I have this crazy idea. I want to know how everyone celebrates Thanksgiving...(well, I do realize that this is confined to the states...but maybe you can tell us how you celebrate Christmas or some other holiday instead, if you live outside of the states.)
Is there something different that your family does? Who shows up that you really, really like? Really, really dislike? What time do you eat? Is your fare traditional? I really would like to know and I bet my readers would too.
As for me, well...it is usually pretty much the same. My sister, Patrice does Thanksgiving. She has the biggest house, the most money and since she is retired...the most time on her hands.
My sister, Jessie and her husband and daughters come every year. They live in small town Iowa, about five hours away. They come in on Wednesday evening and leave on Sunday. My other sister, Celia, is the only sister who isn't at the table. She has a small family dinner with her grown children and their families in Iowa.
Dinner is always early, at noon. Bing brings three pies of her choosing. It varies each year, but there is always pumpkin and always pecan. The third one has been apple, cherry, lime cheesecake, chocolate fudge pie and once...a raisin pie that I am pretty sure I was the only one who had a slice. It was divine, but well....what can I say? People like pumpkin.
I bring wine and usually a fancy bottle of Amaretto or some Grey Goose vodka to make vodka tonics.
There are a lot of us. Patrice invites her husband's family too and they are...well...okay...the hardest part for me to take. One family, in particular, drives me insane. They have a great dane and yes, they bring him everywhere. What the fuck is it about people and their dogs? I would never think it was okay to bring Socks to Thanksgiving dinner and frankly, I would worry. He does not like loud atmospheres and I suspect that he would be pretty cranky if there were marauding toddlers about. And there always are. The great dane has some incredibly cheesy name that escapes me now. Something like...wait....it's on the tip of my typing finger...YES...his name is Earl Grey. And he is excitable and drooly. He once snitched a pie off of the sideboard and gulped it down before anyone could stop him. I have often wanted to pour wine into his water bowl and watch him really have a good time, but no...Bing puts the kibosh on it.
My sister's children and their families come. Her mentally retarded (yes I wrote that and I am NOT changing it...we are FINE with the term and so is she) daughter is bringing her mentally retarded boyfriend this year and she is nervous, worried that everyone won't like him. I told her to relax. We like him already and so will everyone else.
Dinner is at two big tables in her huge dining room. There is something for everyone.
Turkey
Stuffin (with RAISINS...yes...RAISINS and try it, it is perfect!)
Mashers
Gravy
A dish called cheesy corn that tastes exactly like you would expect cheesy corn to taste like.
Spaghetti and meatballs. This is a nod to Patrice's daughter in law who had a grandmother who served that on Thanksgiving, so by God...she brings it every year and no one eats it but her...but, what can I say? We brought raisin pie that no one ate. You just deal with it.
Yams
A relish tray with black olives (YUM!), green olives (ICK!),celery stuffed with cheese, three kinds of pickles and radish hearts.
Rolls
The obligatory green bean casserole with french fried onions on top. Made with mushroom soup. I only eat it once a year and that is plenty for me.
Many jello molds. I always say that I don't like jello but I scoop some out and yes, I eat it and enjoy it.
Everyone drinks whatever they like. Mostly sodas. Her husband, Dan, drinks chocolate milk and I once called him a Pee Wee because when he wanted a refill, he kept tapping his glass on the table to get his wife's attention. I told him to get it himself and to stop acting like a freaking Pee Wee. He didn't talk to me for the rest of the visit. I was thrilled. Of course, Patrice had to ruin everything by jumping up to get him milk, as if she was his maid. Well, fuck. She is.
Dinner conversation is a combination of politics (with Bing and I the only Democrats at the table...this gets dicey...especially when Dan mouths off about how we have to guard against health care reform because it is a big government program and we don't need that. This is where I ask him if he is going to refuse his medicare because hey....he is one year away from it and it is a government program and all that....), television shows that are interesting and stories that are only interesting to you and your family. This means that Earl Grey's master will go on and on about how he spent months looking for the perfect doggy sweater for Earl Grey and he finally found it...at GUESS WHERE? Yup. A military supply store.
This is generally when I start looking around for the Amaretto bottle.
