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Most people have a tradition of a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day.For us, it is the big dinner and a relaxing day of naps and
watching football. Some times we have gone around the
table and named things we are most thankful for.
Side dishes are as much of a tradition as the turkey at our home...
homemade chicken and noodles, cranberry salad,
cornbread and sausage stuffing, and scratch crescent rolls are a must!
Then there's the pumpkin and pecan pies!
But not everyone does this! When I used to work, one of my coworkers
had a tradition of having a Mexican buffet since none of them liked
turkey! Some people go out to eat and save themselves all the work.
(but then there aren't any leftovers!)
I know many people venture out to shop in the wee hours
of Friday morning. (wild horses couldn't drag me out that day!)
Thanksgiving is The Husband's favorite holiday.
It's quiet and doesn't have the month long preparation and craziness
of Christmas. So what's your favorite food and tradition on Thanksgiving Day?
YUM! I do enjoy turkey but usually ONLY on Thanksgiving. My favorite part? Sweet potatoes! I love the traditional sweet potato pie! Delicious!
ReplyDeletewow ~ I love it all....the best part PUMPKIN PIE...and the turkey sandwich later....much later
ReplyDeleteHummm...
ReplyDeleteI have this "bird" near my house...
I can eat all the year...
Smile for You !
Oh Yes... Thanksgiving Day is all about the Feast and the Family!!
ReplyDeleteWe will be at my husband's mom's house(she's 83) with ALL of our Children and Grandchildren...so napping may be a little tricky... but we will ALL be together!!
My favorite holiday. Favorite dish will have be my mommy's russian salad and roasted chestnuts.
ReplyDeleteJill ~ we are the same...I don't roast a turkey any other time! And I think I enjoy the sides more than the meat!
ReplyDeleteELK ~ I love the pie, too...and the leftovers for the rest of the weekend....the best part of all!
ReplyDeleteTechnonana ~ sounds like a fun gathering of food and laughter!
ReplyDeleteEdi ~ I've never heard of Russian Salad! You may have to share that recipe! :)
ReplyDeleteSide dishes are big at our house too. My family's favorite is my homemade banana pudding (a non-cooking kind with real bananas in it) and my pumpkin pie with real whipped cream (I make that too).
ReplyDeleteNo shopping the day after for me either. My cousin's wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law have gone out that day for years. Now his young daughter goes with them too. They leave the home town in Arkansas at something like 5:00 a.m. and drive up to Springfield, Missouri, to the mall and then other stores. They make an entire day of it and don't get home until 10:00 p.m. or later. I personally think it's crazy, but hey, to each his own. I actually try to do as little shopping as possible after Thanksgiving and before Christmas because it's so impossible to get around anywhere.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's usually cloudy and sometimes damp, but I love the warmth of being inside enjoying the company of friends and family.
ReplyDeleteFor me the sides are more delicious than the turkey, unless the turkey is smoked!
To pinpoint just one of the foods on Thanksgiving as my favorite would be pretty hard! My favorites are the turkey & ham, chicken and dressing, cranberry sauce, & sweet potato casserole (like my grandma used to make). We usually eat (ALOT!) then sit around and watch football or movies. I am usually wishing I could take a nap, but it's impossible to nap with my loud family all together!
ReplyDeleteThat turkey looks fabulous. I never set the turkey on the table whole, I carve it before I set it on the table, in fact the past few years, we have said our prayer, then filled out plates cafeteria style and then set down to eat. Saves a lot of passing. I also want to get a couple of extra thighs to fix, we like the dark meat. Also going to be lazy this year and buy the pies already made. Usually I have about three, a pumpkin, pecan and an apple pie.
ReplyDeleteKayren ~ we have extended family that do the 4am shopping! I personally think it's nice to have the shopping already done, but haven't reached that goal this year! Your pie and real whipped cream sounds heavenly!
ReplyDeleteMG ~ funny that you mention the cloudy and damp...The Husband's childhood memories are like that and he even comments that if it's sunny, it isn't supposed to be that way! :) It's just about the only holiday that isn't commercialized and I think that's why he likes it so much.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think I could have a big plates of the side dishes and not even miss the turkey! :)
OLL ~ apple pie sounds great, too! Now I'm hungry!...
ReplyDeleteLisa ~ I don't usually nap either...but the men do...as they lay in front of the tv :)
ReplyDeleteBetsy that is such an amusing new banner! Turkeys of the world unite in safety--tee hee.
ReplyDeleteOur Canadian thanksgiving has passed. My memories and traditions are the same: a blur of food, food, and more food. Nowadays we alternate, between eating at home, or going out to a restaurant (that serves turkey, of course).
It's a wonderful holiday.
Lavinia ~ I didn't even know until this year that Canadians have Thanksgiving, too! And your traditional foods are the same! Ours in this country came from the Indians/Pilgrims celebrating the survival of the winter, and the traditional foods they prepared at that time, etc. I'm wondering what the Canadian history is for this holiday.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite would have to be all of the above, piled high on one plate, of course.
