What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate it that makes it special?
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, but I’ve already written a whole post about it. This prompt is very similar to a prompt from the first book of prompts, so I’ll answer with my second favorite holiday: Thanksgiving.
I love the fall. I love the colors of the leaves against a steel grey sky. I love the turning of the weather as the air gets crisp and the first tendrils of winter seep into my lungs. When I was in high school, I was on the cross-country ski team. I spent a lot of time training in that cold air long before the first snow fell. All that running and gym time turned me into a ravenous beast.
Thanksgiving was the best because I could stuff my face with as many carbs as I wanted and no one would bat an eyelash. I am pretty sure one of those years I even went back for thirds and then an entire turkey leg after that because I was still not sated.
Of course, this was also back when I could still eat half a dozen rolls and not suffer a migraine 24-36 hours later. And I can go without the rolls, honestly, but I do miss stuffing. That and green bean casserole were always my go-to’s for seconds.
So many of the “traditional” Thanksgiving dishes have been on their way out or getting a facelift but to me it’s just not Thanksgiving without the green bean casserole, the corn casserole, the homemade stuffing, and the creamed onions. That last one might be a staple for my family only; my stepdad loves them so mom always made a small dish for him and the handful of people who would eat them. Also, my aunt’s fruit salad. My sister demands it at just about every family dinner, which is really only two or three times a year nowadays.
Now that we’re all adults and of drinking age, a new tradition has been caramel apple sangria. We make it by the pitcher and drink it all morning as we wait for family to arrive. Our relatives live a little over an hour away, and we’ve always done big family meals like these in the early afternoon. Some people find it strange to eat a big dinner at 1 or 2pm, but it was never odd for those of us who grew up on the farm. To me, it was weird to learn that people didn’t eat their Thanksgiving dinner until 5 or 6pm. Plus, it gives people time to have a nap before they have to hit the road again rather than eat a big meal and then fight sleep driving home.
The other semi-tradition at my mom’s Thanksgiving dinner is an overabundance of pie. There was one year back when I was still in college, or just recently graduated, and I made pumpkin pie for the first time. Of course, my mother had also made one, because everyone always wants a slice of pumpkin, but she’ also made two variations of apple pie, and I wanna say a lemon merengue? There were 4 pies total just from my mom. My sister ALSO brought an apple pie, and grandma brought her chocolate cream as well as a cherry pie. 8 pies is a lot, but I’m forgetting one. Strawberry maybe? We had 9 pies that year. For 18 people. We had enough pie for everyone to have half a pie for themselves.
So of course, every year since then, my sister counts the pies and counts the people, and if there isn’t a 2:1 ratio of pies to people, she declares Thanksgiving a failure. As if Thanksgiving could ever be a failure when you’re surrounded by so much love and food and pie.
I know Thanksgiving isn’t just about the food. I know there are lots of families that don’t have enough, or people without families to have a meal with. My mom always sets an extra plate as a reminder that we always have room for one more. Last year (or the year before, I forget, time is an illusion) we actually used it. A friend of hers would otherwise have been alone for the holiday, but we had plenty of room at our table. And there were still leftovers for everyone to take home for lunches!
There are other fun things about Thanksgiving, of course, but I think I’m gonna wrap this up here. What is your favorite holiday? How do you celebrate it? Do you do anything unique? What do you love about it? Maybe you don’t have a favorite holiday but your characters do. What do they like? Prompts can be useful in other ways, after all!
I’ll be back tomorrow with another post! See you then!
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