Friendsgiving dinner for plan-less people

posted November 15, 2018 10:56 PM | |

Fri November 23 at 3:00 PM, Greg_ace's place

Spring Garden Park, 3332 SW Spring Garden St, Portland, OR, USA (Map & Directions)

I've been looking into restaurant options for Thanksgiving by myself and a lot of them are doing prix-fixe meals, usually with turkey. I don't want prix-fixe or turkey so I've been looking other places.

I've seen McCormick and Schmick's for seafood.

Fogo de Chão - Brazilian steak house downtown.

Urban Fondue in the Pearl.

I'm hoping that random bars will also be open... North45?
posted by bendy at 2:36 AM on November 16, 2018

I'll reiterate here the hosting offer I made in another thread.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:17 AM on November 16, 2018

Okay. With Firefountain, that's four of us...I'm leaning towards small gathering at Greg_Ace's, with McCormick and Schmick's seafood as the other option. Sound good?
posted by Strudel at 6:49 PM on November 18, 2018

I should mention that I was shooting for a Friday or Saturday meal, I don't know if I'd be able to get everything done and ready for a Thursday afternoon meal...
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:06 PM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hey if four of us get together and make reservations at M & S on Thanksgiving day, then we can also go to Greg_Ace's on Friday or Saturday.
posted by bendy at 12:06 AM on November 19, 2018

We are open Friday or Saturday as well. I'm also okay with bendy's suggestion! If we do try to get reservations, I'd lean more towards an afternoon meal if that works (baby has bedtime at like 6:30/7pm).
posted by FireFountain at 9:43 AM on November 19, 2018

I won't be joining y'all at the restaurant, but don't let that stop you! Let me know what time you'd like to eat either Friday or Saturday if it's other than, say 4-5ish - I could probably manage as early as 3. I'm making what I consider to be the primary core components of a "Thanksgiving meal":

smoked turkey
gravy
straightforward traditional stuffing (no exotic recipes or fancy ingredients this year)
cranberry sauce
pecan pie

Let me know if a "required" :) side dish is missing; and anyone is welcome to bring something if they want. No worries, this is all for fun and I have no intention of trying to achieve a Platonic Perfection Of The Holiday Dinner or anything.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:15 AM on November 19, 2018

Okay! Thursday evening at McCormick and Schmick's and Greg_Ace's on Friday it is. bendy, what time is good for you? We're hauling an infant with us, but the remaining slots are 2:30 and 6:30 - are you good for 2:30?
posted by Strudel at 4:42 PM on November 19, 2018

Strudel... sorry, I actually made other plans with a friend who asked last minute. Let's still plan on Greg_Ace's.
posted by bendy at 10:57 PM on November 20, 2018

I could bring:

- cranberry sauce in a can
- cool huh-wip
- wine
- if I bring potatoes can we cook and mash them onsite?
-- if so, I can bring butter, shredded cheddar, sour cream and bacon bits
posted by bendy at 11:00 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Cool-whip or ice cream for the pie would be great, wine's always welcome, and we can absolutely cook and mash potatoes here.

What I want to know is, who's bringing the romaine lettuce? ;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:24 AM on November 21, 2018

Hah, romaine, the gift that keeps on giving. Greg, should I say 3:00 for your place on Friday? I can change it.
posted by Strudel at 9:32 AM on November 21, 2018

Greg, do you have preference on what we bring? I have to go to the store later today because my house has no food, so I can pick up anything you'd like to have! :-)
posted by FireFountain at 9:51 AM on November 21, 2018

The turkey will take about 6-6.5 hours to smoke, so I'll do my best to get it started around 8am so it's ready to eat at 3. If y'all don't mind possibly waiting a bit after you get here to eat (maybe bring an appetizer to nibble along with a beverage?) then 3pm is fine.

As for what to bring...the menu ended up being a bit meat'n'carb-centric; if you've got, say, a veggie or fruit based dish you'd like to include that would be welcome. But again, this is going to be a very relaxed no-pressure thing so don't feel obligated.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:13 AM on November 21, 2018

Also, I'm a bit light on non-alcoholic beverages - I've got coffee, black and a couple different herbal teas, and citrus-flavored seltzer, but that's about it. If anyone wants something to drink besides those, beer, or wine you'll want to bring it with you.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:18 AM on November 21, 2018

We don't need to eat at exactly 3, please don't feel like you need to get up super early! You should be relaxing on a holiday :-)

Okay, I'll look for some appetizer type stuff and maybe veggies/fruit. We'll also probably bring iced tea or lemonade or something along those lines. For the record, I'm totally down with meat and carbs haha.

Can you message me or Strudel your address when you have time? I don't think we've been to your place before. Looking forward to seeing ya'll on Friday!
posted by FireFountain at 11:49 AM on November 21, 2018

Hey! We have a prior commitment Friday afternoon, but we could stop by and say hi, maybe around 4:30? We wouldn't need food or anything.
posted by Sibrax at 1:47 PM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sure! I just MeMailed you my address.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:37 PM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Let's eat at 4. Start the party at 3 and then those of us who are chronically late to parties will have that extra time to be on time.
posted by bendy at 4:29 PM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sorry we weren't able to make it. It ended up being a longer day than we were anticipating. We'll see everyone another time!
posted by Sibrax at 6:26 PM on November 23, 2018

I get that, no worries. Another time!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:06 PM on November 23, 2018

Greg - thanks for food and fun! We had a good time and really enjoyed your cooking! Happy Thanksgiving! :-)
posted by FireFountain at 9:19 PM on November 23, 2018

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving me an excuse to cook a proper meal.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:17 PM on November 23, 2018