How long between Thanksgiving Meal and Dessert?

[Brian Kent]

I say 3 minutes.
My wife says 3 hours.
Two extremes.

What is the good and right and proper all-american time to eat dessert after Thanksgiving meal?

[Bruce Page]

Enough time to let the dinner settle, 30 minutes.

[Phil Thien]

I'd like to wait longer, we're at about thirty minutes but I've got to hit the road to get back to take care of man's best friend.

So I'd prefer dinner, wait an hour, desert, then some coffee. Or just dinner and then some coffee would be nice too. But nobody drinks coffee after dinner these days.

[Raymond Fries]

We usually have about an hour between the meal and dessert with coffee. Any time that works for your family and friends is good. It is just a wonderful day to spend time together with those you love. The food is a bonus.

[Moses Yoder]

What you do is eat yourself full of the dinner and clean up the table, set the dessert out on the island (various types of pie) make sure the ice cream is in the freezer and accessible and then when people feel like they have enough room now they can help themselves to the desert. No clock needed.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Umm....you're supposed to, wait?

Fancy that....who would have thunk it?

We say grace promptly at 4:00pm - ut the general quaffing begins as soon as one sets foot in the door, followed by the "unorganized" gorging.
The "organized" gorging begins with the "amen" and continues as long as the participants are conscious..... ;).

[Chris Damm]

1/2 hour, then 1 hour, and then 2 hours unless you are my grandkids and you can add a few more in there! That's why I baked 12 pies.

[John Coloccia]

It depends on who I have over. If she was cute, might be several hours. If her parents came too, might be several minutes. I'm married now, of course, and usually have my parents and my mother in law over. For dinner, I serve apple pie with a slice of turkey on top.

[Jason Roehl]

We usually start snacking, grazing and drinking beer and wine around 11 AM or so, then eat about 1-1:30. Pie gets served anywhere from 4-5PM, and a light supper of leftovers a little while later. My theory is that you stuff your face with the good food the first time around, let that move through for a couple hours, then you can eat a lot of pie (pumpkin, derby and apple are what get served here). My sister uses chargers as plates for the Turkey Day meal (I think they're 14" in diameter)...one can fit a LOT of food on those.

I'm glad we wait on having the pie--it lets me succumb to the turkey tryptophan for an hour or so.

[Brian Kent]

It depends on who I have over. If she was cute, might be several hours. If her parents came too, might be several minutes. I'm married now, of course, and usually have my parents and my mother in law over. For dinner, I serve apple pie with a slice of turkey on top.

Well, my wife is very cute, so I guess I'll just stick with her good pleasure. It was three hours, but I made up for the time with the volume of calories. Thanks all for going along with a tongue in cheek - while waiting for pie and whipped cream in the cheek - post. :)

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Long enough for a couple games of pitch or pinochle is the rule in my family.

[ray hampton]

your dining room is not a waiting room SO why wait to eat the dessert

[Brian Elfert]

My parents served dessert around 30 minutes after dinner. It was close to 6 pm before we even had dinner so we couldn't wait too long for dessert. My brother and his wife always go to the in laws during the day for dinner so my parents don't serve dinner until evening.

[Jim Becker]

Whatever time it takes to clear the table and clean up accordingly. And honestly, it depends upon how much room is available for desert and how many deserts are on the menu. LOL :D 'Gotta have room to sample everything! So a little delay may be necessary to meet that requirement...but 3 hours? NO Way...

[Bert Kemp]

I eat desert first then if theres any room left I have dinner :D:p;)

[Justin Ludwig]

But nobody drinks coffee after dinner these days.

I sure do!

I eat only meats and veggies on Thanksgiving. By forgoing the breads, I eat 2 desserts promptly after cleaning my second plate and don't feel bloated to high heaven. Sometimes my second plate has a dessert accidentally fall on it. Then coffee, or I pass out from a sugar crash.

[Jim Becker]

I eat desert first then if theres any room left I have dinner :D:p;)
The ever-popular "regressive dinner"!!! Start with dessert and work your way back to appetizers.... :D