We have Thanksgiving around 5. Guests arrive around 4. We serve cocktails with some nibbles, rosemary nuts, cheese straws, shrimp salad on endive leaves, smoked salmon canapes and a crudités platter when guest arrive before being seated at the table.

Always....always a wheel of Blue cheese, often shrimp sometings liver pate, sometimes a taco dip, sometimes a little smoked salmon. The appys are part of the whole meal.

Our Thanksgiving (and other large gatherings) we serve appetizers because we start gathering around 1 and don't eat dinner until 5 ish. Lots of gabbing, wine drinking, and nibbling all afternoon. I usually try to take something somewhat healthy - our latest favorite is an edamame/wasabi "hummus" with veggies and crackers for dipping. Someone brings a plate of home smoked oysters from their beach and usually someone brings a cheese and smoked meat platter with crackers and/or a pesto torta with bread.

My family always has a "cocktail hour" before a family dinner (maybe better described as a wine or refreshment hour) so appetizers/hors d'oeuvres are a matter of course. But then we would never have a dinner meal like Thanksgiving served as early as 12:30! They are not considered snacks or anything to fill up on......just small nibbles to offset any alcohol consumed.

Dinner is served around 6pm although guests may gather several hours earlier to visit and chat and enjoy some light refreshment. Typically it will be something simple, like a selection of cheeses and crackers, Marcona almonds or raw veggies and dip if lots of kids present.

We usually eat between the first football game and the second so we would have a couple appetizers ready at about the time the first game started. Usually just a crockpot of cocktail meatballs and a Wind and Willow cheese ball of some sort with crackers.

We have our meal between 12-1pm. DD1 likes to do appetizers, so she will do an olive tray, and maybe a cheese board. I tend to be doing last minute things and don't eat any. I'd rather save myself for the meal!

Crab stuffed mushrooms sometimes. I do it as a delay tactic. There are some, let's say, who arrive (ahem) fashionably late. And I like to reward those who put in the effort and if the late ones miss out, well too bad for them

;)

Thanksgiving is the only holiday we don’t typically have appetizers for. There is just too much rich food coming.

Other holidays we will have pate on baguette, different cheeses, cheese puffs and/or whatever. Sometimes veggies with hummus. Feta cubes, olives( which is one thing I’ve never cared for). Served with wine or beer or whatever anyone wants.

I forgot to say, we usually eat around 4-5

I don’t eat red meat much, but Christmas has been filet mignon with roast potatoes and the rest varies

When I host, I would have cheese and crackers, a dip, veggie platter. I used to go all out with hot appetizers but realized it wasn't necessary.

This year (hurray) we are invited out. Not sure what the tradition will be at this dinner. I'm bringing a few desserts.

"Besides, who wants to fill up on snacks when you're about to eat a really big meal."

I tend to agree but our crew always wants appies.

One thing I've been making for many years is a savory shortbread served with a roulade of cream cheese and chutney. Any cheese spread/ball is fine, too. The shortbread by itself is also good. Found the recipe in Bon Appetit (circa 2002). The leaf-shaped shortbread is great but any shape is fine. This takes much less time that it looks. You can make the shortbread well ahead and freeze. The roulade ingredients can just be mixed together if you don't want to bother with the log.

Blue Cheese Shortbread Leaves With Cream Cheese Roulade

Serves 10-12

Shortbread Ingredients:
3 1/2 oz. crumbled blue cheese (about 1/2 cup)
3 T. unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Roulade Ingredients:
1 8-oz. pkg. chilled cream cheese
2/3 cup purchased spiced cranberry-apple chutney (or other favorite chutney)
1/2 cup very thinly sliced green onions

For Shortbread:
Blend blue cheese and butter in processor until creamy. Add flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add walnuts and process just until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out dough between sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove top sheet. Using 2 1/2 x 1-inch leaf-shaped cookie cutter, cut out leaves. Transfer leaves to prepared baking sheets. Gather dough scraps and reroll; cut out additional leaves. Transfer to prepared baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer leaves to rack and cool. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

For Roulade:

Note: You can also forgo the log and just mix ingredients together.
Using rolling pin, flatten cream cheese between sheets of plastic wrap; roll into 10x8-inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Spread 1/3 cup chutney atop cream cheese rectangle, leaving 1-inch plain border. Sprinkle chutney with 2 tablespoons green onions. Using plastic as aid and starting at 1 long side, roll up cream cheese, jelly-roll style, into log. Gently press remaining green onions onto roulade. Wrap roulade tightly with plastic. Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Place roulade on platter. Surround with shortbread leaves. Top roulade with remaining 1/3 cup chutney and serve.

