Talkin' Turkey

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is three weeks away!  It is all going by so fast and I simply am not ready.  So last night I started getting myself organized in an effort to not be a hot mess come Turkey Day.  This made me smile as I got into the mindset of Thanksgiving - what it has meant to me in the past and what it means to me today.  And it all starts and ends with one thing - family.

Thanksgiving is chock-full of memories.  It is a great day filled with traditions that will never be broken.  I realize that I am no different from thousands of other Americans who hold this day dear to their hearts; but I did want to share with you how we "do turkey".

First off - all day long, my parents would answer the phone, "Gobble, Gobble".  All.Day.Long.  It used to drive me nuts but guess how I answer the phone on Turkey Day?  Secondly - somewhere along the line it ceased to be called "Thanksgiving" and simply "Turkey Day".  I guess if you've had my Daddy's turkey, you would know why.  Lastly - we grill our turkey.  Daddy perfected it and passed it on to the hubby.  No waiting by the oven, no frying - just hours of drooling by the grill.  It is amazing and yes, I will share how it is done.........later.

I had to laugh when I tried to come up with my recipes.  This menu never changes.  Never.  I mean, you cannot mess with tradition! 

As a child, I would wake up to coffee cake and eggs on the sideboard.  I'd watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and be all giddy when Santa would pull in at the finale.  (As I got older, my brother and I would wake earlier to run the Atlanta Half Marathon).  After the Parade, I would help Mom prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.  There were two families in our neighborhood whose houses we would rotate for holidays.  We would customarily show up around 4pm and eat at 5pm.  Then we would all pile in cars and drive to downtown Atlanta for the lighting of the Christmas tree at Riches Department Store.  After the tree was lit, we would ride to the top of the building to ride the Pink Pig.  The highlight of this visit was getting your, "I Rode The Pink Pig" sticker, sitting on Santa's lap to tell him what you wanted and then Daddy would buy me the Rich's Christmas Bear.

Obviously, I no longer live in Atlanta but many of those traditions are still upheld.  The family wakes up to a breakfast platter inspired by the Barefoot Contessa that I partner with breakfast breads.  We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, followed by football while the hubby gets our grill prepped to grill our turkey.  I answer the phone all day saying "gobble, gobble", and we enjoy a wonderful meal.  After dinner, we watch a classic Christmas movie and ready our hearts for the most wonderful time of the year......Christmas.  It is a warm day that means so much to me.  It is my hope that one day my children will have as many powerful memories of our holidays together that I shared with my Mom, Dad and brother.

So I'll share with you my menu next week.  Stay tuned and practice saying it, y'all - "GOBBLE, GOBBLE".   Yes, I know I'm nuts...........

xoxo,
TSS