A Family Feast Tradition

November is one of my favorite months out of the entire year because it represents the month during which the entire family gathers for a wonderful holiday centered around a magnificent feast. This holiday is known as Thanksgiving. We have a family tradition that is carried out during this special occasion and I‘d like to share a little bit about what that tradition.

Our family loves to cook, and we take pride in the meal that is prepared every year for the Thanksgiving feast. So every year on Thanksgiving day, the entire family meets at 4 a.m. for an early morning breakfast and to discuss. In this case, breakfast mainly means coffee, coffee, and more coffee because most of us are not what you would consider early risers. But we somehow manage to put our sleep preferences aside just for this special occasion. Breakfast is one purpose for the early meeting. The other purpose for meeting so early is to discuss “The List”, which has been prepared by our mother and father. This list contains everything that needs to be done that morning in preparation for the feast.

After discussing “The List” and the schedule of events for the day, we get to work on every piece of the puzzle for preparing the feast in which we will partake later that day. This list and schedule and the joy of being able to do it with the family all together is what makes the day so exciting. All of the food items like biscuits, stuffing, deserts, the turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pies, and more are scheduled to be made at some point in the morning and at a precise time. In order to make these items, we have to get all of the necessary tools together that will be used in during this process. Items such as carving knives, mixers, blenders, mixing bowls, spoons, pans, pie tins, and more will be gathered up and arranged in their respective areas. It takes a lot of hard work, but by 12 noon on that very day, every food item on that list will be prepared and laid out in an impressive spread for all the family to enjoy.

The team work, dedication, and good family devotion is what makes our Thanksgiving tradition so special. The wonderful food is an added bonus but that’s not the real beauty of the whole event. It’s the feeling of satisfaction that we get knowing that we all worked so hard to bring the family together if only for this one event. Hopefully you have a family tradition like ours that helps bring your family closer together even if it is only once a year.