ETA - We usually eat aroun 6.

I don't have appetizers very often (very rarely) but growing up there would be simple things when we'd have guests coming. It would usually be simple things like nuts, chips/dip, crackers, cheese & sausage, a crudite plate, etc.

No appetizers for Thanksgiving because we eat around 1:00 p.m. No appetizers at Christmas because we serve immediately at the time we tell people to arrive. The socializing is during and after the meal rather than before it.

Since we don't serve dinner until around 5:00 and our guests (if we have guests) arrive around 1-2:00, I serve simple appetizers like a meat/cheese board with crackers, chips and guacamole, smoked salmon and a veggie tray. I don't spend a lot of time because I'm busy cooking the meal, but I don't want the guests to go hungry while they are waiting for dinner to be served.

Fun2Bhere - same for me. We eat between 1 - 2 so my parents can leave before it gets dark out. They no longer care to drive in the dark. And if we had appetizers then no one would eat enough of the dinner!

With the large holiday meals we never had appetizers.. Too much good food was waiting !

We also usually have the meal in the early afternoon, I try for 2 or 3, but my daughters tend to skip breakfast because they know they are going to be eating that big meal, and the teenager(s) want to sleep in, so they don't have breakfast either.

I try to have it early enough that the smallest members can get back home on time to "decompress" and be ready for bed.

I do have a cheese ball for my son in law, he likes it better than the meal, and I always have a relish tray because I make all those pickled things from the garden. I have crackers with the cheese ball and sometimes some cheese thumbprints with Habanero Gold or some kind of gluten free chip with some pimento cheese, because my husband is from the south and he loves the stuff and my daughter is celiac, so no crackers unless they are gluten free.

We usually wait a couple of hours after dinner to have dessert, so it's snacks when people arrive about noon, dinner a couple of hours after that, dessert a couple of hours after that. It's an all day eating extravaganza, LOL, and my girls always take home leftovers, so it extends into the next day too.

None of us drink, but Elery and one son in law like football, so we try to let them watch at least some of the game(s). They snack all the way through it, of course.

Annie

I think it must be a cultural thing. The only time we don't have some kind of food out for the wanderers in is Passover because there's no eating until the first food blessing is said. So then we have lots of raw veg on the table (the first blessing is on the veg), and there are soup nuts (little crisp choux balls) that the little ones like to play with and can eat if they're hungry. Even so, my family isn't all that observant, and when I was young, and the mobs were even bigger, there would usually be hummus (we don't hold kiniot so long as they're recognizable and being uses as vegetables rather than flour) and chopped liver with matzah crackers (which are in the wonderful space of not being actual matzah, but being kosher for Passover).

For Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, we'd always have a few kinds of hot hors d'oeuvres, crudités, guacamole, onion dip or some variation and chips of some kind In recent years, it's been the same at Thanksgiving, but I've been doing a nibbles buffet for Hanukkah, so it's all appetizers :). Similar to others who have answered, we foregather and have refreshments.

Thanksgiving dinner used to be 4:00 pm, is now more like 5:30, but otherwise unchanged.

Summer holidays are usually outdoors. The refreshments might be lighter, but still served. We always welcome people with food and drink when they arrive.

Another post in another thread reminded me to mention that we also have dishes with nuts and candy on the occasional tables. Really meant for after dinner/dessert, but available whenever a guest might want a little something.

We could make a whole meal out of appetizers, and often do. Growing up Christmas Eve and New years Eve were very busy days in the kitchen for me. Loads and loads of little nibbles of things. And that was the meal. Now, I still make appetizer like things, but serve them as part of the meal. Mainly, I suspect, so the kids in our family don't fill up up chips and dip and then squirm and whine through dinner because they aren't hungry and want to go play. This year, in addition to the main dishes, i will be making deviled eggs, chip dip and olive bread, among other nibbly things. They will be served right along side the turkey and mashed potatoes. It will be a fabulous feast!