We all have to go around and say what we are thankful for. This sounds sweet and precious and it sort of is. I once suggested that we had to think of something original that we were thankful for...like good toenail clippers or heated car seats. I said that listening to all the women say that they were thankful for their wonderful children or husbands saying that they were thankful for Bo Pelini....well....it was getting old.
Everyone looked at me like I just slapped Earl Grey. So, I shut up. When it was my turn, I said that I was thankful for 1500 thread count sheets. WELL? I AM!
After dinner, we all pig out on pie. Patrice's daughter in law (the one who brings the spaghetti and meatballs that no one eats) opens her pan of rice krispie squares...another dessert that no one likes...because c'mon...rice krispie squares are everyday but lime cheesecake? Not so much. Apparently, you guessed it, her grandmother used to make those for Thanksgiving dinner as well. One of these days, when it is my turn to say what I am thankful for, I will say that I am thankful that I don't have to eat a Thanksgiving dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and rice krispie squares.
Kidding. Really. Sort of.
After dinner, the men will mosey out to the living room to watch sports and the women will be expected to clean up. This is so freaking unfair that it irks me every time. But, I don't say anything because I really, really like it when Dan, my brother in law is not in the same room, tapping his chocolate milk glass on the table.
After clean up...it's game o rama.
We play all kinds of games. We play charades. We play every game that you can think of where you have to think of words in twenty seconds or give one word clues for things. Any game with a loud buzzing timer is right up our alley. And I am ruthless. I am a sore loser and if I am on your team, you will WIN. I guarantee it. Because I am very, very good at these games. So is my sister, Jessie, so she and I can never be on the same team because we will fight to the death to be the best.
And I will win, people. Seriously. Bing once told me that she would never have moved in with me if she had seen me play Catch Phrase even once.
"You are MEAN!" she told me. "You get MAD when someone can't think of the best term in Buzz Word or Taboo!"
I beg to differ. I am not mean. But, I want my team to win and if you aren't fast on your feet, go have another piece of pie, just don't be on my team, okay? Because I am the woman. I am the queen bee.
Uh huh. That right. I be bad.
Later, we all break into groups to talk. I carefully avoid any of Dan's family since they are inclined to encourage one to give Earl Grey kisses.
No way, dudes. I don't kiss any canines except Socks. And never on the lips.
My sister, Jessie, and I usually end up sliding into one of the spare rooms and kicking off our shoes, unzipping our now tight waisted jeans and we lay on the bed to talk. Some of my best conversations have been our after Thanksgiving dinner conversations. Once, we fell asleep holding hands and a stray nephew came and took our photo and it is now on my piano because hey, we looked adorable.
This Thanksgiving, I have promised to take all my teenaged nieces to go see New Moon. I want to be able to scream just a little in deep Edward love when Robert Pattinson comes onscreen and since my nieces will be with me, I won't look like some old bag who is not acting her age.
When Thanksgiving is over, when all the relatives are gone and I am left with my dirty house (my sister's daughters stay with us...they are 18. 15 and 13...they eat like pigs, I swear and they tend to squeal an awful lot...but Liv loves the company and so do I...Bing just tries to work out in the yard a lot...), I will be satiated for the year. Done. Full up to the brim. Ready to be alone again with my books and not have to worry about the hot water running out or how late those girls can stay up. (LATE.)
So, I am curious. What is yourThanksgiving like? Think how interesting it would be if you all commented. All the different answers there would be!
Let's try it, shall we have a go?
C'mon, don't be shy. Tell us about your Thanksgiving.....
24 comments:
Since Christmas is always at my house, by virtue of my having the youngest children AND being Queen of the Universe, we alternate between my BIL's house and our adopted family's house on Thanksgiving. This year Gramps and Margie won the toss--my girls call him gramps because he's the closest we have.
We will have turkey and ham. Ben will make some truly wonderful and unusual stuffing. Sometimes heavier on the wonderful, sometimes heavier on the unusual. Amy makes Boston Brown bread because she and I (the token yankees in the group) grew up eating it and love it. Amy will also make raw cranberry relish and cooked cranberry sauce. I will secretly also make some and keep it at home, because like everyone else, I like my recipe the best.
