Is it just me, or is Thanksgiving awfully early this year. Thanksgiving is a week from today and I have got a lot of planning to do. Recipes must be assembled; shopping lists must be made. Number 1 on the list? Well, it's not turkey this year.
Thanksgiving at our house is traditionally not all that traditional. We do not have any family close by and so we usually spend it with just us four and no more. Feel sorry for us? Well, don't!!! Oh, family is great...but there is something to be said with an intimate holiday spent in pjs and carving out our own traditions.
Traditionally speaking, we have always been somewhat mainstream with the meal portion of the holiday: Turkey, stuffing, a veggie or two of some sort (green bean casserole anyone), rolls, salad, and at least 2 pies (yes, even for our family of 4). Every year, the house gets filled with the cozy aroma of these foods cooking and we decorate the house for Christmas, we put Christmas music on, and we break out the Christmas movies. It is all very picturesque (minus the pjs, the unkept hair, the no makeup...the pure casualness).
Every Thanksgiving night, though, as we sit together to enjoy our feast, I find myself only slightly enjoying the meal. Turkey is an "eh" for me and the sides (which I like more than the turkey) are just ok. I do it every year and every year I just am dissatisfied. Last year was the final straw. At the end of the day, as I was reflecting on how great Thanksgiving is and all I was thankful for, I thought that the only downside to it all was the meal itself. Shouldn't the meal be the icing on the cake?? Why is it that I look forward to just about every meal I prepare but this one.
Than it occurred to me. Why do we have to do turkey? I am not alone in the feeling of dissatisfaction over the turkey and the sides. The desserts are all anyone ever really looks forward to. The quandary came in the form of what do we do instead. Ham? Well, we do ham at Christmas and that is one thing I am just unwilling to change. So...what do we do. We can't just have tacos or other ordinary food. Than I had that "A ha!" moment.
Ok...so....I started thinking. What is the beauty of America?? We are a melting pot of culture. So, why not celebrate those cultures? Oh, not all at once. Here is what we did: We put different cultures into a hat. We pulled the first culture out and that would be the culture celebrated at our next Thanksgiving...and pulled out another and that culture would be the following Thanksgiving...and so on and so forth until we had the next 8 Thanksgivings planned out!! The level of excitement grew and Thanksgiving has been made fresh and anew.
So, what do we have to look forward to this year? Oh I am so excited. This year we are going Greek! This is especially poignant because Matt's birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year and Greek is one of his favorite foods. We will be having lamb gyros, greek salad with lots of feta, hummus with veggies and pita chips, olives, and anything else we can think of. We will not do a Greek dessert...it was special requested that we not mess with the traditional Cherry Cheesecake Pie and Apple Pie I make every year.
This Thanksgiving will be the best one yet. There is no doubt about it.
Stay tuned for recipes...and come back in a year when we celebrate Mexico!!!
Thanksgiving at our house is traditionally not all that traditional. We do not have any family close by and so we usually spend it with just us four and no more. Feel sorry for us? Well, don't!!! Oh, family is great...but there is something to be said with an intimate holiday spent in pjs and carving out our own traditions.
Traditionally speaking, we have always been somewhat mainstream with the meal portion of the holiday: Turkey, stuffing, a veggie or two of some sort (green bean casserole anyone), rolls, salad, and at least 2 pies (yes, even for our family of 4). Every year, the house gets filled with the cozy aroma of these foods cooking and we decorate the house for Christmas, we put Christmas music on, and we break out the Christmas movies. It is all very picturesque (minus the pjs, the unkept hair, the no makeup...the pure casualness).
Every Thanksgiving night, though, as we sit together to enjoy our feast, I find myself only slightly enjoying the meal. Turkey is an "eh" for me and the sides (which I like more than the turkey) are just ok. I do it every year and every year I just am dissatisfied. Last year was the final straw. At the end of the day, as I was reflecting on how great Thanksgiving is and all I was thankful for, I thought that the only downside to it all was the meal itself. Shouldn't the meal be the icing on the cake?? Why is it that I look forward to just about every meal I prepare but this one.
Than it occurred to me. Why do we have to do turkey? I am not alone in the feeling of dissatisfaction over the turkey and the sides. The desserts are all anyone ever really looks forward to. The quandary came in the form of what do we do instead. Ham? Well, we do ham at Christmas and that is one thing I am just unwilling to change. So...what do we do. We can't just have tacos or other ordinary food. Than I had that "A ha!" moment.
Ok...so....I started thinking. What is the beauty of America?? We are a melting pot of culture. So, why not celebrate those cultures? Oh, not all at once. Here is what we did: We put different cultures into a hat. We pulled the first culture out and that would be the culture celebrated at our next Thanksgiving...and pulled out another and that culture would be the following Thanksgiving...and so on and so forth until we had the next 8 Thanksgivings planned out!! The level of excitement grew and Thanksgiving has been made fresh and anew.
So, what do we have to look forward to this year? Oh I am so excited. This year we are going Greek! This is especially poignant because Matt's birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year and Greek is one of his favorite foods. We will be having lamb gyros, greek salad with lots of feta, hummus with veggies and pita chips, olives, and anything else we can think of. We will not do a Greek dessert...it was special requested that we not mess with the traditional Cherry Cheesecake Pie and Apple Pie I make every year.
This Thanksgiving will be the best one yet. There is no doubt about it.
Stay tuned for recipes...and come back in a year when we celebrate Mexico!!!
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