As we all get older there’s less and less. I still like to have a light bite ready. My sister actually plates several small items for each guest which keeps hunger down as well as overeating.

We usually have a late breakfast and skip lunch, planning on a 5-6:00 dinner. We have cheese and crackers and maybe some stuffed mushrooms and a vege plate to munch on.

Many don't like the vege plate, but if you're having turkey, they go right into the soup!

Appetizers varies year to year. My son sent me a picture of a turkey made with cinnamon rolls. The tail feathers are made of bacon. I think I will try them this year.

The past several years we have made reservations for dinner out at Thanksgiving. An old New England inn at Yarmouth on Cape Cod, not far from our house. We don't have people to share Thanksgiving with anymore. When we did, I always made a "relish tray" and have an old cut glass, divided plate for it. Tiny sweet gherkins, large pimento stuffed green olives, tiny pickled beets and pickled eggs, stuffed celery, marinated artichoke hearts...reminded me of dinners with my family growing up. Nothing filling but it was always a tradition.

Most of my guests arrive about 12:30 and there are always those who are late so we don't serve the meal until about 2pm, so yes we have drinks and appetizers to hold people over until the main event kicks off.

Seagrass -- we always had a relish tray for holiday dinners too. I have an old pressed glass dish that I use -- black and green olives, small sweet pickles and celery stuffed with cream cheese and pimento cheese -- but it is passed with the other foods. It's part of the meal -- not before the meal!

We do not do appetizers. People arrive at about the time for our meal and it is early in the day, Usually no later than 2:00 and most of the time a bit earlier.

Sue

I try to have crackers and cheese, hummus, nuts or trail mix or guac and chips or bean dip on hand in case there are any glitches with guest arrivals. I don't put it out but could real quick if I had to. Some folks occasionally arrive early due to travel uncertainty. But I don't want to put out a lot of stuff because I don't want folks to fill up on snacks.

Although I have toned down what I offer for Thanksgiving as well, too much stuff just isn't appreciated due to overkill, IMHO. I usually do mulled wine and/or hot cider so just a little something to go with that, which is what I offer folks when the first arrive. Usually it's just some nuts and cheese and crackers or guac and corn chips or hummus and pita chips. Depends on what looks good and cheap at the market. We just got some huge cartons of guac on sale, I'm loving that because I can't usually afford it. But who knows what will be going on by Thanksgiving.

I have been trying to downplay the food aspects of Thanksgiving and upgrade the warmth and hospitality mode. I have found simple familiar things taste just as good and are just as welcoming as the more elaborate stuff I used to serve. For example, after finally finding the exotic stuffing of my dreams (it had wild rice and feta cheese) after many experiments, all perfectly nice, but with harder to find ingredients, my husband said, "Can we just have regular stuffing, I don't like that other stuff." Now it's just a bag of Pepperidge Farm and everyone is fine with that. In fact my dad was waxing poetic about Mom's stuffing the other day, and that was her recipe as well.

I do cocktails and appetizers. This year I'm serving cranberry margaritas and apple cider sangria along with beer and wine.

Appetizers are stuffed mushrooms (2 types - french onion soup and brie), chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts, and herb and garlic baked Camembert with crackers. I used to do a variety of dips but there was always tons left over and they would get thrown out.

My guests come with Tupperware and I can pack the leftover mushrooms with them. My coworkers will want the leftover nuts as they go crazy for them! The Camembert is a new recipe so I'll see how that goes over.

We don't have appetizers either. For the past three years, we have all talked about making a nice cheese board, but then decide we don't want to eat anything for our wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

I used to serve appetizers, but I make a huge, sit down dinner and found I was dulling appetites. So now we have wine or champagne immediately before dinner (and during it), but nothing else.

Our Thanksgiving is similar to Olychick’s. Relatives arrive from 12:30 on, dinner is 4:30ish. My immediate family eats an extremely light breakfast and then have appetizers with cocktails or wine in place of lunch. Last year most of our family drank spicy apple cider, with brandy.

