Making Your Own Thanksgiving Traditions

by Jessica on November 17, 2010

The following post is from Jessica of GoodCheapEats and LifeasMOM:

Nanna's Apple Pie

Nanna's Apple Pie

My childhood Thanksgiving dinners were different than many of my contemporaries. We never had sweet potatoes of any kind. Ever. Green bean casserole? What’s that? Pumpkin pie? No, not that either.

Mom and Dad, both born and raised in the Midwest, moved to California as newlyweds, far from family. At the holiday time, they celebrated with friends and distant relatives who happened to live within driving distance. They created their own traditions, traditions that they observed for my childhood and beyond.

Our Thanksgiving meals always featured turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, escalloped corn, jellied cranberry sauce from the can, baked beans, rolls, butter, and a relish tray. We stuffed ourselves, took naps, played games, and then after a walk around the neighborhood, came home for dessert: my mom’s Apple Pie, Toffee Dream, and a layered pistachio pudding dessert. We had these foods every year without fail.

This was Getskow Family tradition as I knew it.

Turkey Shaped Breakfast Rolls

Turkey Shaped Breakfast Rolls

Forget the fact that my cousins, also Getskows, knew nothing of some of these dishes. They enjoyed their own Thanksgiving meals, according to the way their parents combined their own family histories.

And so it goes. As we become adults, marry and then have children, we get the privilege of building our own Thanksgiving traditions.

Here are some things to consider as you think about what your Thanksgiving traditions will be.

What do you love from your childhood?

This is the stuff that memories are made of and how traditions are passed on from one generation to the next. My mom’s apple pie is a staple around our house. Even though I’ve been known to tweak it, my kids know and love it as “Nanna’s Apple Pie,” and I think it will be something that they pass on to their children.

I married a man who adores jellied cranberry sauce from the can. So, you know which tradition is a keeper.

Keep the foods and practices that you love from your own upbringing, hold them close, and make them a part of the fabric of your lives.

What could you live without?

Truth be told, I don’t love escalloped corn. Though it is my dad’s very-favorite-it’s-not-Thanksgiving-unless-we-have-this kind of dish, it’s not my favorite. So I don’t make it. And I don’t feel bad. If we are celebrating the holiday with my parents and siblings, my sister or my mom prepare this dish, and everyone’s happy.

Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Custards

Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Custards

But, I don’t feel bad about letting go of traditions that don’t fit my family’s or my tastes.

Are you willing to add and subtract as the years go by?

Times change. Food preferences and diets are transformed over the years. New and interesting recipes will cross your path. Your grandma’s collection of vintage recipes will resurface. Be willing to add Thanksgiving traditions — or leave some behind — as the seasons change.

This year green beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie will all be a part of my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Even though I never had those foods as a child, we’re giving sweet potatoes a go this year. Our green beans are simply steamed, but that’s how our family prefers them.

My kids will start the day with Turkey-Shaped Breakfast Rolls, a tradition that we started four years ago that has remained a precious part of our holiday. But if one of my boys requests something particular, I want to have ears to hear it and invite him into this adventure of making our own thanksgiving traditions together.

Do you have steady traditions each year that never change or are you in the process of making your own?

A gourmand at heart, Jessica Fisher has learned to reconcile a tight budget with her love for great food. As a busy mom of six voracious eaters, she regularly shares healthy, delicious and budget-friendly recipes at GoodCheapEats. She also writes at her parenting blog, LifeasMOM.

  • Quit Eating Out

    This is a great article and so important to remember as we all great ready for the busyness that is coming next week. Thanks for the thoughts!

  • Pingback: Making Your Own Thanksgiving Traditions — Life As Mom

  • Megan D

    I have a one year old and a three year old and we’re in the process of crafting our own family traditions. For Thanksgiving, we always host the meal for our friends who can’t travel home and our siblings and their families. We make the traditional meal (everything we had as children) and invite each family that joins us to contribute their “must have” items to the table. I always make my husband pie-ettes while I’m baking the large pumpkin pies as a pre-Thanksgiving day treat and Friday morning breakfast is always leftover pie.

  • http://www.wherethewindwilltakeus.blogspot.com Teresa

    One of my favorite new to me Thanksgiving traditions is the green bean casserole with French’s onions. I have my sister’s husband to thank for that addition.

    This year in order to settle a long running debate about pie and pie crusts my husband and I are competing in pie-off and bringing both to dinner to make our family do a blind judging of them.

    Nothing says Thanksgiving like a little competition.

