Hosting Thanksgiving for a big family in Vancouver: seats, turkey and the market

Sixteen people, one oven, and a dining table that's usually set for four. Thanksgiving is Monday, October 12, the shopping is still to do, and the turkey may or may not be in the freezer.

We'd take a crowded table in a small apartment over a tidy one any year: a cousin on the desk chair, coats piled on the bed, the gravy travelling hand to hand. It goes better when you've measured first.

Measure the table before you count chairs

Start with a tape measure, not the guest list. Oregon State University Extension's table-setting guidelines fit each place setting within 24 inches wide by 15 inches deep. Measure the long edges of your table in inches and divide by 24: that's your own rough count of plates along them, before legs and corners. If the count comes up short, you find out on Friday, with time to borrow a table.

The fixes are usually simple. Push a second table against the first and let a long tablecloth hide the seam. Borrow folding chairs from a neighbour, or rent a stack for the weekend. We'd argue for one long table, however patched together, over a kids' table in the next room: the youngest guests hear the stories, and the host can see the whole family from one seat.

Plan the meal indoors, too. Environment and Climate Change Canada's climate normals for the airport show about fifteen days with some rain in a typical October, so the balcony is a poor bet for overflow seating. Clear a spot by the door for wet coats and umbrellas.

How much turkey, and when it leaves the freezer

Turkey Farmers of Canada suggest 1 lb (450 g) per person, or 1.5 lbs (700 g) per person if you want leftovers. For sixteen people, that's a 16 lb bird for dinner alone, or 24 lbs if you'd like sandwiches on Tuesday.

Health Canada's rate for thawing in the refrigerator is 24 hours for each 2.5 kg (5 pounds). Run that on a 20 lb (about 9 kg) turkey: four lots of 5 pounds, so four full days in the fridge. Moved out of the freezer on Friday night, it's thawed on Tuesday night, a day after dinner.

So if you're reading this on Friday with a large frozen bird, be realistic: the fridge won't have it ready for Sunday or for Monday. A fresh turkey is the simplest way out. Health Canada says to cook fresh poultry within 2 to 3 days after purchasing, so a bird bought on Saturday is inside that window for Monday dinner. Another way out is two smaller birds: at the same rate, a 10 lb (about 4.5 kg) turkey needs two days, so two of them going into the fridge side by side on Friday night are thawed by Sunday night. Check first that both fit in your fridge and your oven.

What to buy at the market this weekend

Four markets run by Vancouver Farmers Markets are still open on Thanksgiving weekend, each in a different part of the city:

• [Trout Lake](https://eatlocal.org/markets/trout-lake/) · Saturday, 9am–2pm · Lakewood Dr. & E 13th Ave.
• [West End](https://eatlocal.org/markets/west-end/) · Saturday, 9am–2pm · 1100 Comox St, between Bute and Thurlow
• [Riley Park](https://eatlocal.org/markets/riley-park/) · Saturday, 10am–2pm · 50 E 30th Ave & Ontario St
• [Kitsilano](https://eatlocal.org/markets/kitsilano/) · Sunday, 10am–2pm · Larch St & W 10th Ave.

At the market, buy the vegetables and fruit the meal is built on. The BC Association of Farmers' Markets lists winter squash, Brussels sprouts, parsnip, carrots, potatoes, leek, kale, apples and pears as in season for Southwest BC in October. Cranberries are on the list too: the BC Cranberry Marketing Commission says they're grown in the lower Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island, and the majority are harvested between September and November.

Skip the market for anything in a bag or a box: flour, butter, stock. Go early on Saturday so Sunday is free for cooking ahead. For what you forget, Granville Island Public Market is open 9am to 6pm and the Level 1 Market at Lonsdale Quay runs 9am to 7pm. If you're counting on one on Thanksgiving Monday, check the market's own page first.

Trust the thermometer more than the clock

Roasting times are a starting point, but a big bird in a home oven, with the door opened every ten minutes by a curious uncle, may not keep to them. Health Canada's rule for a whole bird is to check that the thickest part of the breast reaches 82°C (180°F). Use the clock to decide when to start checking, and the thermometer to decide when it's done.

Stuffing needs its own care. In Health Canada's words: "Stuffing is moist and slow to heat up and cool down. This makes it an ideal place for bacteria to grow." For a crowd, we'd bake it in a separate dish, cooked to at least 74°C (165°F). If family tradition puts it inside the bird, add it loosely just before roasting and take it out as soon as the whole bird reaches 82°C (180°F).

Share the cooking so the host sits down

With a big family, the oven tends to be the tightest spot in the house, and the turkey holds it for hours. When relatives ask what to bring, hand out dishes that don't need your oven. A kale and pear salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies from the aunt who makes them best and warm sides wrapped in towels can all arrive ready.

Give out jobs as well as dishes. Someone takes coats and drinks at the door. Someone carves, once the thermometer says yes. Two people clear and wash before dessert, so the sink isn't a mountain at ten o'clock.

Then the host eats while the food is hot, at the table, in a real chair.

After dinner: leftovers and the green bin

Health Canada says to refrigerate or freeze all poultry leftovers within 2 hours. That's easy to forget once dessert starts. Set a phone timer for two hours when the turkey comes out of the oven. Use chilled leftovers within 2 to 4 days, freeze what you won't get through, and send guests home with a container each.

What's left on the plates goes in the green bin. Metro Vancouver has banned food scraps from disposal since January 2015, and that applies to apartments and condos as well as detached homes. If your building's bin is down in the parkade, one trip on Monday night spares the kitchen on Tuesday morning.

By Tuesday the second table is folded, the chairs are back with the neighbour, and the fridge is full of containers labelled on masking tape.

Photos by Chad Montgomery, Geoffrey Moffett, Sami Abdullah, Rufina Rusakova and Dmitry Dreyer on Unsplash and Pexels.