Happy Thanksgiving 2011

I think I covered the usual list of "things to be thankful for" last year. Not a lot has changed since then, in terms of what we're thankful for. I've also written about our Thanksgiving traditions, and how grateful I am that ours are very uncomplicated: meet at my sister-in-law's house every year. Small family, very low-key and intimate and all-around relaxing.

So I thought I'd write about the Thanksgiving food.

Every year I look forward to my father-in-law's delightful creamed spinach. The mashed potatoes are always light and moist, and the bread rolls (even if they're just from a Pillsbury can) soft and fluffy. Next to the spinach, the ham is my favorite part of the meal, especially since we don't get to a lot of it during the year.

Ordinary, simple food. But so delicious!

However, it turns out I'm not such a huge fan of the two things that are most iconic about Thanksgiving: the turkey and the pies.

I'm not a fan of turkey for the same reason I'm not a fan of the white meat in chicken: it's too dry. Even the dark meat can sometimes be dry. I mean, I like it enough and will eat it, but it definitely does not rank amongst my favorite foods, especially compared to the ham.

And I've never been a big fan of pies, period. I've always found them too sweet for my liking. And even if they aren't overly sweet, what is up with pie crusts? They're like... hard cookies, except with less-pleasant texture and taste. I once mentioned to Allan that I'd never had chocolate pie, and would like to try some. He pointed out that we could do it ourselves: make up some pudding from powder, and throw it on a pre-made pie crust. To which I replied: well then, what's the point? If it's just chocolate pudding on a pie crust, I'll just eat the pudding on its own, thank you. Of course, that being said, we ARE bringing a frozen chocolate silk pie from Claim Jumper to the Thanksgiving get-together today, so... we'll see how it tastes! :-)

How about you? What are your favorite holiday traditional foods?