Last night I was watching "Chopped." The menu was for a Thanksgiving Dinner and the ingredients were less than traditional. In the place of a turkey, they had pheasant... But, when they asked the contestants what they traditionally had growing up, a few said 'ham,' one said 'turkey' and the last one said 'tv dinners!'
What is your traditional Thanksgiving meal? Mine is turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (with cranberries, apricots, pecans, croutons of some sort, onions, apples, etc...pretty traditional!), sweet potatoes, veggies, a salad (cranberry, of course!), and dessert. This year, the dessert will be cheesecake of some sort. My Mom made a killer cranberry pie and normally a mincemeat pie for us when I was growing up. (I haven't had a mincemeat pie in probably 40 years!)
What memories do you have from your childhood of Thanksgiving. Mine was a very large group of relatives, sitting around our dining room table, eating and chatting...a very heart warming memory. Even back in the dark ages, there was a football game on the TV or radio.. The guys would have gone deer hunting early in the morning. And sometimes, they even brought back a deer.
Life changes and we all get so busy with our lives that I think we lose the reason for the celebration. This year, especially, I will not forget to give thanks. I am so thankful for what I have these days and appreciate each and every day for my friends, my family and that special person in my life. I am grateful for my health, which many of us take for granted, but we definitely shouldn't.
Have a wonderful holiday, JTI friends, a safe holiday. Drink responsibly and eat til you burst.
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Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied sweet potatoes, cranberries from the can, stuffing (croutons, apple, onion, celery, ground turkey, sage/thyme, etc) sweet/sour red cabbage, dinner rolls, vegie of some sort, maybe a fruit salad, pie... and more pie before bed.
I guess family is really at the heart of the celebration. Pausing and giving thanks for all that you have (including great friends) is right up there too. Now that I'm older and have lost significant people, they are in my thoughts as well. Oh, and football is always on the tube... can you really get away from that on Thanksgiving?
My buttons (literally and figuratively) are always busting when it is over.
Growing up, we had traditional Thanksgiving fare: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits/hot rolls, cranberry sauce, pies, etc., etc. Thanksgiving was an adopted holiday for my parents, but we celebrated it as far back as I can remember. Football wasn't part of our scene. There were just the four of us, but it was good, at least the early years.
These days, Thanksgiving means taking mom to my sister's house where a huge feast is put on. My sister has daughters who have children, and in-laws who have children, and brothers and mothers and fathers. I'm never sure exactly who will be there (many have other family commitments), but there's usually two turkeys prepared, one roasted in the oven and one on the grill. Plus all the trimmings to excess and beyond. My sister puts on a very generous spread.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas & carrots, jello salad, and of course pumpkin and cherry pies.
When dinner was done the men would snooze for a while.
One year we decided to play Rummy Royal for pennies and that ended up becoming a tradition for quite some time. It was a fun way to end the day.
I also remember having to dress up for the holidays. The one other thing that I always think about, especially now is that nothing was open. If you forgot something for dinner you ran to the neighbors. No Walmarts, Walgreens, convenience stores. It was a time to be with family.
I guess as you get older and start losing your grandparents, parents, etc., we tend to be a little more nostalgic for the old days.
Well letssee: The Mrs. doesn't have to work this year so it will be a traditional meal. The years she does end up working a full 24hrs, the meal usually consists of frozen pizzas and a couple of bottles of coke. That may seem a little unorthodox for the holiday, but it still is something to be thankful for when you realize there are many with far less. Speaking of which: When you hit a certain age, Thanksgiving isn't only in November. Every morning, I see another day, and every evening I see night, is always a Thanksgiving day to me. And even if you don't believe in God or a higher being, you can always give thanks to the guy who learned to put the brakes on your car the right way, and for our good friend Hale-Bop (did I spell that right) giving thanks to the care givers that learned their skills well, allowing him to recover from his recent mishap. Yea, there are plenty of thanks to go around. And they don't even have to mention His name. He wouldn't mind.
But yes regardless of turkey or pizza, there is, and will always be FOOTBALL! When I was a kid, my grandmother, mother and aunts would be preparing the meal while the "men" took in the pigskin contests. There were 2 unbreakable rules:1) We didn't eat until the Pack got done with the Lions and 2)Beer during the game;Yes, snacking; No. We had to leave room for the main courses.
Happy Turkey Day all. May your fount be blessed.
Thinking of going hunting. If I do it will be something from McDonalds or some bar food.
Thanksgiving was always at my grandma's house. She's been gone a long time now and it almost stopped happening for a while, until I took it over.
I think we still have about the same as Grandma did, with a little twist from his family...
with his family we are celebrating Wednesday night at the nursing home with my mother in law, we're bringing in everything, with my family here on the actual day, food the same for both -
turkey
polish sausage (his families 'must-have' for the day, now ours too)-precooked, cut into chunks them browned in a skillet - yum!
potatos of some sort - grandma always had mashed, my sister in law makes an amazing cheese potato thing, we're doing garlic.parsley potatos here
green onions (that was a grandma original, now a must-have of mine -grandpa used to tell us to eat more onions, "they'll put hair on your chest"-oh the visions of that growing up... LOL! the best accompaniment to any potato
Stovetop stuffing, because it's better than any homemade I've had and it's the easiest :)
corn,carrots (raw) with dip/pickles
cranberry out of a can that only my mom likes...none of us ever liked the stuff
rolls of some sort
pumpkin pie and homemade vanilla ice cream or coolwhip
pudding pie (graham cracker crust, vanilla or white chocolate pudding, chocolate pudding and chocolate whip cream on top) the best, my mom's thing-super good
I'm sure there is more but I'm still waking up and not thinking too clear yet :)
I may not be totally traditional but I'm much less stressed, I always cook the turkey a day or 2 ahead, slice and cut it up, crock it with drippings and chicken stock, get rid of the mess and the day of, just plug it in and serve buffet style, no cold turkey on platters anymore, no big mess on the big day.
I'm thankful for so much, I don't even know where to start but you guys are up at the top of the list :)
Making all the traditional things.
Mr. DA does the turkey on the Weber, I do the rest in the house.
Our first Thanksgiving in our new home. Can you guess what I am thankful for? :)
Have invited FIL, hope the weather doesn't change that.
No football on tv when I was growing up. My Dad was interested in fishing and hunting....
Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!
thankful hubby got called back to work, it may only be short time, we have no idea, but it's something and he's out of my hair so I can get the house together for the big day :)
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