Amy always brings the Vegetable To Be Named Later. I'm making the green bean casserole, the made-ahead gravy because it makes SOOOO much, and today I baked three pies--apple, pumpkin and cherry. Gramps and Margie are roasting the ham, smashing the potatoes and providing rolls. And, since it's at their house, large quantities of wine. I like that in a host. We'll also have nuts and sesame sticks to snack on, and free flowing Hansen's sodas. We spend a lot of our time laughing, before, during and after dinner.
Tomorrow, before we go, I'll skype my sister back east so we can all talk to my mom before we go to dinner. My sister will have her husband, two grown children, MIL and mentally retarded BIL, my mom and my mom's toadlike boyfriend.
Oh, and someone has to bring a boom box, because I insist that we listen to "Alice's Restaurant" before we eat.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm grateful I discovered Maria's blog, my family is happy and healthy and my Edsel of a laptop hasn't eaten my new novel. I'm also grateful for floss picks. (Hey, you asked, and I'm sincere in my gratitude.)
mb
We do have Thanksgiving in Canada, just about a month before you do in the States. It was a family tradition that started with our generation, since my parents brought my sister and I here from Scotland in 1966.
Thanksgiving is one of the holiday meals I am responsible for - we split them between my sister and me. My kids and their significant others come, which is my two daughters, their boyfriends and my son, who is unattached at the moment. My sister, her husband, her daughter and son-in-law and her son and girlfriend also come, as does my mother-in-law. And, I have to say we all get along. We also play games as a blood sport at our house afterwards. The winning team is usually me and my younger daughter, although I have played with my sister, who once threw a game piece at me when I blew an answer in Trivial Pursuit!
My stuffing is pretty popular. I got the recipe years ago at my grocery store - they had it printed on a card that they had on display beside the frozen turkeys. I make it with sausage meat, apple sauce (in lieu of cut up apples) and stuffing bread - ok, I may have added some shortcuts along the way, but, as I say, they all love it.
We've never got into the pumpkin pie tradition, but we usually buy an apple pie and strawberry rhubarb pie and have it either with vanilla ice cream or custard made with Bird's Custard Powder (a hit tip to our British heritage).
Man...you can make an ordinary Thanksgiving sound really funky! LOL. You know what??? I can't remember thanksgiving in our house cuz we were always on the road, to see my bro down in So Cal or somewhere, so all holidays were spent in hotels or on I-5 (the road that runs north/south from Canada to Mexico. So, kinda sad really. Though, I did go back to my brother's for Thanksgiving in 2006. It had been such a long time and SIL was really good to make traditional stuff, along with LOTS of margeritas... to fill up my pallate! That year, both my nieces were home and some close "cousins". It was pretty fun... Here in Japan, Thanksgiving is relatively unknown and though some ppl go out of their way to celebrate, I don't cuz I'm a lazy bum! Besides, even if you found a turkey it would NOT fit into the miniature sized Japanese ovens here! So...there ya go.
We haven't had the super huge, cross family gathering since my maternal grandmother died some 20 years ago. Since then, I have always hosted the meal. Family being my husband (until it wasn't) kids and mom. Once or twice my younger brother (in between prison terms) joined in with his family. I don't think my older brother has ever been in Illinois during Thanksgiving since we've all been adults.
My family gathering is small with just the immediates joining in. Daughter has had a boyfriend join us before and there will be one (different one) this time. The fare is somewhat traditional for us; ham, some kind of poultry (usually cornish hens, cornbread stuffing, gravy, greens (mustard, turnip, collard mix), and mac and cheese are standards. Incidentials might be some kind of soup (last year I tried a pumpkin-mushroom--which I liked, but no one else did), a different side yams (which don't go over super great) mashed taters and chitlins --well, there haven't been any chitlins in many, many years. Dessert is usually an apple pie for the son, whatever the daughter decides to bake, and / or pumpkin pie--which yeah, we buy. Daughter does cakes and cobblers -no pies- (yet).
For a time mom and I shared the cooking as I am usually working right up until the day. For the past 5 years all the cooking has been on me because frankly, mom has lost a few steps.
