A Traditional Thanksgiving
I absolutely love Thanksgiving and everything about it – Thanksgiving recipes, all the planning, having my family and friends over for the big meal, having them back over for leftovers, and even all the hustle and bustle involved. Thanksgiving is my second-favorite day of the whole year, in fact, with Christmas Eve ranking at numero uno. There’s just something special about autumn to me. It’s such a warm, cozy time. The nights are getting chilly enough to don a sweater and to enjoy a crackling fire – indoors or on the patio. Apples, pumpkins, colorful gourds, and shocks of Indian corn can be seen all around town, and most of the stores are already gearing up for Christmas.
We always have a traditional Thanksgiving – call it an old fashioned Thanksgiving, if you will. Our front porch and front yard are always adorned with pumpkins, maize, gourds, and scarecrows, and we place a large Thanksgiving wreath on the door. Inside, the tables, mantles, and buffet are all decorated, too. My husband, Johnny, always smokes a turkey and a ham, and we usually fry a turkey or two, also. I make my southern cornbread dressing, which we all look forward to for weeks. I also make a wonderful corn casserole, yeast rolls, gravy, and desserts. Our traditional desserts include pecan pie, cream cheese-pumpkin pie, traditional pumpkin pie, and sweet potato pie. My daughters bring their own favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and southern desserts, which usually include mushroom-rice casserole, squash casserole, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, banana pudding, and deviled eggs. I round out the meal with garden peas, congealed salad, spiced apples, sweet iced tea, and plenty of cranberry sauce. This is our traditional Thanksgiving menu, although we sometimes mix it up a bit. I like to try a couple of new Thanksgiving recipes every year, just for some variety. By the way, once I complete the Thanksgiving recipes section on the site, all the above recipes will be available. Several are already here!
We serve Thanksgiving dinner buffet style, on my long counter in the breakfast room. Everyone sits wherever they can find a spot – in the dining room, in the breakfast room, or at the kiddie table. If the weather is nice, several guests usually sit on the deck to eat. The big meal is always served at high noon. My three daughters have to go to their in-laws for Thanksgiving supper, so we have to eat fairly early.
My oldest daughter usually says the prayer before the meal, and we all try to be grateful for our blessings. Like every family on earth, we have our problems, but we are truly blessed. We’re thankful that we have each other and that we have plenty of food to eat. There are millions of hungry people around the world who would love to share in our bounty!
Once everyone is stuffed and the food is put away, we usually end up outdoors, where all the kids run and play. I have eight grandchildren, and other kids are usually in attendance, too, so there are plenty of playmates to go around. While the kids are playing, the adults chat about Christmas and other topics. By mid-afternoon, all our guests leave, and Johnny and I normally take a nap. We’re exhausted at this point!
When we wake up from our much-needed slumber, we usually watch a Christmas movie to jump-start our Christmas season. If there’s a good football game on TV, we’ll make ourselves a couple of turkey or ham sandwiches and watch that. Some friends will usually stop by, and we share our leftovers with them. Johnny and I always remark how we’ve pulled off another great Thanksgiving feast. Invariably, one of says how it would have been easier and cheaper to have taken everyone to a local buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. We ponder over that for a minute, but then we realize that Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have it at our house!
