We All Know It’s Been an Unconventional Year
Written By: Erik Hale Thanksgiving 2020
There’s no place like home when it comes to the holidays. And while your Turkey Day festivities may look a bit different this year, there are still plenty of ways to feast, give thanks and celebrate—without a packed house. Here’s 11 unique and creative ways to make Thanksgiving 2020 the best one yet.
1 | Make This: Turkey on the Table Thanksgiving 2020
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We have all had plenty to complain about this year. We have lost jobs, connections, friendships and—to some extent—our sanity. There are, however, two sides to every coin. You might have to think a little harder, but we all have reasons to be thankful. This little gobbler collects your thanks and might be fun to have on the table for years to come to remind us what 2020 was really like.
2| Talk About This: We’re Not Really Strangers
Let’s start with what not to talk about: politics, followed closely by religion and whether masks are effective. Instead, play this wildly popular game that digs deeper and allows you to really get to know the people you are eating with!
3 | Eat This: Green Bean Casserole Thanksgiving 2020
I know. The casserole Aunt Carol made every year using the recipe on the back of the soup can is so blah. Try your hand at this made-from-scratch version and prove you did more than watch Netflix during quarantine.
4 | Play This: CLUE “The Office” Edition Thanksgiving 2020
Of all the games in the game closet, Monopoly, as a child, was the most played followed closely by Uno, but Clue was always my favorite. Now, you can find out if it was Dwight with a stapler in the disco cafe or Kevin with a cookie in the warehouse.
5 | Distance Like This: Sit Outside, Eat at the Beach or Go to a Park for a Turkey Day Picnic
Provided it doesn’t rain, why not switch up your decade-old routine and turn your holiday table into a folding table at the park or beach? You can expect fresh air, tossing the football and an experience to remember.
6 | Watch This: Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Instead of zoning out watching football, insist on watching quite possibly the best buddy movie ever made. Steve Martin and John Candy don’t seem like they will ever make it home for Thanksgiving, as everything bad that you can imagine happens to them. Sounds like a year we know…
7 | Call This List: Family and Friends Thanksgiving 2020
With people not traveling as much this year, many of your friends and family will be alone this holiday. Make a point to FaceTime with them, send them a card or set a place for your laptop at the dinner table for a truly virtual Thanksgiving.
8 | Drink This: Lillet “Cranberry Sparkler”
Ingredients:
3 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1-2 tsps cranberry sauce
3 oz brut champagne
How to Make:
Combine all ingredients (except champagne) in a shaker. Then, finely strain into a glass, top with champagne and garnish with a candied orange peel.
9 | Listen to This: Fleetwood Mac Rumors Thanksgiving 2020
If you haven’t seen @doggface208 riding his skateboard while singing Fleetwood Mac and drinking cranberry juice, you probably live in a cave and won’t see this article anyway. This entire album is meant to be enjoyed front-to-back and is great dinner party music!
10 | Order This: A Thanksgiving Meal From a Local Restaurant
Why cook for eight hours and make a mess of your kitchen when you could “click back” and support a small local restaurant? Check out our geographic lists of where to order your Thanksgiving to go in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and Greater Palm Springs.
11 | Do This: Set up Sanitizing Stations
Everyone will appreciate the chance to sanitize as they enter, and having stations that allow all of us to stay as clean and safe as possible this holiday will put your guests at ease.
Erik Hale is the visionary and publisher behind LOCALE Magazine. He launched the magazine in 2010, wanting to give the community of OC a premiere lifestyle magazine that knew all the native knowledge behind OC. “Six years ago Ashley and I sat at a table scratching the name LOCALE (among some other names) onto a sheet of paper,” says Erik, “coming up with story ideas and basically dreaming. Everything we imagined has happened and we have been blessed with so much more. I am so grateful as we start another year for my family, my two wonderful children, my health, our amazing writers, designers and photographers, our advertising partners and you.”
