Nourish the Thought: Your Five Senses - Thanksgiving, A New Tradition

Well, Thanksgiving has once again come and gone. I so look forward to the holiday each year - mostly because of the time spent with family, but of course also for the food. This year was a little different for my family than from years past (as long as I can remember). This year, my mother did not do the cooking and I must say we (my brothers, their wives and families) were all apprehensive about this change, but it was time. My mother is a wonderful cook and there are so many things we all feel "only she can make - like her dressing and the gravy for the turkey", but it is time to pass the torch. This year my brothers wife took on the task of the turkey and the gravy and it was wonderful. I was given the daunting task of making the dressing. I could have went out and created my own signature dressing - starting a whole new tradition, but instead I opted to try to replicate my moms. She of course doesn't really have a recipe, so asking for that was some what pointless. She does somewhat go by a recipe found in the Good Housekeeping Cookbook, so that is where I started.

I won't say I totally matched my moms dressing, but I do believe I did a pretty good job. Even she herself said so (guess she sort of has to, after all she is my mom). I guess the best testament to my work was that there was none left at the end of the meal - the pan was empty.

So I guess in some ways we have started a new tradition in my family or maybe it is just an evolution of past traditions. Either way you look at it, we all went away happy and stuffed.

Our Thanksgiving meal is pretty standard, at least I think so. We have turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing (not the cornbread kind), rolls, corn, cranberry sauce and some kind of salad. Then of course there is the dessert - this is the one area of cooking my mom is still in charge of and she is tops. We had pumpkin pie, blackberry pie, cherry pie, peach pie and egg custard pie. Yep she makes each of her kids their favorite.

Well that is a glimpse of my Thanksgiving holiday - what kind of traditions do you have? Did they change at all this year? Any new foods introduced? What are your standard Thankgiving Day foods?