Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the river and through the woods.... I don't know how many kids from my generation actually took that route to grandmother's house. I know MY kids didn't take that route to grandmother's house, nor do MY GRANDchildren take that route to my house, yet this remains a favorite song; symbolic of Thanksgiving, family tradition and the beginning of the holiday season.

Grandma Hill's house
415 North Ave; Aurora, Illinois

For us, when I was little, it was 3 blocks to the north, half a block to the east... (Go ahead... try it. It fits pretty well to the tune...) We typically spent Thanksgiving with my mother's family since we were the only children on that side and then we'd take a short trip to Oswego, Illinois to visit with the Zielke grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins who were there.

Mom's Family
Sister Dorothy, Father Ed & Mother Pearl

Thanksgiving with the Hills was pretty typical Thanksgiving. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, dinner rolls and my brother Bill's favorite jello salad that DeeDee made every year, especially for him. (I think it was similar to the Sloan family "pink gravy," except this one was orange. It either had mandarin oranges or fruit cocktail in it, must have had whipped cream in it and was topped with multi-color mini marshmallows.)

After Grandma Hill passed away, Thanksgiving fell to my folks. Fitting since Al & Bill were both married a little more than a year after. I don't know that I've ever mentioned though, that my mom was NOT into cooking and LOVED all the instant products that were being developed at the time: instant potatoes, cake mixes, frozen pies and brown-n-serve dinner rolls. That's pretty much what Thanksgiving dinner became. The turkey was traditional and my mom made the gravy from the drippings. My dad made his favorite apple stuffing and DeeDee still made the jello salad. Beyond that, it was shortcut method all the way!

My older brothers may have more traditional memories of Thanksgiving dinners, but that's what they were for me and it wasn't until I began dating Randy that I learned REAL Thanksgiving family traditions. Instead of icky apple stuffing, it became sage dressing and oyster dressing; "real" mashed potatoes were topped with homemade noodles (cooked in turkey drippings), the pumpkin pie became homemade, using "Big Grandma" DeFore's recipe and the Jello salad was now "Pink Gravy," (strawberry Jello with bananas, whipped cream & mini marshmallows). Oh! And don't forget the holiday punch! A blend of fruit punch, orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, pineapple juice and peach juice made from concentrate with about 2/3 the water and given some zip with ginger ale!

These were the traditions that carried over into my own family. While ever so much extra work, the anticipation and appreciation of the meal made it worth it every year! As I began to prepare more of the Sloan family holiday dinners, Grandma passed on to me her fabulous turkey roasting pan; just the right size for our 20+ pound bird each year. 

But even more important than the meal, came the Sloan family tradition of Pinochle for hours and hours, while munching on "Pop's" homemade Fantasy Fudge, sipping more punch AND then digging into the leftovers! Kids in the family were entitled to learn to play after the age of eight and all but Brookie still enjoy playing together whenever they can. I'm glad that they've all had the opportunity to play with their Grandpa Sloan to have the full Sloan experience!

It became even better as each year I began to be able to hand over different responsibilities to my children. The twins had to break the bread for stuffing, unroll the homemade noodles and perfect the punch. Brooks laid out the morning appetizers (to be eaten while watching the Thanksgiving parade in the morning) symmetrically for eye appeal on the silver serving trays and folded the linen napkins for our elegant dinner table with the good china and crystal. Samantha took on the more complex challenges; beginning with onion dip for the chips, moving into the pink gravy prep and finally the pumpkin pie filling. Megan got an overall feel for how to do everything. She learned how to do it all, as has been proven over the years as she's cooked or provided different parts of the meal in Kentucky with her dad, but the thing everyone remembers the most about Meg with Thanksgiving meal prep is her sneaking bits of the uncooked pie crust as I was rolling it and putting it in the pans! (I always told her she got that from my mom...)

As the kids all moved out and began preparing their own Thanksgiving meals, every year I would get a series of phone calls, usually involving the noodles, pumpkin pie or pink gravy. The panicked preparation calls have dwindled though and this morning? Not a single one! They've all become experts in their own right and they make a mama proud.

Of course, through the years, there were the occasional boo-boos of the meal: Forgetting to add the powdered sugar to the whipping cream; letting the Jello set too much before adding the whipped cream, bananas and marshmallows; putting the turkey roaster in the extra garage to keep it cool and then forgetting to "pick the bones" of the turkey until the next year when looking for the pan to cook the next bird... All of these just provided additional memories that everyone can laugh about now!

Since the kids are all gone and I've become an empty nester, well meaning friends from church and work are always inviting me to join them and their families for Thanksgiving. I tried a couple of times, but found that it only makes me feel worse. Watching others with their traditions only makes me miss ours more. It's hard to explain to people, but I only had to turn down one invitation this year and it's been good. For once I haven't been in tears most of the day and I even created my own Thanksgiving feast with smaller portions of potatoes, noodles & stuffing to go with my turkey breast!

One final tradition of Thanksgiving Day, if it was just our family for the day, after much prodding and pleading, the kids could convince me to put up the tree. I had a few requirements for putting up the tree, however: 1) I put on the lights and NO ONE was allowed to touch it until I had them on right. 2) My favorite "Thumper" ornament had to be front, center of the tree about a foot from the top and NO ONE touched Thumper but me. 3) The Lennon Sisters' Christmas album was to be played in its entirety as soon as we began to decorate and, finally, 4) My Elvis Christmas albums were played for the rest of the tree decorating. (Everyone complained, but secretly, I think they enjoyed it if for no other reason than being able to complain about it!)

I've talked and texted with kids and grandkids and had a most enjoyable, relaxing day. I hope all my friends and loved ones have had similar experiences and I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and a joyous Christmas season!