Thanksgiving Traditions!!!!

[Eirbear]

My family usually goes up to Michigan and we stay with one of my two aunts who are up there. If it's a "big year" (when my two cousins and their families come back...they alternate years between our family and their wives' families), then we stay at my Aunt Anne's house. If it's a "small year" (when it's just the normal crew...my aunts, my uncle, my immediate family, and my grandparents), then we stay at my Aunt Margie's house. No matter the size, though, every year is crazy. Just because that's my family. But it's lots of fun too. We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, we spend the whole day cooking the turkey (so the house smells AMAZING), we goof around a lot, and then we completely engorge ourselves in the great food. I look forward to my Aunt Anne's corn pudding the most.

[Emory Kappa]

But the real question is... stuffing or dressing? Bread or cornbread?

Make mine cornbread dressing. MMmmm!

(My mother in law makes stuffing with saltines, which really tastes much better than it sounds. Very Yankee of her!)

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Emory Kappa

But the real question is... stuffing or dressing? Bread or cornbread?

Make mine cornbread dressing. MMmmm!

(My mother in law makes stuffing with saltines, which really tastes much better than it sounds. Very Yankee of her!)

I am forced to go to my brother & sil's farm every Thanksgiving. They don't have anyone fooled - it's the only holiday they can have both of their families in one fell swoop. But since there's a limit to how many times you can say, "nice horses," it gets boring pretty quickly. Also, no matter how many times you say, "I'm catching a 6am flight in the morning, I need to leave early," my sil doesn't hear you - even though it's an hour plus drive home. By 7pm, Healthy Choice starts to sound good!

But the real tribute is not the turkey breast, it's the fact that there is almost literally a different dressing for every adult there. In the bird, out of the bird, cornbread with sausage, bread with apples & pecans, cornbread with apples & pecans, "stuffing balls" (to be avoided like the plague!), and dressing with hamburger. One learns never to say, "Please pass the dressing," as five other people will hand you a dish! I think most of us would be happy with cranberries (jelled, whole, or frozen) with the dressing of his or her choice.

[angelic1]

My mom's family and dad's family all live in the same area, so typically we head over to my dad's mom's house for lunch (they are a small bunch) and typically we aren't there long.. love my two girl cousins to death, but its always been a wierd family situation there.

Then we head to my mom's mom's house. Typically there its a crowd of 30 or so of us. We all hang out in various rooms talking and have the "kid's table" too which has turned into a room of us. Its mostly just a night of socializing.

I love getting to see everyone in one day. I am very lucky to have all my family so close. My boy's family is only an hour and a half from mine so hopefully in the future it will stay this way.