Thanksgiving Approaches

I was making plans for a project at work today, when I suddenly realized that Thanksgiving was just a couple of weeks away. I plan to take off the whole week (which does throw a wrench into things at work, but whatever).

I love cooking and I love feeding people, so Thanksgiving is pretty much my favorite holiday of the year. I start cooking on Monday night, and pretty much cook straight through until the end of the day Thursday. Funny thing is, we tend to eat a lot of pizza that week, because after spending all day in the kitchen getting ready for the big meal, I don't have the energy to cook dinner.

Every year, I say I'm not doing it...that I'll go have dinner at one of the fancy hotels in San Francisco. And every year, my daughter gives me her sad eyes and says, "But you're not cooking?!" and every year, I do. (Who can resist a child who loves their mom's cooking? No one with a heart, that's who.) I also say I'll just keep it simple, and then end up inviting someone for every seat at the table. My friend Shawn is always here, and the others rotate. This year, a couple who are some of my closest friends will be here, and they're bringing a coworker who's just moved down from Canada and would otherwise be alone. The more the merrier, I say. I cook too much, anyway.

Some of my favorite yearly traditions are based around Thanksgiving, and I look forward to the days of preparation preceding the meal almost as much as I do the meal itself. I'll cook while the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special plays in the background, and we'll watch the parade that morning while I get everything ready. We always watch the dog show, too, and of course, play games. Then we all pass out from the infamous turkey sleep drug, while cursing ourselves for eating too much.

And I have to admit, I can't wait.

I don't have anything formal or special planned for the blog in the days leading up to the holiday. I'll be showing off a few of my favorite recipes, and talking a lot about the menu and preparation, I'm sure.

If you want to read a real, proper "Countdown to Thanksgiving", check out Home Ec 101. (And if domesticity is one of your things, you should have this site bookmarked. For reals.) Heather threw a huge pre-Thanksgiving turkey dinner for 20 in order to bring us daily tips and near-daily recipes leading up to Thanksgiving. I've actually used some of her daily reminders to help me get ready this year, and I highly recommend it.