    • FishMama

      Love the competition! ;)

  • Theblessedmom

    We’re working out our own traditions. We’ve had two Thanksgivings at our house now. The one tradition I’ve started is one we’ll keep. I bought a white tablecloth, and after dinner everyone writes one thing they’re thankful for, their name, and the year. It only has 2 years’ worth, but I know we’ll treasure it for years!

    • Anonymous

      I love this — what a sweet tradition!

    • http://lifeasmom.com FishMama

      That is a great idea! Did you buy fabric pens or use sharpies?

  • Pingback: Planning for Thanksgiving

  • FishMama

    What a wonderful plan for this year! I know that we really treasure my gramma’s recipes from long ago.

  • bekah

    Just adding another iPad question:

    Is there a content filter app?

  • Mandi S.

    When they first announced the iPad last January, I told me husband that I wanted it. I couldn’t explain it, but I just did. We preordered the 3G and I love it. Use it all the time.
    I like apps that sync with my iPhone. One app that we use more than any other is Grocery Gadget. It automatically syncs between our phones and the iPad, and we keep several lists going at once (Target, regular groceries, Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, etc.) Whenever we think of something we need at one of these stores, we instantly add it to the list. We love it.

    • Anonymous

      I was resistant at first, but I was the same way for most of November and
      December too — I just wanted it even though I wasn’t 100% sure why. I’ve
      always wanted a tablet, since they first started marketing them to consumers
      7 or 8 years ago, and every time I use the iPad, I’m amazed at the
      technology.

      I’m pretty committed to Plan to Eat for my grocery lists, and I keep
      shopping lists in Awesome Note too, but I’m going to check out Grocery
      Gadget!

      Thanks!

  • editors

    Our favorites are:

    1. Remember the Milk, a to-do list application we use for daily to-do lists, master to-do lists, packing lists and all kinds of everyday lists.

    2. Evernote, a tool that lets you jot down notes and text. What’s terrific about Evernote is that you can sync your notes to your computer. We use Evernote for keeping track of the ideas that pop into our heads all day long (like ideas for blog posts and thoughts on our New Year’s resolutions).

    3. The New York Times application. It’s so hard to stay on top of the news when you are busy doing a hundred things at once. With the NYTimes iphone/ipad application, you can scan the headlines easily. We love reading the “Most Emailed” articles — we feel tapped into what is going on in the world and what people are talking about.

    4. The Amazon Kindle application (free for the iPhone/iPad). With this application, your iPhone/iPad becomes a Kindle (amazing). You can download books in seconds. What we love most about the Kindle application is that it remembers you and what you were reading and where you were in your book — even if you start reading a book on your iPhone and then open it up on your iPad.

    Happy new year!

    • Anonymous

      Love the Kindle app — I’ll be sharing my thoughts about that one on Friday!

  • Lisa

    OK I just found this FREE to do list that’s great to look at and syncs through the cloud so I can use it on my work desktop too! It’s called “Wunderlist” and just came out for iphone last month but ipad and android are coming soon. It’s like a scaled down version of amazing note.

  • Lisa

    OK I just found this FREE to do list that’s great to look at and syncs through the cloud so I can use it on my work desktop too! It’s called “Wunderlist” and just came out for iphone last month but ipad and android are coming soon. It’s like a scaled down version of amazing note.

    • Lisa

      Just realized this sounds like an ad. Sorry I just really liked it.

  • http://shortystylee.wordpress.com/ Jessica

    I have a mat outside the door and HUGE one inside the door. Our apartment complex uses this scary green rock salt that I am rather wary of >_<

  • Lori

    As I read this my DS is sitting on my doormat playing. It is his “spot” much of the time. See we have a sliding glass door right in the kitchen. That is where he sees the snow and talks to the outside kitty. I honestly think it would be more sanitary to just use my steam mop at the end of the day and have no doormat holding all the toxins. We dont have many people coming in and out of our door. Just DH at the end of the day and DS and I a couple times a week. So it wouldn’t be that hard to clean up after DH came home. Our rock is salt is just salt no chemicals so I would hope it not all that toxic. Though I have been trying to teach my DS (he is only 15 months) not to play with the shoes.

  • Eternalvoyageur

    In Europe the doormats are always on the outside…

  • http://practicallyspent.blogspot.com Julie

    People already think I’m nuts about not allowing shoes in the house. I’ll even have the kids change pants and socks if they’ve been at gymnastics or walking around in the hallway of school before they’ve changed from boots to shoes and back again. Surely this is over the top for anyone I know, but it just makes sense to me. It gets harder when the kids age and their friends come over. Their socks have been worn all over the place. How do you handle that kind of stuff?

