Thanksgiving feast

For some reason I am getting all mushy with thoughts of the holidays. Usually I have had to work in some trivial retail job where I have had to work through most of the holidays, rushing through the few hours that I spent with family. Now I have a whee bit of time off and for some reason feel the urge to celebrate the holidays. For several weeks now, John and I have been scouring the Internet, trying to find decent tickets to the Lone Star State or to Tennessee. We even considered traveling to Colorado to barge in on Corrie's newly remodeled cabin and the family there. Low and behold, flights are just too pricey for the holidays so we are going to hold off on visiting the Stiles/Simpson's until after the holidays. We will save some money but also miss out on the gathering of all the family. We are going to stay local for the holidays and enjoy Thanksgiving day with my parents. This means that we will have three whole days to get out and play around here (epic rides and some yoga for me!). Bonus!

My how times have changed. I have very fond memories of holidays spent at my Grandma Cronk's house. What a feast! I remember the spreads like it was yesterday. She must have cooked for days. She would always be cooking all kinds of meats: roasts, turkey and hams were always on the list, homemade rolls (my favorite part of the meal), yams, brussel sprouts and huge piles of mashed potatoes and gravy. Her favorite part was dessert so there were always at least five pies and a cheese cake. Oh the fond memories. There is no doubt that she has left a substantial mark on my life. I hope when I get to the point of having holidays at my house, they would somehow be as wonderful as I remember hers.

As we are on our way to creating our own traditions, such as tamales on Christmas, I feel that our family holidays can take on their own meaning. Now that I have a bit of southern culture in my family, our traditions are going to be our very own. In our simple little Thanksgiving, Dad is going to BBQ a turkey (by the way it is the best turkey I have ever ate!), I am going to make a cranberry salsa, cornbread stuffing, biscuits, and pralines. None of this is traditional fare for the Cronk's but what the heck! I am so excited!
As I now am so lucky to have such an absolutely wonderful extended family, new traditions I am eager to reach out to my family, all of them.

So now that I have experienced holidays in Texas I would say that my favorite thing I have had was a smoked turkey from Greenberg’s of Tyler, Texas—hailed by many the aristocrat of turkeys. This is a tender, smoky and succulent bird, so exquisite and renowned that even Oprah lists it as one of her favorite things. I highly recommend it.

I am so curious to what your holiday traditions are? Please share!