They all drink soda; diet cola for mom, Dr. Pepper for daughter, grape or fruit punch for son. I usually have wine, water, or beer.
I'm looking forward to both son and daughter having their own homes, hosting Thanksgiving someday. It'll be interesting to see what (if anything) they cull from the various Thanksgivings they've shared as children and young adults.
We switch off each year between my MIL's house and my family. When we go to MIL's it's just us, her and Macho Man. The food is traditional, the pie is fantastic and the whole day is very low-key. Macho Man is obnoxious, as always, and my boys drive him crazy, as always. If the weather is anything close to tolerable, we take them to a local park for the afternoon to get out of the house for a bit. We escape as soon as graciously possible on Friday afternoon. Mr. EM loves his mom, but in small doses, and Macho Man tolerates our kids, but in small doses. It's just better if our visit is short and sweet.
On my side, we always ate an early dinner at my grandma's house. My dad has 4 siblings, all married with at least 2 of children, some of which are now married with their own children...all in all around 25-30 people. Low-key, it wasn't. It was loud and crowded and there was lots of hugging. The food was traditional and plentiful. The little kids ran around outside, regardless of the weather, and usually the adults took a walk around the now-defunct farm. This is the first year without Grandma and we're all going to be at an uncle's house, because his semi-bitchy wife insisted, and the house is WAY too small to accomodate so many people so we'll just have to see how it all goes. On Friday we visit with my mom's side of the family at my rich uncle's kick-ass house where the wine flows freely and the food is on the fancy side of traditional. These are relatives I only see every other year, so I always look forward to it. Mr. EM and my rich uncle have the same taste in music and whiskey so he actually looks forward to it too. It's usually a late night and we usually have a headache in the morning. Not too shabby!
Have a great Thanksgiving, Maria! And, btw, I just wrote a post about how thankful I am for my lip balm, so I totally get where you're coming from with your sheets. Great minds, I tell ya'.
Yours actually sounds delightful. I see where you get all full up but enjoying the fam and being grateful for them is what it's about, isnt it? You can read about mine over at my place. Kick off your shoes and visit a spell. :)
Thanksgiving has always been an orphan holiday in my family. It was the first holiday I ever spent without my children (I stayed home and cried). The kids spent years having thanksgiving at their dads.
When I met my partner, Thanksgiving was her family's "big" celebration, because her sister and brother-in-law had commitments on the religious holidays. Over the years we have had dinner with her parents, then moved to coming over the day before to make most of the dinner, then making the whole dinner at our house and trekking it over there. The last couple of years we drove the 3 hours to her sisters, and had our turkey there. This year we will do the noon meal at the rehab with her dad, and then have Turkey day on our own on Friday.
There is not much beyond the food and conversation, but the conversation is always varied....between football and politics. Heated often, and then....its time to go...home, to relax.
I love the idea of Thanksgiving - it sounds like all the good bits of Christmas without the bad bits. Apart from the games. Our Christmas last year involved playing Taboo and I think that could be why "Christmas is gonna be different this year." What can I say, it was girls against boys - we HAD to win!
Alas, here in England it's just another Thursday. But I might just treat myself to something tasty for lunch and be thankful that my boss is away today.
Happy Thanksgiving
What an incredibly fun post. I loved getting a peek at your Thanksgiving. And let me say, I wish I could go see New Moon with you!!!
I admit to having some respect for the bearer of the crazy spaghetti and meatballs. That kinda takes cojones. Plus, it adds a certain eccentric note to the proceedings. I like eccentricity.
Also you made me laugh at your attempt to enliven the "what are we thankful for" portion of the evening. I would've totally gone for it!
My thanksgiving is at my sister's house deep in Brooklyn, and her gigantic extended family is comprised of foodies and gourmands and gourmets, so the food is always insanely elegant and fancy. This year, just to provide a point-counterpoint, I am going to bring some of my best "down home" (I say that euphemistically) cooking--ambrosia "salad" and frito pie. Yes, I kid you not. I'd like to see who eats it. I bet the frito pie is gone within minutes.
Anyway...I will be back to check out the other Thanksgiving celebrations.
Happy thanksgiving Maria!