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Julie,
      I guess I don’t even think about friends’ socks so much, unless they’re running right over the mat. ??? I freak out about 0.0001% of the time and toss up my hands or ignore stuff the rest of the time! At least the friends’ socks aren’t going directly into the 2yo’s crib… :) Katie

  • anonymous

    Hi Katie-
    While I understand the point you are trying to make, and I agree with you about the pesticides, etc., I do want to caution you to be careful in not stressing too much about it. I really think you just have to do the best you can and then just let it go. I have personally dealt with some pretty severe OCD issues the last 5 years or so (and this was definitely adult onset, as I didn’t deal with this as a kid), and I gotta tell you, reading your post above, where you’re describing your thought process as to the doormat and shoes and tracking the yucky into the house (and onto the couch, into the bed)…just seems waaaay too familiar. Although my issues are more with the dirt/germs/bacteria (as in, you didn’t wash your hands after touching the toilet and now you’re touching everything else in the house and kind of freaking me out), it’s the same train of thought that I see you outlining above, and I really think it’s a slippery slope, and one that I’m working desperately to change in my own mind. Yes, logically I know that the germs can’t hurt me and that nothing bad will happen (and have even read and agree with all your posts on the subject!), but it doesn’t change the way I feel about it. And yes, I agree that there is a real issue with the chemicals you may be tracking in, but again, there’s only so much you can do and at some point, you just have to let it go. I actually have a good friend who has dealt with some OCD issues similar to mine, but with her, she freaks out over the chemicals and pesticides, to the point where she even had her husband strip down at the back door before coming back into the house if he’d been working in the yard (due to possible pesticides on the yard).

    What I’ve found so interesting the last couple of years, though, is that these sorts of OCD issues are much more common than most people think, as I’ve found many friends who have had struggles similar to mine, even though not nearly as severe as mine were at one point (not to mention that they also developed these issues as an adult, NOT necessarily as a kid, as most people believe). And after reading so much info on REAL food over the past year or so and really opening my eyes to how many people struggle with not just OCD-type issues but depression, anxiety and various degrees/forms of mental illness, I find it VERY scary how widespread it is and am convinced that our brains are malnourished and that it really does come down to food. I have definitely found that when I am taking my FCLO regularly and am eating better, my anxiety goes down and I’m able to handle the stress better.

    So, not to go off on too much of a tangent here, but I would definitely encourage you to use some caution in your thinking on this issue, because when you start taking your mind down this path of everywhere you “might” be tracking the yucky (whether it’s chemicals, pesticides or just general ickiness), that throws up some caution flags for me. One of the main books I’ve read on the subject talks a lot about being okay with uncertainty. You will never actually know what’s really on those shoes and by extension that doormat, your socks, your couch and even your bed, but at some point, you have to be okay with not knowing or you can make yourself crazy trying to clean it, get rid of it, etc.

    • Lynncrippen

      just wondering what FLCO might be. My 30 yo son has terrible OCD.
      thank you!

      • Jessica Moore

        FCLO=Fermented Cod Liver Oil
        I think Katie recommends Green Pasture as the only CLO that is fermented.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Oh, no! I didn’t mean to sound quite that over the edge with my little rant. Whoops! Thank you so much for your concern, but I’m definitely way too lazy to be OCD. I forget to wash my 2yo’s hands half the time before she eats and think of it about the time she’s taking the third bite of her sandwich… I’m definitely more yucked out over stuff that might be on our shoes than run-of-the-mill germs and such.

      Someday, I’ll have a mudroom – I lust for a mudroom! – and it can contain not only our dirt and pesticides but all our hats, mittens, bookbags, and other junk that creep into my kitchen space, along with my worries. :) ‘

      Thanks again for the concern, and I really like the thought of just being okay with uncertainty. As long as I’m on this earth, I’ll have to be at peace with that! :) Katie

  • Francesca

    I’ve been contemplating these things myself. It’s really hard to control things with two dogs- it’s exhausting to try to wipe them down and manage what they track in as much as I’d like. I do my best, but sometimes just have to leave it at that.

    • Amanda y.

      If your dogs only are in your yard and you don’t use chemicals on your property, you have little to worry about as far as chemicals they bring in–at least that’s how I think of it for my girl (pup)

  • kelly

    Oh boy Katie-you’d totally FREAK OUT at my house! We have 18 free ranging chickens, and 6 goats at our place. It’s impossible to walk outside without stepping in something! We also have 3 cats that come and go as they please. I’m sure our floor is teeming with “life”, but that’s just the way it is here, nothing could change it and I’m not sure I’d want to.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Kelly,
      Bring on the chickens and goats, just not the lawn spray! :) I’m probably much less crazy than this little rant made me sound… :) Katie

  • Amanda y.

