my top THXGIVING ITEMS 🍴

ya gworl is feeling herself with these "list posts", it seems? again, nobody can stop me so DEAL WITH IT!  😘 

Since 'tis the season of Thanks Itself, I figured an appreciative focus on the foodstuffs specific to the holiday would be ~a vibe~? I'm writing this from the couch of my grandma's (on my dad's side) house up North. Since my mum is out of the country, ya girl is (largely) responsible for the Thanksgiving spread - yes, including the turkey. 🦃 It's not the most intensive menu we'll be having, but it's still taken a bunch of planning (+portaging of stuff from my brothers' place in Jersey to here). 

The turkey is bathing in its' herb rub in the fridge, a satisfactory Pone (cornbread of a type) is cooling on the stove, and ya girl is waiting till after granny goes to bed before she starts the Pie Trifecta: cherry, pumpkin, and apple (there are many others, yes, that are considered classics - don't @ me aight) 🍒

LOOK AND BE AFRAID, THE PONE IS DONE 👀

-So, without further ado (and because *weary sigh* there are still more things clamoring for this exhausted womans' attention), here are my top Thanksgiving eats. 🍴

My Thanksgiving Top 10s: 

1. tart cherry pie 🍒is one of ya girls' responsibilities at Thanksgiving, which I have zero complaints - since it's so stinkin' good. I have a sour tooth, and said pie takes care of it every year (even if it is a little tarter than others' preferences). 
2. ham 🥩might not be the first protein source people think of at Thanksgiving, but I swear I could eat just half of it myself. The fam and I will prolly have one at Christmas, and I anticipate going absolutely FERAL over it teaheeee
3. pone aka soul cornbread remains a classic - even for me, above rolls (sorry mum).🌽 We have a few hallowed recipes, and the squabble for the day-after leftovers - which, we swear, taste 1000x better than the day its' actually made - is inevitable. Put some honey butter on it, and HOO BOI we're cookin'! 
4. cranberry sauce also sits high on my list as a self-made beauty. 🍷I think I began making it a few years ago, and golly do I feel like a pirate desperately avoiding scurvy the way I ABSOLUTELY s l o r p it down??? like dang where has vitamin C been my whole life??? 
5. sweet potato casserole as my mum makes it - this responsibility has also fallen to me this year, so I have her time-honored recipe. Still, cain't nobody make it quite like mama makes it - it's one of the dishes that always has the pan scraped clean by the end of the celebration. 🍠
6. green beans which, technically, are one of my favorites year-round. Something about them at Thanksgiving, though, hits different I swear - they go with everything I eat then for some reason!😋
7. my bro's mac n cheese  - which includes turmeric, garlic, nutmeg, and other sundry spices. It's heartY, has 🌠spices🌠 in it, and overall is a good Thanksgiving staple in our traditions.🍲
8. sourdough boule - again, we technically make this whenever the urge strikes us (or our sourdough jars are looking a little too dormant), but if you want that PEERLESS turkey/ham post-Thanksgiving sandwich, nothing else will do. 🍞I have learned the ropes on this one as well, but c'mon, it's different when mum makes it for you 😊
9. mashed potatoes stay as one of my classic foils for whatever salty protein I'm ingesting (ham, turkey, fish, etc). We do ours with buttermilk, to add that little tang. Also, opening the fridge door post-Thanksgiving to pry out a big ole container stuffed with these? Such a satisfying feeling.🥔
10. bean pie actually is an item I have yet to learn from my mum - maybe that'll be next on my docket to do. One of those things you hafta try to get, I guess - it's been awhile since I've had it, ngl.🍮

- in conclusion, yes, we are a teense obsessed with food as a family, and Thanksgiving enables that 😉 Still, it's fun to continue these traditions, and to be grateful to have such (and so much more). 

I hope, whatever Thanksgiving looks like for you, you're able to find joy in gratitude - it truly changes things. Cherish said things you have to be grateful for - I know I certainly have a lot! 

Happiest of Thanksgivings! 🦃🦃🦃

~🌹hew