Carole gave us another great topic this week: Ten Things to Love about Thanksgiving.
1. Spending time with my family. I am fortunate to live within a twenty minute drive of my folks. It's always more special to hang out with them on a holiday, though.
2. Mashed potatoes. I rarely have them. I guess to my way of thinking, they're a side dish for meat, and I don't ever fix meat, so I don't fix mashed potatoes. Hmmm…maybe I should change that.
3. Stuffing. I have a very kind sister-in-law who goes out of her way to accommodate my being a vegetarian. She always makes a little bit of stuffing sans meat for me.
4. A morning hike. I love to take the dogs on a long, vigorous walk and build my appetite. Thanksgiving hikes are somehow more fun.
5. Stuffed celery. The bane of my childhood holiday meals. How I dreaded shoving the cream cheese into the stalks of celery. I was a particular little girl and could not stand cream cheese being all sloppy on the celery. It was a real chore to get it right. The leftovers, though, rock my world. That's one of the tastes of my childhood holidays.
6. Variety. So many sides to try! So many desserts to nibble!
7. A long weekend. The university closes just after noon on Wednesday, and I don't have to go back to work until Monday (although I did promise students revising essays that I would check emails over the weekend).
8. Memories. Neal and I had our first date (back when I was 18) the weekend after Thanksgiving. In 2006, just after Thanksgiving, Neal asked me to marry him. It's a sentimental time of year!
9. Lack of pressure. The day is all about the meal. It is purely about the joy of sharing food. (Can you tell I'm not cooking the full meal this year?!)
10. Gratitude. It is far too easy for days to blend together without pausing to be grateful for all the wonders in the world. What a lovely thing to have this day to remind me to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
What do you like best about Thanksgiving?
(in no particular order). Time with my extended family. Wine. Pumpkin pie. Turning my cell phone off. Macy’s Day parade. Leaves crunching under my feet on an after-supper walk.
Ah – another good list! I am really enjoying the Ten on Tuesday!
Memories are a wonderful thing this time of year. And stuffed celery! YES! Do you put olives in your cream cheese?
I love mashed potatoes and I do think of them as a side for meat. But if DH liked them I think I’d make them. But, alas he does not and spent too many childhood evenings at the dining table not getting excused until he finished them to come around. I had some fabulous ones this week with blue cheese in them!
A great list! It’s been fun to get a glimpse into people’s traditions!