Monday, November 22, 2010

Thoughts on Thanksgiving with Recipe Round-up

Everyone in the food blogger community, and in America probably, is gearing up for Thanksgiving feasts on Thursday. (I listed a recipe round-up from some favorite bloggers below). We are all collectively making elaborate menus, trading secrets to good pastry making techniques and doing extra food shopping, whether we have an eye on the budget or are thinking of splurging. If you are not cooking at home, you might bracing yourself for extensive travel and all those hassles. All the effort and expense usually seems worth it as you reconnect with family and friends and enjoy a meal together on the big day.

Thanksgiving dinner seems to be the "Hallmark" holiday for family dinner and I love the Thanksgiving holiday. Yet, Thanksgiving dinner extravaganzas are not really the "family dinners" I promote on this blog. Family dinner is a normal, day-to-day routine that can be extraordinary, but often is not. Sometimes dinners, especially those on the weekend, can be great fun with special games or favorite foods all around. More often, weeknight dinner is a "get-er-done" type situation where dinner is cooked in 20 minutes and eaten in less becuase there is homework or bedtime to be done. This kind of family dinner is still worth doing, and celebrating, becuase it provides a rock solid foundation for your family. This ordinary kind of family dinner provides a way to check-in with your kids and partner, a time to talk about problems that may arise, and a time to hear the good stuff about everyone's day. It also sends a message that family time is important enough to schedule in everyday, and that you, as my child, are important enough to check in with everyday. Powerful stuff made possible over an everyday dinner table.

Thanksgiving is important not just because of the great food and the family reunions, but because it is a holiday that allows us to step back and be grateful for whatever we have. Continue that feeling throughout the year with regular family dinners.

Best Thanksgiving Recipes and Tips from the Blogs:
Vino Lucci's Thanksgiving Favorites
Dinner: A Love Story's Thanksgiving Roll-out look for several great recipes by clicking related stories
6 Holiday Pumpkin Recipes from Babble's Family Kitchen
Epicurious Complete Thanksgiving Guide with Videos, Recipes, Menus
Centerpieces Without the Turkey and more vegetarian dishes from the NYT Well Blog
The Food Lab's Guide to Thanksgiving Day Planning via Serious Eats
Thanksgiving Sides from Food 52

Got a favorite not listed? Feel free to add in comments. (You can add your own blog too!)

2 comments:

  1. I think Thanksgiving helps us really focus on how much it really means to eat together... even traveling long distances to bring families together around the table... we can do it every day if we make even a little bit of the effort we make for T-day!

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  2. You said it, Sarah. I find that Thanksgiving is just as important as Christmas in terms of getting the family together and celebrating the company of one another.

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