Thanksgiving is not just about the dinner

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Christmas is beautiful with the whole season, and Easter has some great special candy, but Thanksgiving is a day dedicated to being thankful, watching TV, and eating all day. What’s more American than that??

But other than eating some classic turkey, stuffing, and applesauce, the dinner isn’t actually my favorite part. My family eats dinner around 4:30, but I’ve actually heard that some people do it around 2 pm. I don’t get it! When are there appetizers?? For me, the whole day is dedicated to eating, not just the dinner. I start with homemade muffins for breakfast, then I move into some nice soup and fresh bread, and a plethora of appetizers. With everything from pizza bagels and mini hot dogs to crab tarts, snacking on variety is my favorite. It’s kind of like tapas style, you get to try a little of everything. The best was when we made homemade bread bowls for everyone. It was a lot of work but it was wonderful. Having a bread machine totally saves your butt, I don’t like to get into any of that kneading business. We had the machine make the dough, and then just baked the rolls. The best part was that you have to hollow out the rolls to transform them into bowls, and I may or may not have eaten all of the insides like popcorn while I watched movies.

Thanksgiving for me is not just about eating dinner with your whole family, it’s about cooking and joking around and being with your family for a day while watching the parade and all the James Bond movies (we’re not into football). So even if you’re not a big cook, hang out in the kitchen and offer to peel a couple of potatoes. Even without the cooking or a huge dinner, Thanksgiving is a holiday for us to celebrate family, traditions, and some quality bonding in the kitchen.

Gingerbread and my pastry bag trick

My sister deserves an award for her commitment to our sibling-hood. Siblings, at least the younger ones, are meant to drive the older ones nuts, and my sister has gone far beyond the expectations. So much so that she’s started listening to Christmas songs in October. I love a White Christmas, and some Jingle Bells, but not when it runs over my Thanksgiving! I don’t want Christmas to start until the day after Thanksgiving, and I mean the next morning, none of that tricky midnight stuff. But the one tradition that I let sneak into my other holidays is gingerbread! I have a soft spot for gingerbread, so much so that I even make it in the summer. I may have a problem, but at least I’m happy and using my 200 cookie cutters.

Of course, I still make gingerbread during Christmas time, but I have to say that turkeys are one of my favorite shapes to decorate. This time I was particularly lazy decorating, it took way longer than I had expected to roll out all of my dough and get the cookies baked, so I was kind of pooped once it was time to decorate. I decorate my gingerbread with plain royal icing, but I hate cleaning it! Instead of using a regular pastry bag, I use the disposable ones. They’re a life saver! I had cleaning pastry bags, and I can literally cut the coupler and tip out of the disposable ones when I’m done. But filling them can be a pain, especially when it’s just me. So I prepare the bags that I want, and flip half of the bag inside out. I put the bottom into a glass and fold the top of the bag over the sides of the glass. That way, I can be sure I won’t spill any icing, and the top of the bag stays nice and clean!

Gingerbread are great to give as gifts, they stay fresh for a long time, if they last that long… I may have already eaten way too many of the ones I made last night. But it was quality control. So don’t sing your Christmas carols too soon so you can start making gingerbread, just try some gingerbread for another holiday!