Must confess I'm really in the mood for the holidays this year. Maybe it has something to do with missing my kids since they are both off in college and I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like. I don't know. I just signed a new contract and I'm currently buried deeply in another WIP but I finally shook loose the other day and hit the grocery store. Bought all my Thanksgiving stuff except for a few small items that must be last minute.When I was little, we had this really big family. We'd meet up every Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's house and everyone would bring a 'dish'..you know, something to add to the giant mix that was Thanksgiving Dinner. The adults would sit at one big table with us kids relegated to 'small tables' somewhere else. I think my Grandma felt sorry for us being consigned to 'no man's land' and was continually popping up to see if we were okay, to ask if everything was 'good' and did we need anything. Such a sweetheart.
I was always one of those kids who liked to hang out and listen to the adults so being 'set apart' bugged the hell out of me. Back then, I promised myself I would never do that to my kids and I have to say, I never did. Granted we have a really small family now but my kids have always been in on the action. What they had to contribute to the conversation has always been just as important (and maybe even more so) than what the adults were talking about.
Ah, I digress, the wisdom of children is a topic for another day. These days my family is very small. Extended family lives miles and miles away. It's sad but a fact of life for us. I do all the cooking for Thanksgiving dinner and have for many years. Part of the reason is that I LOVE to cook. Love, love, love it. We have the exact same meal every year and it doesn't bother anyone. They are recipes that have been handed down to me from my grandmother and my mother and they are things...rich and fattening...that my family has come to expect. Every year we'll sit around, j
ust before Thanksgiving and I'll always say....sooooo, what do YOU want for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids will begin by saying...oh THIS is my favorite or THAT is my favorite or Mom? Can you fix TWO of those this year? It's actually a pretty funny conversation because they already KNOW what I'll be cooking but they never fail to play along.I have found over the years that my husband and I have developed our own traditions. He is in charge of the meat. He is a man after all, and men get into that. Every year, without fail, he smokes big turkey breasts and I do the rest. I'll bake pies the weekend before Thanksgiving (yes, you all now know what I'll be doing Sunday afternoon) and will fix up assorted things every day from then until dinner next Thursday.
Do you have certain traditions you observe for this holiday? I'll confess, it's my favorite. Nothing more wonderful than sitting with the family for a nice meal. No stress. No pressure. No gifts to buy...at least until Black Friday comes the very next day.
8 comments:
Oh, Lord! You reminded me of my own pre-historic days as a kid at my Aunt Mary's Thanksgiving dinners. There were a dozen adults and a dozen kids, and we would be farmed out in the living room at card tables. When we got older, we were included in the adult group. My Aunt Mary had a big, fancy house and had a big, fancy table. I grew up in a small house with four rooms plus a built-on bathroom. Yep...one of those that was built in the 20's of stucco with a flat tar roof that leaked like clockwork every rainy day. OMG! You just brought up memories buried sooo deep...LOL!
Ha! I had an aunt Mary too. Actually Grandma and Grandpa had a tiny house but looking back it was huge compared to MY house. No dining room, just a kitchen and a small one at that. People were stacked up waist high in that room but I remember everyone laughing and talking and grandma snapping at her son in law, my uncle..RAYMOND DON'T you be drinking that beer in my house!!!!! Then everyone would laugh.
My only Thanksgiving tradition is THE AFTER DINNER NAP. I can't eat turkey without passing out for at least a two hour nap.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family, Regina!!
WE don't have any real Thanksgiving traditions which is kind of a bummer. maybe I will have to start some now!
The 'after turkey' nap is a requisite. LOL. Everyone at our house immediately hunts down a couch or a big comfy chair.
That's the way to think, Kell. I grew up with certain traditions and so did the hubster. We combined stuff and added our own traditions.
the thing we're doing this year with my side of the family is going to make you all laugh. We're ordering pizzas, lol. My brothers and my dad are going to play music (guitar pickin') and we're all bringing a dessert. I'm supplying the beer and wine!
Should be fun! Mom didn't want to do a bunch of cooking and we really just wanted to get the whole bunch together and have a good time. I'm actually looking forward to it, which is a first for me. :)
sounds like my grandparents on the holidays
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