In the past we had about 30 people and served probably 5 different appetizers, including a vegetable platter and some sort of cheese board as well as a couple of heavier appetizers such as stuffed jalapeños or Brie bites with fig jam. We also continued the tradition of serving my husband’s aunt’s pumpkin cake along with our ever changing appetizers.

We have had so many relatives move away from Southern California the last few years, our group is getting smaller,. This year will probably cut back to just two or three appetizers and the cake.

I'm lamenting. This year hub and I will be reduced from our usual 21 kids and gkids to one child and her husband and baby. The rest of our kids are going away for the holiday. The fates coincided and are leaving us flat. I have no idea how to prepare thanksgiving dinner for four. Alas.

Sorry, sheesh! That's a big adjustment. I would make dinner for 10 (half your usual menu/quantity) and load yourself and your child with the baby with plenty of leftovers. I always cook way more than our guest list requires because we love the leftovers and our guests leave with enough food for days. They bring their own Tupperware. :)

sheesh, that is is an ideal time to go out for the big meal.

Good idea, chi. hanks! I saw upthread that your guests bring their own Tupperware and thought "Now why have I never thought of that!" So simple and obvious, so yes, I will tell daughter to bring hers.

Last year was different too, because this baby was born then and the usual chaos was multiplied. Maybe instead of chaos I will learn to embrace elegance. Well, probably not ☺ I still love the chaos and planning and excitement of big fancy family meals, but hub says he's getting too old and wants to be the visitor instead of the host. I feel like we still have plenty of time to be old and I'm not giving it up! This year I'm going to serve appetizers for the four (and a half) of us!

Zalco, out? That's what my husband said! I don't know......

functionthenlook I made those last year! I'll see if I can find my pic. They weren't Pinterest perfect but they WERE yummy haha

Sheesh! If you make it for ten as Chi recommends, before you pack up the leftovers, just assemble two (variations) on Shepherds Pie. ( If you care for it that is). They can freeze. You can use the scraps of meat or shred pieces in an oven safe dish. Whatever veg you have too much of, some gravy, top it off with mashed. One for you and one for your daughter and her little family. You’ll still have plenty of leftovers for Friday to keep and share, and you’ll both have a quick turkey dinner for when you’re not tired of turkey.

We always do appetizers for family gatherings. My brother always brings nachos, I usually bring a baked brie cheese with whatever topping. This year for Thanksgiving there was the nachos, two kinds of chicken wings, vegetable platter which always goes over well with my family, and Boursin cheese with crackers.. Appies start at 4 and dinner is at 6.

I guess you could say I serve appetizers at every dinner. My family doesn’t eat salad much, so before each dinner I prep a bunch of raw veggies, and sometimes serve hummus too. So it tides everyone over and counts as one of their vegs. As for Thanksgiving, people start arriving shortly after noon, and all are here by about 2:00. Dinner is at 2:30, so we have to have appetizers, else there might be a hunger induced brawl. The usual raw veg, plus a cheese platter and something else.

Some of my happiest Thanksgivings were scaled down ones. Embrace the reduced workload as a stress reduction too. Works for me.

Scaled down means more focused attention. I have a large family (siblings and parents) and when it's that big, there are people I end up not talking to.

No appetizers on Thanksgiving for our crew. We have a big dinner/lunch usually around 2:00 or a little later. I don't want to fill up on appetizers, I want to enjoy the meal. We visit, etc. and hold off on dessert for a while after the big meal. Left overs are sent home with anyone who wants them and there is usually plenty for the host/hostess too!

Another whose husband just told me yesterday he thinks a scaled down day/meal will be nicer for everyone LOL.

I hosted Thanksgiving for many years and we usually had at least 15 and often closer to 25 for the meal. I didn't make elaborate recipes but I did make BIG batches: five pounds of Pioneer Woman mashed potatoes, couple dozen deviled eggs, 12-15 pounds of turkey breast and so on. People would bring lots of desserts, appetizers etc. I'd get out the good linens, dishes and silverware and try to make it as festive as possible. Those were good celebrations but oh my the work, and effort, and clean up....ooof. I was always exhausted by the time we finished cleaning up and went to bed that evening.

