Happy Thanksgiving 2024!
Hi, WA Friends!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! 🦃
Another year has gone by, and here we are - doing it all over again! I hope you're doing well, having online marketing success, enjoying life, and ready for some relaxing time filled with thankfulness and maybe even some pumpkin pie.
Thanksgiving started in 1621 when the Pilgrims and Native Americans shared a harvest feast. President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in the United States in 1863 - at the height of the Civil War.
Reflecting On Gratitude
This special time of year is all about thinking about everything we are thankful for - our family, friends, and the opportunities we've had to grow and prosper. Let's also remember to be grateful for the things that we take for granted, like our health and other basic needs.
How My Family Celebrates Thanksgiving
Here's our basic 15-step Thanksgiving plan that I've written about in the past:
- Shop for food and start cooking and preparing weeks in advance.
- Deliver tons of food to a family member's house that can host family and friends one or two days before Thanksgiving, usually about 30 to 40 people!
- Start the feast around 1 P.M. with some drinks to jump-start the appetite - like Bellinis, Aperol Spritz, and Negronis.
- Time for the antipasto (the snacks before the main meal)! The spread is so big it needs its own table!
- The pasta dish - usually two kinds, one with red sauce and one with white sauce.
- Lots of yelling about the order in which the meat dishes should come out.
- The meat dishes - with everything you can imagine, including turkey, that no one really cares about, but everyone takes a piece just to mark the occasion.
- Vegetables - so many that it's a bit overwhelming! Lol
- "Digestif" drinks - even though we've already had more wine than you can imagine. We're talking Grappa, Sambuca, Drambuie, and the "big gun" Fernet-Branca (usually for those with upset stomachs). There’s always a big debate about what Fernet-Branca's secret ingredients are!
- The fight for the couches and comfy chairs to sleep off the turkey, drinks, and all the food! Every year, I have to explain how tryptophan works, and you’d think they’d be tired of hearing it by now! Lol 😆
- The neighborhood stroll for those who are brave enough to add a little exercise after all that food. It’s funny to watch them drag others outside, kicking and complaining! I'll duct tape myself to a couch before I'll do it! Hahaha 🤣
- Fruit and nut time! Out comes all the fruit you can think of - dried figs are a favorite! We wash it all down with more wine and then move on to a huge bowl of nuts, still in their shells, of course. I’ve been hit in the face by flying shells more than once, but luckily, I wear glasses. Lol 😂
- Another break from food, where everyone goes to the "parlor" to have a sweet liqueur like limoncello or Grand Marnier. We talk about getting ready for Christmas and, for some reason I still don’t understand, about who has passed away since the last gathering.
- Dessert and espresso time, with more desserts than a small bakery! My mom used to make 10 to 12 pies and cakes for Thanksgiving! It feels like the end, but this part can go on for hours. People only start thinking about going home around 10 PM!
- The next day, we get together again to eat leftovers and drink some more! 😃
Guitar Playing Is Important, Too! 🎶
To successfully survive Thanksgiving, the trick is to schedule plenty of guitar playing throughout the days before, during, and after this holiday ordeal. It's no small task since there's so much going on - busy, busy, busy! And, with all that eating, lounging, and debating over digestif ingredients, you need a little something to balance things out, right?
Guitar playing is not just important; it's essential! It helps digest the food (okay, maybe not scientifically, but it feels like it lol!), keeps your fingers nimble, and gives you an escape from the family discussions that can make you a little crazy!.
Tell Me What You Think!
Do you celebrate American or Canadian Thanksgiving, and what's your process like?
Let me know in the comments, have an excellent Thanksgiving, AND ...
Keep On Rockin' It! 🤘
(Pin by DALL-E 3)
Frank 🎸
~95% Human-written content.
Recent Comments
43
Happy Thanksgiving Frank! That’s a very interesting 15-step plan. Sounds like a ton of fun. I’ve always enjoyed this holiday growing up. Eating and napping mostly. lol
We were joking today about spending 18 hours of food prepping and 15 minutes to eat. 🤷♂️
You know I wholeheartedly agree that playing guitar helps digest your food. Was that discussed in the Spinal Tap movie? 🤪
Steve
Happy Thanksgiving, Steve. 🦃
Yeah, my family is “food crazy!” Lol
It’s really true, so much meal prep time, but we drag the meal out all day. 😎
I don’t recall that part in Spinal Tap, but I love that movie!
Rock On! 🤘
Frank 🎸
Yeah, I made up that last point about being discussed in Spinal Tap but it would’ve been cool if they did. Lol
So many great references to musical bands and culture in that movie, Steve!
The other movie I love is “School Of Rock!” Lol 😎
Frank 🎸
Yessss! I ❤️ that movie too Frank! So many great lines that I probably use in my daily life. 😎
I’m actually not sure about that one. I mean, I’ve seen a Tenacious D movie but not sure what the name was.
It’s about the guitar pick that has the power to turn anyone into a supper-shredder, also with Jack Black.
Happy Thanksgiving Frank! If you get through even a quarter of the alcoholic beverages you have mentioned here I would be amazed!!!
Have a Rocking day my friend!
🤣👍🎸🎉🍾🥂🍻🍸
Hi Nick
Yeah, I’m a big eater, but not much of a drinker.
I had a glass of Merry Edwards sauvignon blanc and a limoncello. 😎
Rock On! 🤘
Frank 🎸 🍻🍷🍸🥃🍹
And I am sure that the festivities are going to continue over the weekend for you Frank!!
🤣👍🍻😎🥂🥂🍸
Yes, they have been ongoing, Nick - it's our 4-day Thanksgiving tradition! Lol 😆
Rock On! 🤘🍻
Frank 🎸
I am hoping a store near me is open today for I need to stock up on some goodies for todays meal I am preparing with my mobil kitchen in the Zamboni Condo as I keep the ice skate worthy for all the families that come out to our ice rink, ranked at 6th place overall in a contest in USA today so far.
With 4 phones, 2 tablets, 2 laptops and one desktop I do a bit of ballot stuffing myself here every day. And speaking of stuffing, that is something else I need to pick up today. Pie is covered for Large Marge has that covered every Thanksgiving day here for all the years I have worked here, and she knows how much I like her banana pie! I let the others go for her punkin pie and if any is left over I sneak in a piece of that also for the next day.
Happy Thanksgiving day everyone.
SuperDavidScott, the Zam Man.
That all sounds great, Scott! 👍👍
I hope you got some music played, too. 😎
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃
Frank 🤘🎸
I've already fell victim that #1 on your list, Frank! Every year, I'm the one that's ALWAYS repeatedly sent back to the store or Supermarket for one item or another - it never fails.
But it's worth it! I hope to have a similar checklist by the day's end. 👍
I hope you have wonderful Thanksgiving, Frank! 🎸🤘🦃
Isaiah 😁
Happy Thanksgiving, Isaiah! I know you had a great one. 🦃
Yeah, I’m not much of a cook so I make countless trips to the store and wash all the dirty pots and pans in the kitchen. Lol 😎
Today is part two - the big “leftover party.” 🎉
Rock On! 🤘
Frank 🎸
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Happy Thanksgiving, Frank. Great post, as always. We used to do it up right, lol. We would rent a hall, everybody brought food, and we had a great time. But our little group has lost several people in the last three years, so we have a new tradition: This is the second year we go out to eat at a local restaurant on Thanksgiving day. I miss the chaos and the family and friends hanging out all day.
Have a good rest of the long weekend.
Hi Kerri
Yeah, you just can’t beat the big family and friends get-together, but eating out at a nice restaurant is an excellent option since it’s a lot less hassle for everyone.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃
Frank 🤘🎸