    We totally enforce a shoes off at front door rule. We don’t go to that area unless we’re going in or out the door, so it’s nice. I think of this often! I’ll pass on chemicals and such too.

  • Candice H

    I was just thinking the LAST NIGHT about how much dust and dirt my door mat collects and how yucky it’s started looking but that I appreciate all that stuff wasn’t tracked through my house since we have a shoe rack right past it! LOL

  • Mary

    Try using a mat on the step in the garage. The majority of the “yuck” should stay there and the interior mat will be much less contaminated. Hopefully that should ease your mind a bit.

  • Frances

    I got a beautiful new doormat for Christmas and want to transition my old one to being inside the door…but I know I need to clean it (top and bottom) first. Any recommendations on what to use and how to clean a doormat?

  • Michaeleen

    We, too, have more farm “goo” than I can possibly contain. Not all is toxic as much as just messy and stinky – like the tiny rocks that can be brought in from our gravel drive! We actually have a “friendly” sign on our front door to remind guests to “Please remove your shoes”. We have a very nice rough mat outside the door to scrape shoes/boots and then a large rug (washable!) inside the door to step in on to remove footwear in the winter. Washing the indoor rug is key to keep the outside smells, well, outside. :)

  • becky

    What do you do when you have this rule and your mother won’t remove her shoes when she comes over? I find it so annoying and rude to wear your shoes in someone elses house but even though I have asked her to remove her shoes in my house, she refuses. My grandma has to wear shoes most of the time, so she has inside shoes that are only worn inside, so she brings those and changes. I would be fine if my mom would do that….. but she won’t listen to me in my home. Any thoughts?

  • Ginny

    Wow, thanks so much! I got an iPad for Christmas and I had no idea I had so many programs open. I love all your iPad posts!!

  • http://blog.earthlingshandbook.org Becca

    We have our doormat OUTside the door. Would that work for you?

  • http://www.manylittleblessings.com Angie @ Many Little Blessings

    Fabulous tip! I knew there had to be a way to close them, but I just hadn’t tried to look into it. So excited to know now, and had a ton of apps open. Augh!

  • Anonymous

    Is this only for iPhone 4? I can’t find this on my iPhone 3…

    • http://yourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Have you synced with iTunes recently? If you update your iTunes and then
      sync your phone, you should get it automatically, I think!

      Mandi

  • Srhulme

    Thank~you!

  • Anonymous

    It’s a great feature but I find it difficult to stab the jiggling x in just the right place to get it to respond. Sometimes I tap it dozens of times without getting the app to close.

    • http://yourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Yeah, it definitely can be hard. I usually just wait and close a whole bunch
      at once, so I just hit where it should be a dozen times until I finally get
      them all closed, LOL!

  • Jimmie

    I’m just going to stop with #1. :-) I’m taking a blogging break.

  • http://www.momdropbox.com Audrey

    I like the idea of scheduling.  I appreciate consistency from blogs that I read, so I try to be consistent on my blog. 

  • Anonymous

    I don’t agree that it’s pure propaganda, although I agree that they have a
    point to make and they make videos to support that point. But it’s a fact
    that a lot of “recycled” technology is sent overseas to be recycled in
    unsafe conditions by unprotected workers, and I think that’s something we
    need to be aware of as consumers. Unfortunately, I think that there’s plenty
    of propaganda in those rebuttal videos as well.

  • Lisa

    test

  • Anonymous

    I’m definitely going to look into the Otterbox. I use an Acase case/stand that I love, but I’m always worried that the kids are going to step on it, throw something at it or spill something on it!

    Going to look into Reeder too because I haven’t found an RSS reader that I like yet!

  • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

    Sarah,
    That’s really interesting! We got some salt that is supposed to be safe for kids and pets, double the price, of course. I just figured colors were bad! Good to know! :) Katie

  • Joyce

    Katie,
    The expensive “safe” salt goes on clearance at PetSmart every Spring for really low prices in case you’re the kind of person who likes to “stock-up.”

    Also, I feel that it is particularly important to use doormats if you have a dog or a baby crawling on your floor as they act as “dustmops” and pick up all the crap that you’ve brought into your home and it often gets right into their mouths by licking, thumb sucking or whatever.

  • http://www.themomwrites.com Prerna

    Hi Tracey, thanks! Yep, it is easy to fall into habits or routines that don’t really let us do much with the time we do have. Glad you liked the tips! :-)

  • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

    Have you tried pressing and holding an icon? That makes ‘em show up for me!

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