Thanksgiving Traditions

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Thanksgiving Traditions

I always love to hear about other families traditions are and see how people do things. What kind of fun Thanksgiving traditions does everyone have?

My husbands family always has a big get together and there is always pie. One year we had 18 different pies for 14 people. It was delicious!

Another year I made an apple pie with a lot of personality and it's picture has become part of the holiday ever since. In this particular shot he was getting ready to go on a trip. (We took about 30 pics of him before we ate it.)

We just get together for a huge meal...family togetherness smiley

The one thing that is traditional is what is at the meal...

Turkey
Mashed potatoes & homemade gravy
Homemade stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Homemade coleslaw
Homemade noodles (these are thick)
Rolls
Pistachio salad
Green bean casserole
Pumpkin pie w/ whipped topping
Cherry cheesecake
Any other kind of dessert (mom always made apple pies in addition to the others)

The last several years we've been having it at my bro's and he is very non-traditional so it doesn't feel like a holiday at all...but Christmas is def purely traditional since I do it lol.

My tradition includes turkey, gravy, Mom's cranberry relish, stuffing of some sort, baked sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie made with garam masala and ginger instead of a more traditional spice mix. There's usually some green veggie, whether it's peas in white sauce, sauteed Brussels sprouts, leeks with bacon, or green beans.

My favorite year, though, was the year I did an Indian twist on almost everything in the meal. I started with traditional dishes and then found recipes with the same main ingredient in my Indian cookbooks. Samosas and naan for rolls, the turkey was rubbed with tandoori paste under the skin and left in the fridge to marinate overnight, a basmati-lentil stuffing with cashews and raisins, butternut squash with fenugreek and jaggery, green beans with a garlic-ginger paste sauce flavored with cumin seeds, cranberry chutney, pumpkin pie with garam masala... It turned out fantastic! But that was a year where I was cooking for a small crowd rather than for me and leftovers for December, and I was a little healthier then than now, so I could spend a couple of days chopping and prepping and still be able to do the heavy cooking on Thanksgiving day. Someday I'll do it again, though--it was a huge hit with my ex's family.

The tradition at my parents' place is watching the parade before dinner gets served around 1pm, and then decorating the tree and the house during the afternoon/evening, since they're pretty anti-sports. Then the next day or two gets spent baking so we all go home from the weekend with enough goodies that the cookie jars are full for a couple of months, even if everyone in your house eats a couple of cookies a day. (I went back to my off-campus apartment one year with 19 dozen cookies, and it was only that low because I told Mom that it was more than I'd be able to eat even if I shared with every neighbor!)

Holly, the garam masala in the pie sounds delicious. I personally hate nutmeg so I make my pies with a spice blend that's heavier on the ginger and leaves out the nutmeg. Lately I've been thinking about adding cardamom but I never would have thought about garam masala!

I came up with that the year I was doing the Indian recipes. I couldn't find an Indian recipe for pumpkin pie, so I thought about how to make an American one fit in. The only way to do it was the spices or crust, really. Traditional pumpkin pie has clove, cinnamon, and ginger. Swapping for garam masala meant getting cardamom, coriander, and black pepper added to the basic three, at least with the garam masala blend I use. But with a teaspoon or two in a pie, it doesn't come across as out of place--just a subtle something different that's a little deeper, a little richer than the recipe on the back of the Libby's tin (which is the "Mom's recipe" flavor half of America is used to). It usually gets rave reviews, and it's a quick substitution to try if you haven't baked your pie yet this year.

I'm not a big fan of nutmeg myself, though there are a couple of Mom's recipes that just wouldn't be the same without it, and it's in relatively small quantities there, so it's tolerable in them. I don't use it anywhere else, though.

It sounds good Holly. I'm Canadian so I'm done with my Thanksgiving celebration (such that it is, I come from an eastern european family. Not really big on north american traditions, lol) but my boys all love pumpkin pie so it's my go to all year round. I cook lots of pumpkin in the fall and freeze the pure for later on. I think I'm going to have to try this in the next one and se what they think!

I've been allergic to turkey since I was a kid, so my mom always made me my own special little Cornish hen... Everyone would laugh when she'd bring my plate out to me. LOL

Now that I do the holidays at my home we get a huge roaster chicken (instead of turkey). I do the usual mashed potatoes & gravy, loaded stuffing & candied yams. And we're having deviled eggs & stuffed celery for appetizers. I change up the veggies & desserts from year to year - this year we're having roasted carrots & asparagus, and pumpkin-pecan pie & pumpkin cheesecake w/a gingersnap base. Iced tea, apple cider & cranberry gingerale punch for drinks. Hope to have lots of leftovers so we can focus on Christmas decorating over the weekend - we usually go to one of the local tree farms the day after Thanksgiving to find & chop down our tree...

Christianna - that pie is the cutest thing!

We are pretty traditional on Thanksgiving. We used to all go to Mom and Dad's but since they have been gone we eat at my house. My hubby prefers chicken to turkey, so that's what I cook. Other than that, we have all of the usual foods.

Sorry I'm so late to get back to everyone, but with holiday mixed with a sick toddler I lost my life for a few days.

My Father-in-Law lives by the more the merrier. Every major holiday he basically invites everyone he runs into to join us. We're a family of introverts so this can be a bit painful at times. This year he invited our Pastor and his wife who are hosting two international exchange students. It was fun to talk to them and compare traditions with holidays they celebrate. It was also a good confidence booster, they both raved about the foods that we prepared and how good it was.

@Holly you're so brave for making such a big twist on a Thanksgiving meal. I have tried Indian food a number of times and I just don't have the taste buds for it, neither does most of my family.

@Lizanne my Grandma-in-law (is that a thing?) is allergic to turkey too. We typically have roast beef or for her.

@Olesya- you can never go wrong with a pumpkin dessert, in my opinion no matter the time of year.

Christianna, the funny thing about that twist was that I was cooking for several people who don't care for spicy food, so I intentionally stayed away from the spicier side recipes (I did add a bit of cayenne in the samosas), and made the tandoori paste for the bird with double the yogurt called for, so the turkey was flavorful, but not too spicy.

I really should make a batch of samosas again--they're so good to throw in the freezer as a heat-and-eat meal!