Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Works For Me Wednesday (Backwards Edition): Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving is coming up. And because I originally came from the Philippines and "Thanksgiving Day" was not a holiday we celebrated when I was young, I am do not have memories of it, nor do I have ideas how to best celebrate it.

I love family traditions - we have lots of Christmas family traditions when I was growing up. My hubby is from Connecticut, and I thought he would have a lot of "Thanksgiving Day" tradition he could start in our family, but I couldn't get much from him. So, would you please help me ... if you have one that works for your family - would you share it with me? Thank you.

Oh by the way, Works For Me Wednesday is "backwards" again this week. Go there for more questions that needs to be answered - maybe you can help. Or if you have a question yourself, why not start a post and link it there.

10 comments:

Real Life Sarah said...

The food is our main tradition. My husband is very adamant that we always serve the same thing. I guess it's a "comfort food" thing.

orneryswife said...

We all spend time after dinner sharing things we are thankful for. It is a time of affirmation for each of the family members, and opens up some meaningful conversation.

Obviously food is a big deal to American families at Thanksgiving, and usually football games, but it is also about gathering together as a family or a group of friends and sharing the bountiful blessings we have received, both with food and fellowship.
TM

Anonymous said...

Hey Lisa,

Would you like a whole lot of bang for your buck? The Fun Monday meme participants just wrote a WHOLE LOT about holiday traditions; not all are thanksgiving-related, but many are. Mine is, so I thought I'd give you a link to that (I'm going to repost it next week on WFMW because so many people were interested in using my suggestion--or at least they said they were:) ).

http://pensieve.typepad.com/pensieve/2007/11/fun-monday-holi.html

Blessings!

Amy said...

If you have young children you might be interested in what we do... (this will be my WFMW post next week)..
I cut out a brown 'turkey' shape out of construction paper (kind of a gourd shape) and then make a paper chain to count down the days to Thanksgiving. Every day when my son removes a link he names something he is thankful for and I write it on the strip. We glue that to the back of the turkey so the links end up being his tail full of feathers. Then we say a prayer and thank God for whatever we wrote on the link/tail feather that day.

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

We always ate Thanksgiving dinner on the late side. I come from a big family - there would be 18-24 people and that's just immediate family!
We'd play cards (hearts and gin rummy) before dinner. Turkey, and other food for dinner. Always pumpkin pie, always cherry pie, usually some sort of other dessert as well - eaten while playing more games with extended family. Used the heirloom dishes and real silver.

In my home with my kids we go around the table and say one thing we are especially thankful for during the year. We use cloth napkins and have an actual coffee/tea service with dessert (just like a restaurant). We wear church clothes (nicer than normal) and no one comes to the table barefoot.
I make cranberry sauce from scratch, husband always makes oyster stuffing. We always have Thanksgiving just us as a family, and host extended family on Friday for leftovers/potluck. This is because everyone can visit their OTHER family/in-laws on Thanksgiving, and don't have to have the "where do we go this year" debate.

Marlene McGarrity said...

Our main tradition like most people is the food. We serve: turkey, potatoes, stuffing, broccoli with cheese, yams and other vegetables.

Dessert - pies and hummingbird cake


Go to allrecipes.com for a lot of thanksgiving recipes, plus people's reviews of them. The ones that are rated highly are the good ones and everyone loves them!

We go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

The boys usually watch football, while the ladies chat.

Anonymous said...

Thanksgiving at our home was based on the foods that our family charished, but we were always welcome to new dishes. My mother always went way out and the girls always pitched in. Then one year a couple of the girls were pregnant or just delivered and the hubbies had to help out. Although the whole day had always been about spending time with each other and being thankful, It really changed after that...EVERYONE then pitched in and this holiday took on a brand new if not more colorful and halarious meaning....since then I have lost my family. It's only my son and I. Although I still create what I call tradition food, turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, peas, corn and sweetpotatos, more out of memory of my past, it is the only tradition I have kept. We have created a whole new menu and series of things we do for Christmas, newyears, 4th of July, etc. I guess what I'm saying is, while tradition is comforting, its great to be open to change and new ideas.

Raquel said...

when I was little I would always put together a holiday play or songs and perform them for the adults now my kids can do it! also we say what we are thankful for by making a tree out of paper and having everyone write on the leaves then we hang them and look at them throughout the day

SAHMmy Says said...

Great idea by Amy D! I'm very excited that my son is old enough this year (3 1/2) to do some holiday crafting and really "get" what Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about! About 10 years ago my Mom was bored with the same ol' Thanksgiving feast, so she kept the turkey but came up with new variations on all the side dishes. About the only thing she didn't mess with are the mashed potatoes. Now my family craves the Jalapeno Corn and Praline Sweet Potatoes all year!

Unknown said...

In our family, it's all about the food and the football!

The nieces and I are starting a new tradition. We cut out paper leaves and I am having anyone who visits our house this month write something they are thankful for on the leaf. We'll make a huge Thanksgiving tree with the leaves.

I saw this idea on the Duckabush blog www.edgren.com/wordpress