Sometimes in our 225 Dine meetings, we get into arguments. One of the most recent debates: Is Thanksgiving really the best day of the year for food?
Half of us think turkey and fall veggies are so good, it’s worth fasting for days to save room. The rest of us are glad there’s only one day of the year devoted to pumpkin pie and stuffing.
But regardless of how we feel about the food, we can all agree that Thanksgiving goes beyond what’s on the table. We’re sharing a few of our favorite personal memories here. And now, we want to hear yours. Tell us your holiday traditions in the comments.
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“As long as I can remember, there was always a dish of cranberry sauce on the Thanksgiving table. Except it was the canned sauce, still holding the shape of the can and plopped onto some fine china. I thought that was just how it was supposed to be until I started getting into food writing. I discovered all these recipes for homemade cranberry sauce and told my family: Next time, no one buys canned sauce. I’m going to make it from scratch. I followed a recipe with fresh cranberries, improvised with some orange juice and zest, and even added some whole cloves, cinnamon and brown sugar to the mix. It got such good reviews that now I’m expected to make the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving—to the point that my mom will have a bag of cranberries waiting for me when I walk in the door Thanksgiving morning.”
—Benjamin Leger, managing editor
“My family has always watched the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love seeing the giant traditional balloons and listening to the sound of the New York City crowds as if I am there.”
—Kenna Maranto, audience development coordinator
“I look forward to seeing my cousins and their children at my Granny’s house. It’s very cool to have all four generations together. One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is playing football with my cousins when I was a kid. Now I get to play with the next generation.”
—Ambrey Nicholson, account executive
“Every year, to pay homage to the Mayflower, I name our turkey after one of the pilgrims. One year was Dorcas. Another was John Carver.”
—Allie Cobb, editorial writing intern
“My favorite tradition growing up was seeing my grandparents’ guest house all decked out for Christmas: artificial tree, stockings, singing animatronic caroler dolls and all. Shuffling in with my 40-something cousins was the best kind of chaos.”
—Mary Claire Lagroue, editorial writing intern
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“The Friday after Thanksgiving, we have a small crawfish boil. I say ‘small’ because crawfish aren’t plentiful, and you usually have to know somebody to get them. Crawfish are like crack to my husband, though, so cost is not a factor.”
—Melanie Samaha, production manager
“My favorite part was waking up later that night and meeting my dad in the kitchen to make a leftover turkey sandwich for a midnight snack.”
—Rei Heroman, senior account executive
“For me, Thanksgiving has always really been about Christmas. As a child, I’d be on the edge of my seat the entire meal, eager for it to be over so I could finally embark on our annual family walk through the neighborhood. My parents wanted a chance to walk off all those Thanksgiving cals, but I couldn’t wait to get outside and see the first holiday light displays of the year. (People who decorate their houses early are always the ones with the best light displays.) From the moment I saw the season’s first twinkling lights, there was nothing that could break my spirt until Dec. 26.”
—Jennifer Tormo, editor