With a dinner party this big, you could play Werewolves of Miller Hollow. It's a REALLY fun game, but you need at least eight people to play.
Happy Thanksgiving Maria. I'm thankful for the gift of your blog.
Diwali for me is pretty similar to your Thanksgiving. Only, the host doesnt expect the guests to bring anything except dessert. So, this year we had two Diwali feasts - my in-laws side of the family took us out to a restaurant and my family invited us home for chicken biryani, fried fish, prawn curry, curd raita (salad), puris (deep fried flat bread) and a dry potato curry, two kinds of sweets (one of which we carried). The sweet dish we took was thickened milk with custard apples (seedless) - my husband really loves it and so do I. We'd had the same dish at our wedding.
We alternate Thanksgivings between spending them with my family and spending them with my husband's. My family is very, very small--just my dad and my brother, his wife, and sometimes his daughter (from his first marriage), with my husband and 2 boys. That's it. This year, we'll go to my brother's. Right now, I'm a little nervous about it. My father has a new girlfriend who doesn't much like us, and she's supposed to be coming along. She seems to think we don't talk to her. We talk to everyone--we don't direct conversation much to particular people at the table when we're eating. She takes offense to this and has complained copiously about us in the past to my dad. So...I hope it all goes well today. I was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at my brother's, but now, I'm apprehensive about it all. No matter what, though, I'll enjoy having a nice big piece of pecan pie with whipped cream tonight and a glass of good riesling. Maybe that'll take the edge off... Since you asked, other favorite foods at our table include turkey (of course), dressing, creamed spinach topped with hard-boiled egg slices, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, oyster dressing, and lots of different desserts, especially pumpkin pie.
Happy Thanksgiving, Maria.
Thanks for that loophole about other Holidays also being allowed, Maria!
Christmas is our one family holiday we "all" gather for. And I put that in quotation marks because as of some years now, all is just my brother, my parents, the dog (Babette) and me. But when I was a kid, boy howdy did we do it differently! I'm gonna tell you about that, because it's more fun and more traditional. Usually, one or two people from our French family/friends would come to Munich around Christmas time. Then, on the 24th, my parents would pack half of our presents in the car and we'd all drive to my grandparents. They'd have a huge tree, brightly lit with real candles (until the year my little cousin burned down the roof of my grandfather's clinic, after that year, no more real candles at Christmas - or ever) and a sea of presents under it. All my father's siblings and their children would be there. In the late afternoon, as soon as it was dark outside, we'd rip into the presents. Then, an early dinner. Every year, it was goose, redbeet and a choice of mashed potatoes or Knödel, all of which was slathered in gravy. Very, very German!! Then we'd have a conversation over desert, which my parents always made. It was "rote Grütze", which is a cold, sweet red berries stew that is eaten with vanilla sauce or ice cream. It's a traditional northern German dish. Afterwards, we'd drive pack, the car chock-full of presents and our pockets chock-full with money (my grandparents have always liked to gift everybody money). On the 25th, we'd have the French half of our Christmas, because Germans celebrate on the 24th but the French on the 25th. The family would have a lavish breakfast, then spend the rest of the day cooking, having some real conversations (not the small-talk at my grandparents') and generally enjoying each other's company. At night, after a late dinner which could last for hours, my brother and me would finally get to open the other half of our presents, while my parents finally gave each other their presents.
I have actually "celebrated" Thanksgiving once, a few years ago. This was during my time with an English-speaking acting group, all of which I loved dearly. Naturally, most of them did celebrate Thanksgiving and since we had the rehearsal on that day, I took the opportunity to tell them all how thankful I was to have them in my life. No pecan pie involved though. :)
Cheers,
Anna
Just when I thought I had no fodder for my blog, you inspired me to ponder this subject of traditions. It's longer than a comment, but if you're interested, have a look:
http://rhapsodyinbeige.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/happy-thanksgiving-to-my-neighbours-to-the-south/
Happy Thanksgiving!
Christmas Day is the big thing in my country. I'll give you some background on my family so you can understand how many people end up in my parents house.
