Remembering Thanksgiving 2.1

Ah, memories of happy times. The very first time Americans decided to come together to celebrate their gratitude for having friends. It seems like so long ago on that December night.
  Thanksgiving 2.0 started with me wanting to bring my family's style of Thanksgiving to my friends. Specifically the friends who do not have larger or . . . nicer family gatherings. I had heard some wonderful stories of dinner at that beacon of family fun and plain tasting food, The Old Country Buffet. I don't think that many people really like that as their families traditional dinner site (please correct me if you feel differently). The OCB is no Shady Maple, that's for sure. Now there is somewhere worth going to with 50 people. How awesome would that be?! Anyway. The stories I heard did not exactly convey fun, family and good times. That's when the idea came to me. A fun friends only post-Thanksgiving party. And that was all it was going to be at first. I hadn't planned on it becoming the holiday sequel juggernaut that it has become.
   That original party was just a fried party, as in fried foods not people. I didn't even make a turkey or anything remotely related to the holiday. So I had a whole fried menu lined up: fried chicken wings, fried fish, french fries, sweet potato fries, broccoli, cauliflower, onion rings, Oreos, Twinkies (my favorite), funnel cakes and assorted candy bars. I believe that was the first time I had 20+ people over for an event. I didn't make quite enough food, but that is what take-out is for. Everyone had lots of dessert fried foods, but not enough main meal items. I think we had a few funny movies running in the living room. I never left the kitchen, so I don't remember which ones. Let's just say it was a Mighty Ducks marathon. The dining room was the usual talking circle. I think it was cold that year so few people were outside. Fun was had by most (and me) and that was all that mattered.
  Overall, I thought it went well. I learned what not to do and what I wanted to do again. I found I did not want to stand over a fryer all night. I prefer being busy at party-like events, but not that busy.  I saw some things that worked. The outside space for drinks is perfect. A table set up on the porch is ten times better than having people go into the fridge all night. I saw that our friends can be invited to the same events. They may not interact a whole lot, but they are civil with one another and I will take that every time. That was the night I decided to try again next year, but make it so I was doing a lot less work. Which in hindsight is funny because I now do considerably more work, but have a better time.That's funny : ).