We love Thanksgiving! It’s one of the most popular holidays at the TR household. We count down to it, decorate for it, and just love it!
Bluey has been talking for weeks about his plans to watch the Thanksgiving parade and we all love the relaxed pace of the day. We sometimes watch a bunch of movies, or even a little bit of a football game. We’ve been excitedly going through the grocery store, taking note of special food items here and there that would be perfect for our feasting.
One thing that’s not perfect for us? A big sit-down meal.
We’re just not into it. We love food and we love eating. But we don’t like to force ourselves into a drawn out holiday sit-down meal.
And here’s why: we’ve done the big Thanksgiving traditional meal and found that it hampers our day. A day that could be spent in fun and games, silly TV, and walks in the woods instead becomes a day wrapped around a tight schedule. In order for all that food to come out at the same time for a formal family meal, it needs to be carefully timed out. The day is spent prepping food instead of relaxing and connecting with family. We’d rather be free to look at one another and declare: “Let’s go for a walk!” and not worry about whether that means the potatoes will be done in time.
And then there’s the matter of satisfying everyones tastes. Rather than cook up a bunch of food that might not be eaten due to the whims of some family members preferences, we like to present a food plan that leaves everyone happy without any worries about who’s eating what.
We offer a Thanksgiving buffet.
Our buffet includes all manners of foods: hot and cold; salty and sweet; filling and light. We select a wide range of items like homemade bread, cheese and crackers, nuts, various unique dips, chips, salad fixings and a few holiday favorites like mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. We bring everything out in waves, a few selections at a time, whenever we feel it’s time for something new.
For our family, this plan leaves everyone well fed without anyone being stuck in the kitchen all day. Our whole family is free to take up whatever activities we like without worries about getting home at a particular time, nor concerns about ‘spoiling your appetite’ before the big meal. Everyone eats what they want, when they want, allowing us to enjoy our time as a family and appreciate what we have.
And isn’t that the idea?