A lot of juicy Thanksgiving etiquette questions answered

Hello and welcome to Solicited Advice: Holiday Edition! For the next few weeks, I’ll be answering all of your most pressing holiday-related questions, dilemmas and queries.

This week, here to help us navigate this delightful, joyous and often complex season, I’m joined by my friend, actor, podcaster and hilarious comedienne, Kate Berlant. This is our final Thanksgiving episode before we jump into the broader holiday season content, so soak up all of our wisdom before you head into next week's festivities. 

If you’re still figuring out your menu this weekend, I’m extremely proud of this year’s lineup, especially if you’re seeking stability and comfort in “the classics” or “soft, beige foods.” A reminder that if you have questions for me that are more menu/recipe-specific, you can pretty much guarantee a response from me on this thread or the comments section of any of the Thanksgiving posts. Full episodes of this year's special here. 

On this week's episode of Solicited Advice:

• What’s the best/most polite way to tell people to get out of my kitchen while I'm cooking? I love them, but…they gotta go. 

• I’m pregnant and planning on having a little wine at Thanksgiving because Emily Oster says I can and I like to. My in-laws will definitely judge me for this– do I need to hide it, or…how should I handle? 

• I’ll be in Australia for Thanksgiving and am determined to cook a full meal for my friends. How do I pull this off without all my usual kitchen gear in someone else's kitchen? 

• My sister in law doesn’t like me and it’s VERY obvious to me– How do I deal at Thanksgiving? Confront or ignore? 

• Every year my guests finish dinner too quickly, immediately clear the table and move to the living room– I hate it. How do I encourage everyone to sit and linger at the table to talk, relax and appreciate all my hard work?

• I used to be the matriarch of big family Thanksgivings. Now I'm divorced with kids far away and friends with plans. I'm not usually invited places -- how do I give myself this holiday back? 

• I’m Irish and I love the classic American sweet potatoes with marshmallows but nobody ever eats it. How do I make more people love it? 

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