As time has marched on, kids grew up and moved out, sadly some elderly relatives are deceased and now the turkey day gathering is both smaller and composed of lighter appetites than back in our heyday. There are only around 10 of us now so we may gather at my dad's house as it is central for everyone who still lives locally. He's 86 and gets pretty overwhelmed with gatherings even when he doesn't have to DO anything per se so that's another good reason to scale down in quantity and variety. A simple Thanksgiving menu of turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy is fine. A vegetable or two, a dessert or two and we are good to go.

Looking forward to it actually, it is all about the gathering and the love as many of you have wisely pointed out. Less fussing and more family time is a good recipe!

Because our overseas relatives will be in the US before Thanksgiving and will have to leave before Tday, we'll have an earlier gathering this year. Yes, appetizers (veggies and dips, nuts, maybe roasted chestnuts) to stave off hunger while we all gather and chill out, then the full panoply: butternut squash soup, salad, a bunch of casseroles and roasted veggies, turkey and lots of pie.

I'm trying to figure out the ruin the appetite part of this. I'm not sure if some of you can only eat bird sized portions, if your traditions are to eat 'till bursting at a feast or if you can't say no to something nice when you're not actually hungry, or what. I believe you all when you say it, but I can't fathom how it works. In my family, we don't go hungry to "save room" because that leads to being ravenous and overeating. For Thanksgiving or any meal that will be very rich or carb heavy, it's perhaps a time to eat lightly beforehand and keep the fat and sugar in the moderation zone, but still eat nutritiously. When we get there, we nibble on the nibbles, but we're not ravenous and don't "fill up on appetizers". Then we eat a full plate of dinner, and even some seconds, but again, plenty but not shovelling it in, in extreme quantities. I did, however, pick up that some of you make extensive spreads where just eating a dab of everything would be a challenge.

Anyway, I'm just trying to figure it out, because it's different and interesting. No judgment. There are as many different ways to do it as there are to cook a turkey. :)

I usually nibble on the vegetable plate while I'm making other things. Sometimes I will make ham rollups. They're so good that they get eaten as they're made too. Sliced ham, cream cheese and green onions. Simple but so good.

I have many, many times filled up on appetizers before a meal and had a much decreased appetite at the dinner. Depends on the time logistics. If it's 15 min. before a meal, no. If it is 1.5 hrs., then yes. And the constant struggle not to eat when there is a big spread out, isn't fun. Which is why I have dialed both Thanksgiving meal and any other food on that day, way down.

Here's a typical scenario. I get off work at 5 PM. Anywhere from 30 min. commute to hour and 15 which was my max. Hungry when I get home but have to fix dinner. Tired and stressed. Have a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers to tide me over while cooking dinner. One hour later, sit down to dinner but really, really tired by then and not too hungry so sometimes overeat. Yes, I know there are some perfect folks out there who commute an hour or more to work every day who have some kind of perfect weekend system where their dinner is ready to pop in the microwave right when they get home, but I'm not one of them. Not saying I don't ever have some leftovers to eat, but that was just an example of a typical overeating scenario. And since a lot of folks travel and experience stressful travel glitches, I imagine it could happen like that at Thanksgiving. Which is why I have simple snacks on hand, but don't put my energy into a big appetizer array.

I'm pretty much with pillog on this issue. They are only appetizers, not a substitute for the main meal, so no reason to over-indulge to the point of being full or losing your appetite for the main course. A bite or two, not a plateful. It also helps if the appetizers are kept quite simple before a big, heavy meal - mixed olives, nuts, a relish tray, maybe some cheeses and crackers. Nachos and chicken wings are over the top for this sort of gathering....much better for Sunday afternoon football game watching!

And while I realize others approach it differently, Thanksgiving in our family is no different from any other dinner gathering. It just has a pretty set or expected menu but is not this massive feast. No one I know eats that way these days.

And appetizers are a part of every dinner gathering with our family....even in restaurants. They are just a very light first course, if you will :-)

My mom makes a crudite platter with brussel sprouts/carrots/zucchini and others...sprinkle with garlic and salt and microwave. It's my favorite holiday vegetable.