Three Generations of Thanksgiving Menus

Thanksgiving often comes with family traditions and the meals are such a big part of it. It is the holiday glue that sticks everyone together. Some people like to make one dish or the whole meal just like a prior generation. I like to carry on the tradition of a dish per generation. Normally, it is just my husband, myself and our children for holidays. Very rarely do we actually have guests come over for the holidays. Unfortunately, we do not have tons of family and friends to share this day with. My husbands brother lives a few towns over and we go over to their house for the kids and men to play football and wrestle. We always have a nice time. I try to cook at home so we can bring a plate to our neighbors across the street that have no one and we love them like family. Thanksgiving often requires so much prep work and endless hours in the kitchen so planning is pretty much the easiest part of the whole thing.

Now, I used to go all out and try my best to have every single side that was a tradition throughout the years, but adjusted to fit our family. On my mothers side of the family, when we were younger, Thanksgiving was the best family holiday gathering of the whole year for me. I loved the food, but my favorite part was the family. My grandmothers house was the house that everyone came to for any holiday. A large part of our family came: our immediate cousins, aunts and uncles filled the house. The women would bake and cackle in the kitchen and the men sat in the living room cheering and chanting for the football game while all the kids ran around just having a good ole time.  My mom always liked to put on the Macy's day parade so we could see all the giant balloons. It was fantastic and one day, I really hope to have that kind of familiness. Each generation of family makes a recipe or recipes that have been passed down from a previous family member.

cc.- Chocolate chip

You can easily look at all three generations and see that the baked mac & cheese is always made. I also make my moms stuffing and broccoli casserole recipes. Portion size is different and is smaller for less people, but it works for us. Leftovers are only fun one time...then you need to get creative. Now, my husband is always in charge of the turkey and he makes one heck of a turkey. It is a buttery sage rubbed turkey stuffed with fruit....it makes for a super juicy turkey. We have tried to be healthier and had a salad or something along those lines and it just isn't the same. All those starches....no wonder we feel like we need a wheel barrel and a nap by time we are done. Bring on the stretchy pants, gathering and then a nap! Many blessings from our family to yours. How is your Thanksgiving planning looking? Are you ready? 

Did you guys link up to this yet? The end is growing near and who couldn't use $1000!