Thanksgiving Traditions

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just a few days away.  week away. To help celebrate I thought I would post some

As I was thinking about Thanksgiving, I found myself thinking back to previous Thanksgivings. 

There are several special family recipes that we use for Thanksgiving, from my grandmother's cornbread, dressing and homemade rolls to my mom's very tasty pies and fried okra as well as several other mouthwatering dishes.  These special dishes have been passed down from one generation to the next over the years and in time become part of my family's traditional holiday dishes. 

For our family's traditional holiday meal, we usually expand the table to make room for all of the family to dine together at the same table over the tasty food that so many hands helped prepare for this special meal.  We typically use the everyday dishes for this meal.  At one time we did use styrofoam plates, but after a few food mishaps, we tend to use real dishes.  We keep the meal casual usually so there aren't any place cards or printed out menus or anything of that nature.  Sometimes the guys sit at one end of the table and the ladies at the other end and sometimes, people just find a seat wherever they would like to sit.   

Traditionally, there is discussion leading up to Thanksgiving Day between the ladies in the family as far as what each plans to cook and bring for the Thanksgiving meal. 

It's hard to pick out a favorite dish, as there are so many that were tasty and that I enjoyed, but if I had to pick one, I would say the cornbread would have to be my favorite.   

Dessert is usually pies.  There are usually many flavors of pies from fruit pies like apple and lemon to chocolate, pecan or various other types of pies.  Growing up, I remember enjoying apple pies and as I got older I began to enjoy lemon pies also.

After dinner, usually consists of naps.  My father's side of family sometimes growing up began to look at the Christmas catalogs. 

Not much has changed from the Thanksgiving of my childhood to the Thanksgivings of my life now.  The turkey of my childhood was cooked in oven and the turkey now tends to be fried in a fryer and more moist.