Mmmm.... turkey....

Is anyone else out there in the Thanksgiving spirit? Did you even KNOW there was a Thanksgiving spirit?! I love getting ready for the Stuff Your Face With All Kinds of Yummy Stuff holiday.

We always have the same base selections and then add to it. For instance, this year in addition to the turkey, Mom’s AWESOME stuffing that she makes from scratch, cranberry relish and green beans, we will have roasted sweet potatoes (my contribution) and roasted Brussel sprouts. My cousins are bringing their (as in “their recipe” they said they’d share) sweet potatoes and my parents’ neighbors will bring rolls. I am in charge of dessert. Or at least the apple and pumpkin pies. Mom does Pecan. Do NOT mess with her pecan pie.

I have a small obsession with pumpkin pie. A couple of years ago I ate an entire pie in about two days. Not kidding. This will be my first Thanksgiving not being able to eat it. I think I’ll be OK. I got thru Halloween without eating any candy and my cravings for sweets have been reduced from the Crack whore shakes and a willingness to prostitute myself for anything with sugar in it to a mild craving every now and then for something “sweet.” Not bad hunh?!? I’m making progress!

I love the tradition in Thanksgiving. It’s always the same every year. The times may vary; sometimes we eat at 4 sometimes 2 but the same food is produced year after year and my Mother usually has a freak out at some point shoving us all out of the kitchen so she can “concentrate” on whatever task last left her frazzled. Oh yes, and every year she burns the almonds that are supposedly toasted to top the green beans. (Why we have those “toasted” almonds I will never know but there they are every year.)

What traditions to you have for Thanksgiving?