For a lot of people, Thanksgiving feels like the less-exciting holiday that falls between Halloween and December. With costumes, candy and all things pumpkin spice during Halloween and cookies, coziness and gift giving during the holidays, Thanksgiving often gets looked over, like an annoying middle brother at a big family dinner table. Not for us! To be honest, Thanksgiving and Independence Day are my two favorite holidays, with Halloween coming in a close third.
Thanksgiving is so dear because it represents a lot of the good parts of Christmas, Hanukkah and other typically more favored winter holidays. It's a time of gathering and gratitude, a time for sharing and feasting and a time to put differences aside and have a nice meal together that's prepped with love and lots of time. Because it isn't a religious holiday, everyone can celebrate Thanksgiving and having kids, I appreciate that it isn't centered around commercialism.
I love hosting Thanksgiving, but this year, we're doing something a little different. We're meeting Shaun's family in Arkansas (which we've never been to) and ordering a meal kit that has all the Thanksgiving essentials.
We still get to cook and spend time munching as we do so (Shaun's favorite part!), but we'll be relegated to the basics. This is where it comes in handy to own an olive oil/balsamic/spice shop!
We may not be making super creative dishes, but I'm going to pack a few of my Thanksgiving flavor staples in my suitcase and lug them Arkansas to help add shine to basics. I plan on bringing a package of our Savory Turkey Brine and Herbs de Provence Infused Olive Oil to prep the turkey before cooking it. I also plan on bringing White Truffle Oil and Colorado Garlic Pepper for Asiago & White Truffle Mashed Potatoes and Butter Infused Olive Oil for Yam Casserole.
No matter what your thoughts are about Thanksgiving, we can all pretty much agree that most Thanksgiving feasts have something for everyone, and if you happen to be hosting one of those feasts, Thanksgiving can feel overwhelming. If you have a big family or have to travel a long distance for the holiday, the overwhelming-ness can be doubly true. If you aren't one of those people cooking or traveling or surrounded by a ton of people finding things to do on Thanksgiving Day - yay for you! - you get to start a new tradition. Who says you have to cook a turkey and 4 pies on T-day?
Regardless of whether your plan is to have a dinnertime bird centerpiece or to just chill out in your socks and pjs all day, I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving!
Ciao!
Andi