ReplyDeleteWillow ~ me, too!...and then if in about 5 hours, someone would be so kind as to hand me another full plate so I wouldn't have to get off the couch, that would be great, too! :)
ReplyDeleteI love turkey and all the side dishes that you always see with it.I agree with your husband. It doesn't seem right to have sunshine on Thanksgiving or Christmas. We need nice cold weather on those days for the special feeling of the holidays. When I lived in Florida it never really seemed like it was real on the holidays.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are the sides, too. Number one would be cornbread dressing then broccoli casserole,sweet potato casseole and pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream...Oh, I'm hungry now...I love having leftover turkey sandwiches as well. We're going to my parents house this year and I can't wait to eat my mom's turkey. She makes the juiciest turkey I've ever eaten but I like my dressing better..tee..hee... Let's see..Our large crew will be; my parents, my sister and her three kids, brother and sister- in- law and their three kids, the four of us, and my only living grandparent( my paternal Grandmother) will be there...and last but not least, Mimi, Mom and Dad's Sheltie. Oh.. I can't forget that if we have our new Greyhound by then, Mom said he's welcome as well since it might be too early to leave him home alone for that long...:^) If that's the case, I'll make sure and bring Lizzie and Shadow( the cat) some turkey home so they wont feel left out.
ReplyDeleteI'm making the pumpkin pies to contribute...
Rebecca ~ Maybe you could bring the stuffing, too! ;) Sounds like a wonderful time is planned...for people and the pets!
ReplyDeleteYum - so what time is dinner exactly? We have the traditional turkey/stuffing/potatoes/cranberry, etc., dinner plus the naps, football, and pumpkin pie. I have NEVER stepped outside of the house on the Friday after either. That's an excellent tradition to uphold- the staying out of the stores thing.
ReplyDeleteI will make it and fedex it to you just in time for Thanksgiving
ReplyDeleteEdi ~ ok! yum! :)
ReplyDeleteMy wife fixed a turkey breast the other day and my was it delicious. She went to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving today. It is 59 cents a pound with a $20.00 order.
ReplyDeleteCrikey, I could almost eat that turkey off the screen!!
ReplyDeleteCJ xx
I usually end up with turkey and chicken and ham, cause everyone in my family LOVES or HATES each one. No middle ground. My boys couldn't live without my Parker House rolls, made from scratch in a 2-day procedure. I love the way my mother-in-law's cranberry-citrus compote looks (and tastes), but I think my absolute favorite is the candied sweet potato casserole with tiny marshmallows and nuts on top! My husband loves the pumpkin pie the best. And you couldn't PAY me to shop the day after!
ReplyDeleteNice question!
ReplyDeleteI had been hosting Thanksgiving for my siblings and their fmailies since we bought our house 32 years ago. Last year we went to celebrate at my son's home in Denver, Colorado --first time away from home for the holiday!
This year my siblings are all celebrating in their own homes as they have grandchildren and in-laws coming over -- the family has just grown so much!
If my grandson is born soon I have a feeling we will be celebrating his birhtday and Thanksgiving in Denver from now on. A new tradition!
We love a savory chestnut and sausage bread stuffing, marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole, cranberry sauce --s oem like homemade some like the jelly canned version-- and always pumpkin pie for dessert! I always make soup from the turkey bones the next day -- another tradition my family looks forward to!
I never go shopping onthe Friday -- too crazy crowded but that would be a good thing this year with sales doing so poorly.
Pat ~ that's a great idea to make soup from the bones! I may have to do that when we've had enough sandwiches! :)
ReplyDeleteBetsy, I plan on doing a post like this myself. Although our traditions are pretty much the same. I'd like to see your recipe for cornbread and sausage stuffing.
ReplyDeleteThis post brings to mind that I need to start planning what I am cooking for Thanksgiving this year and get cracking on setting up a time-table for shopping, cooking, baking and such.
ReplyDeleteBefore my Mom died in 1979, we didn't have a big gathering, just my ex and me, our three kids who were small then and my Mom. After her death and for the next 26 years though, my kids and I spent every Thanksgiving -and Christmas Day -at the home of my Dad's youngest sister. Until about 2000, she cooked for my kids and I, plus usually another cousin and his wife, kids as well as his mother too -a nice big family gathering. From 2000 till 2005, I cooked the meal and took it to my aunt's house. Then in 2005, she had to go into a nursing home and now, our holidays are just my kids, grandkids here at my house -the "homestead" ya know. Sometimes, my son-in-law's dad and his sister will join us though.
Jeni ~ I was thinking the same thing as I need to make a list and pull out some recipes! Our traditions change somewhat over the years, don't they? Usually, it has to do with deaths and births in the family....or an addition by marriage. It keeps it interesting! Hope you and your family enjoy the holiday!
ReplyDeleteA Mexican buffet sounds nifty! Hmmmm.. My favorite holiday i something called St Martin's Tag in Germany! The kids make lanterns and parade through the street singing songs! After the festivities one drinks hot spiced wine and eats Stmartinsgaense! That is a pastry in the form of a goose:)
ReplyDeleteMarie ~ St. Martin's Day...I've never heard of it! It sounds very festive...lanterns and pastries...how bad could that be!
ReplyDelete