10 on the 10th - A List of Thanksgiving Favorites

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

On the 10th of each month, Marsha In the Middle asks ten questions for us to answer in as much or little detail as we wish. I really appreciate the simplicity of this month's set of questions, which isn't a set of questions but an invitation to make a list of ten favorite things about Thanksgiving. I love lists! 

1. Being with family - Obviously, this is first on the list! Everything else on my list is in no particular order, but this has to go first. Having everyone together, all my people around the table, is my favorite thing about any holiday, and it's the highlight of Thanksgiving. Of course, as children grow up they become attached to other families, and that has happened with our kids as well, and then we all need to learn to share. Fortunately for us . . . 

2. We do Thanksgiving at least twice! - Celebrating Thanksgiving on both the Canadian and American dates has made it a lot easier to 'give up access' to a kid and their Significant Other in November, since we could have them all in October without conflicting schedules. At least that's worked for the past several years. Now that we've moved and we're the ones traveling home for Thanksgiving, that's changed a bit, with none of the Maryland kids coming to do Canadian Thanksgiving with us. We still put on a Canadian Thanksgiving feast for some friends, and will continue to do so in years to come. 

By the way, a family photo with us around the table, and
each one eating or drinking is a family tradition!

3. Help in the kitchen - Thanksgiving lends itself very well to everyone pitching in to get that feast on the table. I really like being able to delegate and share at least some of the work. Last year, and again this year, we are the ones travelling to be with the kids for Thanksgiving, but my daughter-in-law has already planned the menu and we've started divvying up the tasks. 

4. Corn pudding - I volunteered to do the corn pudding, because it's one of my favorite holiday dishes, and I think everyone else likes it too! I'd eat corn pudding for dessert, to be honest.

5. Pumpkin roll - But I should have some other choices for dessert, because I also plan to make my favorite Thanksgiving dessert. A good pumpkin roll with cream cheese icing is the perfect end to the meal, and it's not that hard to make either!

6. Pie! - I also love pumpkin pie, just not quite as much as pumpkin roll. Thanksgiving and Pi Day are the two days a year when I feel like it's totally appropriate to indulge in all my favorite pies. My favorites include pumpkin, pecan, cherry, rhubarb, and all the custard/pudding pies. Serve with coffee, please!

7. Bonus celebration - birthday! My husband's birthday is at the end of November, so right around Thanksgiving we celebrate his birthday as well, which usually means going out for dinner and another favorite dessert, because he always asks for chocolate cheesecake. And I'm happy to make it as long as I can have a couple of pieces too!

8. Christmas season officially begins! Christmas music and some decorating and preparations begin earlier, but the tree goes up on the Thanksgiving weekend, and our family officially goes into holiday mode! And I'm here for all of it!

9. Auxilliary family - I have a lot of fond memories of gathering around the family table with many that aren't part of our immediate family. During our early years in the USA, if we didn't go visit my inlaws on that long weekend, we tried to invite others who didn't have family in the area to join us.We had been included at the family tables of friends and we wanted to pass on that gift. Sometimes we were the guests and sometimes the hosts. There was a wonderful family in Maryland that included us many years and it was such a blessing! And such a blessing to invite others to our table too. To be fair, we have mostly invited others to join us for the Canadian edition of Thanksgiving, since there's less competition on the calendar!

10. It's a no obligation holiday - I decided a couple of years ago that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it's mainly because it's all about family, friends, and food, and there's not much baggage attached. You get together with your people and celebrate all the blessings and abundance, and express your gratitude to God and to your people for all the good things, and enjoy being together. There's very little pressure to attend a bunch of parties, to add all kinds of things to your already full calendar, to decorate, to participate in gift exchanges or office parties, to send cards and newsletters, and all of those things. There's seldom any controversy about how to celebrate and whether it's Biblical or not, or whether this tradition or that one might have pagan roots or any of that stuff that can so easily suck the joy out of religious holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, and I'm comfortable with how our family does it, but Christmas comes with a lot of pressure to do all the things and spend all the money, y'know? Thanksgiving is my favorite because I'm not being pulled in all the different directions - I'm drawn closer to God and to my loved ones by gratitude and it's easier to focus on that.

I didn't get to use these previous lists, but making a Top Ten Thanksgiving List prompted me to go back and look at two list-related link-ups from a few years ago. Way back in 2016, I participated in a 52 Lists link-up that I really enjoyed. That year we did a Thanksgiving Menu list. I was disappointed that the blogger who hosted that list decided not to continue it, and after a couple years I decided to take a run at hosting a list link-up myself. So in 2020 I hosted Twenty-Six Lists, with a list every other week, which was a bit more manageable for me. That year The Thanksgiving List was a list of things I was thankful for. It was bittersweet re-reading that list, because although I'm still thankful for all the things I listed then, my 'dream house' was on that list. But I don't live in my dream house any more, and that stung a bit to read my description of how that house was very much my dream come true. On the plus side, that house is still ours and our kids are living in it, so we can still visit and have the satisfaction that hopefully it's fulfilling their dreams now. 

Anyway, I mention those because I'm planning on doing another round of the Twenty-Six Lists link-up here at A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I'd thought about starting it in September, but obviously I didn't, since it's November now! The fall was just too busy, and I think starting in January will work better. So I hope you'll join me! More info will be coming soon - it will look a lot like my 2020 Twenty-Six Lists, if you want to get an idea, but with updated list prompts.

52 Lists #46 - Thanksgiving Menu

Twenty-Six Lists - The Thanksgiving List 

What are your favorite things about Thanksgiving? Are you interested in Twenty-Six Lists? Leave a comment and let me know!

This post will be linked at Marsha In the Middle for the November Edition of 10 on the 10th.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.