My Favorite Holiday

It's so hard to pick just one favorite holiday! I have a lot of them that I look forward to but if I had to pick just one I would pick Thanksgiving.  I love the focus on family, being thankful, and taking time to just reflect on our past year and all that we have been blessed with.



I love all the traditional thanksgiving foods: roasted turkey, stuffing (not in the bird with added pecans, craisins and even mushrooms!), mashed potatoes, butternut squash, crescent rolls with butter, I've even acquired a taste for the cranberry sauce that I always used to dislike... though I can not bring myself to use gravy.

We tend to go overboard in my house with desserts too-- pumpkin pie, apple pie (it must be this recipe!) a la mode, chocolate chip pecan pie and then my youngest sister often brings a few cookies and baked goods too.




Before my husband and I had kids we were invited to a friend's house a few days after Thanksgiving for a get together and she served Leftover pie.  It's basically all the leftovers from the table on Thanksgiving combined into one large pie.  I thought it sounded kind of gross but found that I just LOVED it!  I asked her for a recipe and she laughed explaining that they never quit make it the same way twice since it literally is just the leftovers all layered together with lots of gravy in between to keep it moist.

We tried making it ourselves and now we make sure we have enough leftovers every single year to make it-- both my husband and I have actually admitted that we like it BETTER than the actual Thanksgiving meal!  I shared the recipe on the blog a few years ago-- check it out. 


I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner most years ever since my husband and I bought our first house-- over 19 years ago!  I always make sure to set the table a day or two ahead of time (since we eat in the dining room for Thanksgiving and in the kitchen for dinner most nights I can do this!).


The plates are always our wedding china that we asked for through Pier 1, the napkins and tablecloth I found at Caldor's waaaaay back when I was still in college and expecting a large crowd for our first Thanksgiving.  Does anyone remember those stores?

I try to make a centerpiece each year; sometimes using fresh flowers, others using candles and natural accents.

I have the Macy's parade playing in the background while I cook and we eat dinner around two.  How many people we have each year and who actually attends might vary from year to year but we always have a pretty large crowd.

We get a fire going in the fireplace and by the time it starts getting dark we put on Elf.  I'm not sure how that became our tradition but for the last few years we ALWAYS say goodbye to Thanksgiving and hello to Christmas on Thanksgiving night with Will Ferrell and I now know the movie by heart.


What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? 

Comments

  1. As I get older, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays too. I just love being together as a family and the FOOD. My mom makes it special every year and we are so lucky to have her to do that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it pretty much all boils down to family & food.

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  2. I love Thanksgiving. We are making it here this year. I love the idea of the leftover pie!

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  3. My sisters in laws and us started a new tradition last year to go to the beach for Thanksgiving! It was such a good family time full of fun and relaxation that we hope to keep doing it. We are heading there for a week again this year.
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I find my favorite holidays change as my life changes. When my kids were little my favorite holidays were Halloween and The Fourth of July. Now I would say it's Thanksgiving too, mostly because that is the first time all year all my kids and grandkids come home together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love different things about most holidays but Thanksgiving has been my favorite for quite a few years now and I think mostly because it's a much slower paced day for us.

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