November: the month of food

For me, November is officially the one month where I look forward to a huge, guilt-free feast.  This year, we traveled 590 + miles to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  If I had to choose one meal out of the year to enjoy with family, this would be it.  No offense to my in-laws but, my mom’s Thanksgiving dinner menu will always be my favorite.  Childhood memories of Thanksgiving past came flooding back as the scent of pumpkin pies and turkey in the oven wafted through the air.  Heading to the Alleghenies last week to visit my family was such a treat.

As the meal preparations were being made, we introduced the little ones to our tradition of watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  They were ecstatic when Sponge Bob and Hello Kitty appeared and went floating through the streets of New York City.  Our 16 month old even danced to the beat of the marching bands as they played classic holiday tunes.  Their eyes grew pretty wide when Santa Claus rode by, waving at everyone from his sleigh.

My mom has a knack for putting together a great, home-cooked meal and this year’s meal was no exception.  We don’t get to spend every Thanksgiving with my side of the family, so I very much cherish the ones when we do make it out east.  I have many reasons why.

I don’t have any “special” recipes to share, well, because the food my mom prepares on Thanksgiving isn’t really any concoction of her own.  Most of the dishes are straight out of the Betty Crocker cookbook.  That doesn’t matter to me, though.  It’s the tradition that matters most to me.  We have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, warm dinner rolls and…PIE.  This year, my little family of four spent the day with four out of my seven brothers and their families.  It was a full house and never a dull moment.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

This isn’t a tradition (yet) but here is a snazzy roast turkey and brine recipe.  We experimented with it one Thanksgiving and it was delish.  We got it from one of our favorite celebrity chefs, Alton Brown.  You can get the details from this post: Can You Eat the Turkey from the Southside?  I highly recommend giving it a whirl sometime this fall/winter season.

Now that we’re safely back at home after being away for a week, I’m setting my sights on the upcoming winter festivities.  I have so much planned for this month by way of crafty stuff and baking!  How did you spend your Thanksgiving holiday?  Did you try any new recipes or make any new friends?