Thanksgiving Day, We Enjoyed

"....There has been a lot of blogging and commenting concerning Thanksgiving Day, and how we in the USA celebrate it.  If you missed all that, a brief recap is this:

"1)  Most people who know anything about the USA seem to believe that each family gathers all of the generations together for a huge turkey/dressing (stuffing)/gravy/sweet potato/green bean casserole/hot rolls/cranberry sauce/pumpkin pie feast.  The table groans, the people join hands and expound upon the things for which each is thankful, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and dig in while the table groans under the weight.  Then, the men stagger (under the heavy load in their stomachs) to the 69" TV to watch 4 football games, simultaneously, while the little ladies clean up and fetch beers.

"2)  My family wasn't like that.  While growing up, I do not recall ever having a huge Thanksgiving Day feast.  I do not recall ever, in those days, eating turkey at a relative's house (including ours).  No one in our family had TV, let alone cared about football (now, baseball was another thing!)  No one in our family drank beer--at least, not as long as the kids were around.  My dad washed a lot more dishes than mom did.  He said it got his hands clean--hands that got grimy in his work as a journeyman electrician.

"3)  Our elder daughter, Dudette, is the "traditionalist" in our family.  She does, indeed, put on a turkey feast--at some time during the Thanksgiving weekend.  Her menu is, generally, turkey/dressing/gravy/crescent rolls (from a recipe developed by Hunky Husband's mother and given to me as a gift) and butter/canned, jelled cranberry sauce (Hunky Husband's preference)/green bean casserole (she's way ahead of me on this one as I don't know of anyone else in the family who has made this--perhaps it comes from Wichi Dude's family?)/olives/pecan pie/chocolate mousse pie.

"Having the history out of the way, now, I can tell you that we performed 3) last Saturday.  As always, we had a grand time.  No one ate huge quantities, so there was no staggering.  The TV set wasn't turned on during the 4 or 5 hours that we were there.  Everyone took part in the conversations that wound around about 372 topics.

.... 

Except that we were able to observe Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day, this year, the above write-up from What's Keeping Us Busy? on 28 Nov 2006 applies to 2008, as well; although, I should insert a couple of omissions.  Dudette always has a wonderful plate of fresh veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper, carrots, grape tomatoes) and dips to keep our stomachs quiet while we inhale the fragrances of the meal acooking, and she always has black olives at table with the meal.  This year, she added snack crackers to the preprandial goodies.  We had a lovely time, as always, and HH and I are ever-so thankful for our family.  Present for the festivities were the hosting couple, Dudette & WichiDude, of course, Wonderful GrandDaughter & Chew, and Hunky Husband & me.  (It is difficult to stretch a table clear up into New Hampshire, enabling the inclusion of Bogie & her Wonderful Spouse, sad to say.)

I hope that each of you had/is having an equally pleasant time--or as pleasant as is possible, under your circumstances. 

Comments

[Kay Dennison]

I'm glad you had a nice celebration.

[Rain]

We had a nice family dinner at our son's home. They fixed the traditional turkey but with a wild rice dressing as daughter in law has discovered she is allergic to gluten. She had a delicious brussels sprouts chopped up with lemon vegetable and all the trimmings. I brought dessert and made a pumpkin custard that came out great for her which had no wheat but which I couldn't eat because I am allergic to dairy but I had a piece of the apple pie which I made with spelt to try that out but still not okay for her with her wheat allergy. No television, no arguing (except from the little ones) but we did have some good red wine :) Well the adults, the small ones had to settle for juice and breast milk-- the one-year old is still nursing.

[buffy]

We had the traditional meal, and I'm happy to say that there was NO TV this year! Instead it was all about babies and children, and Elegante Mother. We had four babies born into our family this year, so there were plenty of babies to be held. I really enjoyed getting to talk with all of our guests.

I'm sure your meal with Dudette and her family was wonderful, right down to the last snack cracker!

[Cop Car]

Kay--Thanks...and thanks for stopping by!

Rain--Allergies can really rain (no pun intended) on one's feasting. WGD has a few allergies (rice, peas...), but nothing to get in the way of Dudette's traditional spread.

Buffy--Glad that you and your clan had a great get-together. Our meal was, indeed, wonderful; but, as to the snack crackers, I'm not sure that more than two or three of them were eaten. We really gravitate more toward the fresh veggies before the meal...and once we get up from the table, we are done! The little dishes of snack crackers were still full when returned to the kitchen for disposal and dish washing.

[Joy]

I'm glad you had a nice Thanksgiving CC....and it doesn't matter how you spend it or what you eat. I don't think there has to be a traditional feast, and a lot of people celebrate in many different ways; which I think is very cool. My family has always been kind of traditional, but who knows...that may change down the line too. Although I think my son might have a tantrum if that happened. All I know is....after a nice dinner, putting up all my Xmas decorations (Yeah, I know...but my kids got me started), and cleaning up, I was washed out by the end of the day....just like every Thanksgiving.

[Cop Car]

Good grief, Joy! Thanksgiving is not for putting up Xmas (or any other kind of) decorations. Boot your kids in the behind! Put your feet up and take a rest, next year. *laughing*