Carrying on the Thanksgiving tradition

November is officially the one month where I look forward to a huge, guilt-free feast. This year, we traveled almost 600 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. Childhood memories of Thanksgiving past came flooding back as the scent of pumpkin pies and turkey in the oven wafted through the air.

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.

We don't get to spend every Thanksgiving with my immediate family, so I very much cherish the ones that we do. 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 there was never a dull moment. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I don't have any "special" family recipes to share, because the food my mom prepares on Thanksgiving is mostly courtesy of everyone's good friend, Betty Crocker. That doesn't matter to me, though. It's the tradition that matters most to me. Our Thanksgiving menu consists of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, warm dinner rolls and…PIE. I know I have left some items out but for me, these are the dishes that make the tradition.

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. The details for the roast turkey and brine are linked over at ParentSphere. I highly recommend giving it a whirl sometime this fall/winter season.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving holiday? Did you try any new recipes or make any new friends?

*Adapted from an article Amy wrote at ParentSphere