Prepping for our Thanksgiving

The US is celebrating Thanksgiving next week, which in my house means two things. Food & Football. 

I grew up in a pretty traditional family full of girls, so there was no football. Just a lot of fancy table settings and us being expected to behave like ladies and remember our social graces. I can hear my sister groaning from here as I type those two phrases.

I still like a nice table setting...but not so full that there's nowhere for the food to go. I mean, where's the food?? How can you pass the potatoes if they're still in the kitchen? But, I admit, it looks lovely.

And then there's the food. Enough to feed the neighborhood--or the addition of the random single guy Hubs works with that doesn't have family in the area that finds his way to our table--and have some left overs as well. Because there's nothing better than Thanksgiving left overs. 

But now that the boys are old enough to voice their opinions, they've let me know they don't like green bean casseroles. (My mother-in-law still refuses to believe this.) They also aren't big fans of pie. (Go ahead, I'll wait while you all gasp in horror.) So this year when I was making the menu I made sure I had the traditional basics of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, along with some of the non-traditional favorites of my family: butternut squash risotto, roasted carrots and parsnips and for dessert, strawberry shortcakes.

There will be plenty of laughter while we run around the yard playing our own version of touch football while we wait for the food to finish cooking and after we come back in I'm sure the guys will be cheering on their favorite NFL teams in their games. 

We have a small family, but it's rich with our own special traditions and I love the fact that my boys look forward to this holiday every year. 

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you do it up big, with a huge extended family gathering, or keep it simple? And, since we won't have pie this year...tell me your favorite. I'll be living vicariously through you all.