My Grandmother (last name Campbell) came from England in 1945 with three daughters. She was a single mother (very very unusual in those days) and managed to raise her children all by herself in Trinidad. They were dirt poor for a very very long time. Being in this position and living in Trinidad, family becomes so very important. I joke that we're the Campbell Mafia.
So the extended family (of about 15 people) ends up at my parents house for lunch. This gives the kids enough time to play with their new toys in the morning. We eat ham, pastelles, drink lots of ponche-creme and then when macajuel syndrome hits (a macajuel is a large boa constrictor, they eat a large meal and then sleep it off)we stumble off to various beds and sleep for an hour or two. Then at about 4 o'clock, the music gets turned back on, people start stumbling back outside and getting back into the swing of things.
Every now and then, a good song comes up on the radio and couples will start dancing for a bit.
It's always a great day and my favourite time of year.
Omg, I just realised the thousands of mistakes I made in that post. Have desert? Sure, with extra fine sand and tumbleweeds...
But most importantly, I made a huge mistake in forgetting to say this: have a wonderful Thanksgiving Maria (and Liv and Bing and Socks)!!! I, for one, am truly thankful to have your blog to read and your kind, wise comments every once in a while on mine. You rock, woman!!
i am home alone, but not crying. there is always lots to be thankful for if you really think about it.
victoria
For the last few years we've been having Thanksgiving at the restaurant and inviting any 'strays' who might need a place to go.
I like doing it there because the house doesn't get wrecked, and because the cooking and cleanup is just so much easier.
This year's menu was roasted duckling, candied sweet potatoes, cranberry-stuffed roasted acorn squash, cornbread dressing, baked brie en croute, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pies.
That is how spaghetti ends up being a Thanksgiving tradition. Every year I do this, cook for hours and, though I enjoy it, I do wonder why I do it. The kids would be just as happy with anything...as long as the pie was still there. For her family's Thanksgiving, my sister has made lasagna for years.
Actually this post and the responses to it have given me an idea of what to do next year...spaghetti, frito pie, knodel, and pies, of course.
Our family is small – just my mom, my brother and me. We’ve spent the past five Thanksgivings at my brother & SIL's house in Washington DC. My SIL's family comes in from the west coast, so there's 12 of us, Mom and me, Brother, SIL and their two kids, plus SIL's parents, Grandma and Papa, plus SIL’s sister (Auntie) and her husband (Uncle) and their two kids.
Today was also Nephew's 5th birthday, so there was a small birthday party for him at 2:30. I left my house a 1pm to pick up Mom and make the drive to DC. A few of Nephew’s classmates were invited with their parents. There were games, juice and cupcakes for the children.
When the party ended around 3:30 the family was left to wait for dinner. There were no snacks, appetizers or munchies. We were offered drinks: white wine, diet coke or bottled water.
As in the previous years, Uncle and his 14-year-old daughter did all the cooking. The house smelled wonderful, which made our empty stomachs grumble even more as we counted down to 6pm dinner time.
SIL, Auntie, Grandma and Papa argued loudly about a couple of topics best left unmentioned here. SIL twice stomped upstairs to her bedroom. Auntie went for two walks to cool off. Grandma and Papa drank wine, Papa pretended to doze on the sofa. The television blared the whole time, sound ricocheting off the walls and hardwood floors.
My mother twice told me she was ready to leave. I told her we had to stay for dinner.
Finally dinnertime arrived. The amount of food was generous, but most of the preparations spare. We had turkey, stuffing with mushrooms and cranberries, gravy, steamed carrots, green beans and peas, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes topped with mini-marshmallows, plain baked sweet potatoes and Grandma’s bright pink Jello mold (eaten only by Grandma and 3-year-old Niece). Beverages were white wine and water.
We then had to wait for dessert until Grandma and Brother packed up the leftovers, loaded the dishwasher, scoured the pots and cleaned the kitchen.
Dessert was homemade pecan pie served plain (no whipped cream or ice cream) and my mom’s double-chocolate biscotti. Coffee and tea were not offered. We drank more water.
Mom and I left around 8. I dropped her at her door around 9. Usually I enjoy Thanksgiving with SIL’s family, but this year’s arguing coupled with the earlier pre-school birthday party and the hour-long rehash on the drive home made for a very long, and sometimes unpleasant, day.
