As big on tradition as Brian and I both are, for some reason neither of us feel the need to continue our forefathers yearly ritual of roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole with our kids. We both grew up with Thanksgiving Day being a big deal. We both came from families that celebrated this day in style, with all the fixings. And we both have wonderful memories of Thanksgivings of our childhood. Maybe it is my lack of cooking skill (or desire to put my hand inside a turkey's you-know-what), maybe it is the fact that my kids don't like any of the traditional foods, maybe it is because I have never liked sweet potatoes or stuffing or cranberries- even the homemade kind. We both love to celebrate the day in style at the homes of our loved ones where other people do most of the cooking and we just are "helpers". Last year at Lisa and John's in Seattle was so much fun and it would have been great to see everyone-but this year we didn't have travel plans (having learned our lesson the hard way about traveling through snow storms in an old Suburban over mountains). We knew we were home for the big day and we wanted to make it memorable- minus the feast.
We decided to invite all of our local friends over for a casual day of football watching, a family flag football game on the Green, appetizers, and dessert. We didn't know who would come- knowing that most people had family in town or plans of their own. All we knew for sure is we would have the five of us and Nana. We ended up with two families and an extra kid- a friend of Jake's from football. People arrived a little after 3 and we ate chips and salsa, artichoke dip, cheese and crackers, and other easy finger food. We watched the games on TV, talked, and shared our house plans with everyone. Beer was on hand, as was plenty of Diet Coke. It was "come as you are"- definitely no dressing up required (as you can see from my baseball cap and sweats).
The highlight of the day was the Thanksgiving Bowl. We split everyone into two teams and had our own football game. Faith started out wanting to be scorekeeper but ended up taking part in the action- and even scoring a big touchdown for our team (aided by a lot of people that mysteriously were unable to pull her flag as she ran first one way down the field, then the other). No one took the game too seriously- Brian even going so far as to utilize the defensive tactic of trying to "pants" the person he was defending (that would be me). Even Jake, our ultra-competetive kid- was able to just play for fun and not worry about the score. I'm not entirely sure who had more fun- the kids or the adults. There was perfect weather- chilly but not cold with a little sunshine peeking through. We stayed outside until the sun went down, then headed indoors for a little more NFL and delicious pies that Mom made.
All in all it was a great day spent with people we like doing things that we love eating food that we enjoy. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?
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