It's Okay To Do Things Differently
New Tradition Rendition
Last year, as Thanksgiving rolled closer, I found myself dreading its arrival. This feeling of feast creation apprehension was foreign to me, as I am a bit of a gratitude gremlin and love to cook. However, by about the end of November, teaching school, working at the library, fall harvest, ranch winter to bed prep, fall sports, and family drama had all taken a bit of a toll on me. Not to mention the fact that my son's birthday is right after Thanksgiving, and I might be known to create a fiesta each year of the likes that Martha Stewart's never seen.
As I ruminated on my exhaustion fueled state, a gray matter LED light flashed across my cortex: I didn't have to cook a traditional Thanksgiving feast just because I'm 'Murican and it was Thanksgiving. Simultaneously another bit of ponderous inspiration struck me, "What did I want to do?"
Almost instantly I knew. I wanted to have a Family Favorite Foods feast. Instead of working til 6 on Wednesday night and coming home to never-ending pie prep, turkey thawing, and side dish amassing, I wanted to just collect a pile of my family's favorite foods, set them on the counter, and graze on them all day whilst we played games, watched movies, and enjoyed each other's company.
You see, on a traditional Thanksgiving day, most of the people that do the cooking never see their family members, other than yelling at them to "GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!" or to, "Go grab some cranberry sauce out of the pantry." By the time you are done creating the feast you are ready for a tryptophan inspired coma, heavy on the unconsciousness. I, in that moment of duh clarity, rebelled against that notion.
Now, I don't want you to think that I am ragging on anyone that is doing the whole traditional turkey day thing with their families. I would never do that! My whole point is that sometimes we get so wrapped up in man's traditions that we don't realize that they are just that, traditions. They started because sometime, somewhere, someone had a great idea and started a thing to celebrate it. Every time that tradition is invoked, remembrance occurs, and what is being celebrated lives on. This is not a bad thing, but it is not a required thing either. So I made my own tradition that celebrates and emulates my gratitude.
So how do we celebrate our day of thankfulness and gratitude? Well, each of my family member's chooses their favorite food, and the night before Thanksgiving we drive around and collect it. This favorite food collection ride is part of the fun! Right now on my counter there are pizzas, a ton of Asian food (DIM SUM YUM!!), Snicker's Caramel Apple Salad, cheeseburger sliders, and the list goes on. It may not be a traditional Thanksgiving feast for sure, but as I spend the rest of the day watching movies snuggled up to my kiddos, or playing Munchkin complete with amiable smack talking, instead of scrubbing stuffing crusties out of my casserole dishes, well, I feel as if I will survive the lack of green bean casserole.
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So yes, traditions are good, but as I am a bit of an unconventional Kat, I have no problems mixing it up once in awhile. Who knows, maybe next year I will cook a standard Thanksgiving feast, or maybe I will continue on with the FFFF, but one thing's for sure, no matter which way I celebrate the day of thanks, my gratitude level is present and accounted for all the same.
And in closing, I hope that you all are enjoying the day, whether it is Thanksgiving or not, depending on where you are on the globe, in the company of those you love, doing something fun!
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Now that is the spirit of Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much Kat for this beautiful reminder of what a day spent with family in celebration of the harvest is all about.
Let the good times roll...
Like Sourdough!!!
You are beyond kind my friend, and I hope that your Thanksgiving was a full of excellence as ours was!
No turkey on Thanksgiving! The Horror!
Seriously it is a ton of work preparing a nice Thanksgiving feast. Nothing wrong with taking the unconventional route and simply enjoying a day with your family. It is supposed to be a day to celebrate what we are thankful for and that is more important than whatever you decide to eat.
That being said, if my gang ditched a traditional turkey dinner the shit would hit the fan. Hard. And I would probably be the one throwing it. With my grandmother right behind me waiting for her turn. I'm a cranky bastard when it comes to my holiday traditions. I don't like to deviate. Yes that mean I am currently full of green bean casserole. And turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, kielbasa (we are Polish) etc.
Luckily in my family just about everyone cooks (pretty well too if you go by the size of my belly). We all contribute to dinner and cleaning up so the burden doesn't fall on one or two people. That makes things a lot easier for everyone to enjoy the holiday.
I'm glad you were able to enjoy your unconventional Thanksgiving and hope you and your family have a nice holiday weekend.
Ha ha ha! I loved reading about how you all pitch in and help create your Thanksgiving feastival! I had these images of your grandma and you pitching a fit, and kielbasa went flying, LOL! Your family sounds awesome!
We had a lovely day, some of our friends came over and we played board games and ate Snickers caramel apple salad and coconut shrimp out of soup bowls, it was pretty much the greatest time ever.
My parents are back in town, so I am sure that I will have some excellent Ron Ramblings to regale you with. Hmm. Tomorrow, I have to go move all of their belongings out of the cabin that they are renovating so they can have somewhere to live this winter, perhaps there will be some hysterical ramblings of my own for your entertainment in the near future...Heh.
Hope you are enjoying all of your leftovers!!!
Different things doing is always be great
I agree!
Looks delicious!!
Thank you! It was!
Actually it sounds like a lot of fun. Making a run to pick up favorites, playing games and having fun. I think a lot of people are experiencing mental and physical fatigue which makes the thought of cooking a big meal seem rather daunting. Hope you and your family enjoyed a fun day. 🐓🐓
You hit the nail right on the head with this assertion! I know that I have been dragging as of late, can't imagine how it is for other folks. My mind wanders quite frequently to a dream of chucking it all and lying in a beach chair on the shores of Kauai, writing and eating poi, kalua pork, and rice. Sigh, wish your van could float, imagine the mischief, lol!
We had a marvelous day, I hope your Thanksgiving was grand!!!
This is sheer genius, Kat. I think I will do this next year, if I remember. I really like it. You are exercising freedom. Feels nice, right? Liberating. I swear we are slowly (or quickly) losing freedom, so when we use it, it almost feels strange lol!
And I for one am expressing my freedom from the constraints of good English and grammar. I never gave a rip about the lack of a comma or a missing apostrophe. Look at old Mark Twain in Huck Finn....Twain broke all the rules and did ok in the end...