Hope your day was more pleasant than mine, Maria. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Bing and Liv...and please give Socks a nice belly rub for me.
:^D
Well, I'm not shy but I AM chock full o' sloth.
Consequently, I'll just offer two links to two different Thanksgivings:
http://tinyurl.com/y9s95go
http://tinyurl.com/y8spsmc
This year? I volunteered to work at a local soup kitchen. I've not yet come off the "high" (tryptophan and otherwise).
I have only been to one Thanksgiving, it was here in Oz and given by an American workmate of my missus.
She served turkey, mashed potatoes, beans(what you call green beans), gravy and a pumpkin pie with a marshmallow topping for dessert.
It was a culinary experience as well as a very nice time.
I absolutely adore Thanksgiving. I haven't always, but it became my favorite in the lean years when Christmas just made me cry. Our menu every year is exactly. the. same. I've tried new things here and there, but it throws things off in the universe if there isn't enough cream of mushroom soup-containing casseroles on the table. The only thing that varies is sometimes we have a ham, sometimes we don't. This year we did and it was a spectacular one at that.
So, our menu: Turkey, sometimes ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli and rice casserole (the kids' favorite, hands down), gravy with and without giblets, and dressing,which is sometimes good, sometimes okay, and this year's offering, which was almost bleh (what self-respecting 45-year-old southern woman doesn't have a dressing recipe to die for? That would be me), OH, and the obligatory sweet potatoes with marshmallows and cranberry sauce. OH, and deviled eggs...a must have.
In the sweets category, we have fruit salad, two varieties, one with everything and one hold the coconut and pineapple for my Longhorn. The fruit salad making has been passed down to the kids. I love it when they join me in the kitchen to cut the fruit while I work on the casseroles. This year, everyone helped out a lot. It surely does make mother not so gripy by the time it's time to eat when she has some help (and I think that after all these years, they finally got that memo).
For desserts, we (usually) keep it traditional around here. Pies: Pumpkin and pecan, though I did throw a frozen Andes Mint pie in the mix this year that was a large hit.
Our Rachel says our blessing every year because as pray-ers go, that girl can say a good prayer. I sit there quietly thankful, but smiling broadly while she asks the blessing because dangit, she's that good at it.
After we eat, it's football for some and Top Chef Thanksgiving special for others, and then the UT vs A&M game, where we all just trash Aggies for a few hours (i have a Longhorn and Casey is marrying an Aggie. This will always be our Thanksgiving tradition).
Our yesterday didn't wrap up til midnight and it was glorious. Except the part where Kelly's (the college freshman, for now) trashy little friend Bailey came over to regale us with talk about her cousin and her baby daddy (her words, not mine) and how she had a nuva ring in but it didn't work and now they have all these kids they didn't want and another one they are probably going to give away...Pretty clear that that one doesn't have an edit button in her head.
but other than that, glorious and wonderful. I do love the ones when all the girls are here better than the ones where it is just Rob and Dane and I. It's just so much more fun with a houseful...and I think I like it that way because growing up, it was just mother and I and I always longed for a big noisy crowd :-)
Ah - well Thanksgiving went from being a complicated affair to something simple. Joey and I are not close to our blood relatives so we hung out with friends. Last year we hosted and had friends who decided to stay in town over for dinner. Ironically, two sets of those friends have moved on and we are no longer close to them. This year was spent with new friends, Ellen and Laura at Ellen's house. We all decided to contribute what we wanted to make. Joey made a divine pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole (without the mushroom soup - a little healthier version), dressing and sweet potatoes. We took all of this over to Ellen's around noon but didn't sit down to eat until almost three. Ellen got a farm fresh turkey and brined it. It was so tender - probably the best I had ever had. Laura made mac and cheese and they had stayed up until 3 a.m. that morning to cook this ham that was also excellent.
So, that's our Thanksgiving - I will let you know what we do for Christmas but it will most definitely be centered around the boy opening up his presents and us playing rock band!
Hey, I like the idea of thinking of something original that you're thankful for--I actually wrote about that on my blog right before Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for the people I see every day (but don't really know all that well) that help me out in so many little ways. :)
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