Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! I really do. It is possibly my favorite holiday. (I love Christmas too, but it is so exhausting.) Thanksgiving for me is all about family...well, food too.

When I was young, my Grandmother and Granddaddy Holyfield, Mamaw Vogan and my (great) Granddad Jones all lived in this town that I now call home. They are all gone now, but I think of them often, especially around the holidays.

At my Mamaw's house, Thanksgiving was about food. This skinny little woman would cook for days to get ready for the smallish gathering at her house. It was not Thanksgiving without Waldorf salad, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and a special sauce that we like on our turkey. This afternoon, my boys and I are going to make that sauce for our holiday meal on Thursday.

On the other side of the family, the gathering was all about family. Now there was food, lots of it, but it is the memories of all my aunts, uncles and cousins packed into my great-granddad's little white house that make me smile. There was no dining room, just a table in the middle of the kitchen. That is where all the food was set out (desserts has to go on the side porch). People got their plates and sat where ever there was room; porches and bedrooms were all eligible as eating spots. The little white house that used to be on the edge of town is gone now too, and in its place is a modern bank in the middle of town.

This Thursday our family is coming to our house for Thanksgiving. It will not be a huge gathering, 10 adults and 4 kids, but it will be big enough. We are having Waldorf salad, our special "turkey sauce" and sweet potatoes (but no marshmallows, sorry) and lots of other stuff. It seems we each have something that we have to have on this day. For me it is the Waldorf salad, my sister wants creamed onions, my brother-in-law must have green bean casserole and Jonathan wants sweet potatoes.We all want the Barron Sauce.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of food and family.