with all the
>> preparations, for gosh sake. You're going to be one of the family, so
>> don't park your butt on the sofa and act like a guest.
>
> We give jobs to people who are close and aren't doing anything. ;-)

My mother used to host most of the big holiday dinners. My father,
brothers, my wife and I, and two sisters in law always helped out. The
previously mentioned sister in law sat on her duff.

Dave Smith wrote:
> sf wrote:
>> On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:44:45 -0500, "jmcquown" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Then later when it was time to clear the table and wash dishes <G>
>>> That's when she wanted help.
>>
>> That's the alternative, but future family members should never park
>> their butts on the couch and act like a guest before or after dinner.
>> Pitch in and help until shooed off and don't act stupid on purpose.
>
>
> It looks like my son is getting pretty serious with his latest girl. She
> will be coming down for the weekend with him for the third time in two
> months. She is always asking to help. How different she is from one of
> my sisters in law who never helped my mother with dinner and cleanup
> before are after she married my brother. Hell, she took her mother and a
> visiting aunt to visit my parents a few days after my mother got home
> from the hospital with a knee replacement. She suggested that her mother
> and aunt would like a cup of tea and never offered to help, leaving my
> mother to hobble into the kitchen on crutches.

Even when I am a true guest, and not a family member, I have a hard time
being waited on. I pitch in in any capacity that I'm allowed to
participate in.

Your mom on crutches and trying to wait on me? Not on my watch. If
anything, it's likely I would have made dinner at home and brought a
bunch of it over.

Bob

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:02 +0000, hlt
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
>>>I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
>>>up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.
>>>
>>>HELP ME!!
>>
>> Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.
>>
>
> Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her
> kitchen (be it the fridge, oven, stovetop). The best (and most polite)
> thing would be to call and ask her what she would prefer.
>
> Jill
Especially during a holiday dinner. She might feel pressured with timing her
own dishes to make room and time for someone else to share it with anyone.

You could always offer to bring something already finished, like a nice
apple pie or something. Let it be her choice.

Jon

jmcquown wrote:
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:02 +0000, hlt
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
>>> I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
>>> up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.
>>>
>>> HELP ME!!
>>
>> Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.
>>
>
> Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her
> kitchen (be it the fridge, oven, stovetop). The best (and most polite)
> thing would be to call and ask her what she would prefer.
>
> Jill

You will never know.

Rob

Ask what you can bring. If you aren't asked to bring anything,
think about:

something for breakfast -- special coffee, maple syrup, stone ground
grits, hot chocolate

something that would work for movie/football nibbles, a relish tray,
or sides for turkey sandwiches -- olives, roasted red peppers, dried
fruit, pimento cheese, good crackers, interesting pickles (cucumber,
veggie, onions, garlic), cheese straws, cheese, celery, popcorn and
seasonings, nuts, hummus, edamame

Tara

Tara wrote:
> Ask what you can bring. If you aren't asked to bring anything,
> think about:
>
> something for breakfast -- special coffee, maple syrup, stone ground
> grits, hot chocolate
>
> something that would work for movie/football nibbles, a relish tray,
> or sides for turkey sandwiches -- olives, roasted red peppers, dried
> fruit, pimento cheese, good crackers, interesting pickles (cucumber,
> veggie, onions, garlic), cheese straws, cheese, celery, popcorn and
> seasonings, nuts, hummus, edamame
>
> Tara

My standby is a bottle of wine. But to be honest, even when I bring a
bottle, I still feel antsy if I am not helping with the work before and
after on a dinner.

Bob

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:57:22 -0500, Bob Muncie >
wrote:

>Tara wrote:
>> Ask what you can bring. If you aren't asked to bring anything,
>> think about:
>>
>> something for breakfast -- special coffee, maple syrup, stone ground
>> grits, hot chocolate
>>
>> something that would work for movie/football nibbles, a relish tray,
>> or sides for turkey sandwiches -- olives, roasted red peppers, dried
>> fruit, pimento cheese, good crackers, interesting pickles (cucumber,
>> veggie, onions, garlic), cheese straws, cheese, celery, popcorn and
>> seasonings, nuts, hummus, edamame
>>
>> Tara
>
>My standby is a bottle of wine. But to be honest, even when I bring a
>bottle, I still feel antsy if I am not helping with the work before and
>after on a dinner.
>
Folks don't want your help or you'd have known long before just before
dinner. People typically make arrangements for who will help with
what long before the day of the affair, and they don't appreciate
others crowding up their kitchen and especially not with anyone who
will want to make suggestions. I for one don't permit anyone in my
kitchen before during or after... Thanksgiving dinner is about as
simple as dinners get, I have every detail taken care of since before
anyone arrives. I also don't want anyone bringing any dishes, they
won't get served, in fact I won't permit them through my front door,
leave it in your car to rot. If someone wants to bring a host gift
booze/wine is fine, flowers are always acceptible too. But I don't
serve my host gift to guests (that would be very rude to serve
someone's gift, especially not to those who brought nothing), I'll
imbibe at my leisure.

jmcquown wrote:

>> Ask your future MIL which will be best for her and her refrigerator.
>>
>
> Good advice. Sometimes the MIL doesn't want someone taking over her
> kitchen (be it the fridge, oven, stovetop). The best (and most polite)
> thing would be to call and ask her what she would prefer.

I can tell you that we plan a dinner big enough that we would want/need
someone to bring something, the stove top is going to be in use. I would
not want anyone to bring anything that needed to go on the stove or into
the oven. However, there is an exception. We have had my brother, his
wife and her parents for Christmas dinner the past two years and SiL's
mother brought a Christmas pudding that needed to be steamed, and sauce
that needed to be heated up. Since that is a Christmas necessity, it was
welcomed.

sf wrote:

> Agreed... and help (don't just offer to help) with all the
> preparations, for gosh sake. You're going to be one of the family, so
> don't park your butt on the sofa and act like a guest.

I tried that with my MiL before we were married, and after. She was
capable of putting on a pretty good spread, but she got frazzled in the
kitchen. She did not want me in there. She would get my wife to help.
Being a 1910 vintage, she thought men should be out in the parlour or
sitting in the dining room, not in the kitchen. She didn't much like
women helping her either.

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:07:03 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>she took her mother and a
>visiting aunt to visit my parents a few days after my mother got home
>from the hospital with a knee replacement. She suggested that her mother
>and aunt would like a cup of tea and never offered to help, leaving my
>mother to hobble into the kitchen on crutches.

Sounds like a real charmer. Is your family littered with them or are
they all Big Niece's branch of the family?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

In article >,
hlt > wrote:

> I need something that either (1) Will keep well and travel well OR (2)
> I can take the ingredients and put it together quickly without taking
> up too much time and space in my mother-in-law's kitchen.

How about your fudge, your brownies, your divinity, your pinoche or your
favorite holiday cookies to satisfy the gathering. Any of these desserts
can be put in plastic containers and chucked in the trunk. You did the
work, and you don't require kitchen space, stove or refrigerator when
you get there.

leo