October 31st was a very exciting night. No, not because of cute children dressed up in adorable costumes stealing, I mean asking for, my candy. In fact, we did not have even one trick-or-treater! So now you are thinking October 31st was an exciting night because I still have the candy I bought! Actually, no, I need to give it away so I don't eat it.
I was excited that night because as I laid in bed watching TV (yes, I have to have the TV on to go to sleep) the first holiday commercial came on! I know, I know...it doesn't take me much to get excited. But why not love and celebrate life's little things? There are sooo many of them! And that first holiday commercial announcing the holiday season has officially began is exciting. If it doesn't excite you then you may have Scrooge in your family tree.
And while it doesn't take me much to figure out a reason to be excited and celebrate, it also doesn't take me much to get fired up. Just ask Boyfriend...sometimes he pushes one of my hot issue buttons just to see if I will get into a debate. I haven't learned my lesson yet because I always take the bait. But I am good at debating and I defend my topic, no matter how small, with great passion. Today, I defend the topic of traditional holiday cooking!
The holiday commercials that will be flooding our televisions in the upcoming weeks will have two main topics: gift ideas and FOOD! And not just any kind of food, they will be advertising holiday food and the ingredients to make stated food. We are talking pumpkin, whipped cream, cream cheese, green beans, potatoes, turkeys, hams, chocolate, nuts, dressing, cranberries....ohhhh I can just smell Thanksgiving morning now! And the reason why I know what Thanksgiving morning smells like is because it always smells the same because of the traditional dishes.
But recently I am hearing from many of my friends planning anti-holiday meals. Apparently the latest trend is to eat something different for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Supposedly people are sick of the traditional fare and want to do something different. I don't know what they are eating all year but I only get these kind of meals twice a year at these two holidays. How can you get sick of something just after eating it twice or even several times during the holiday season?
Be warned though, if you are coming to my house for a holiday be prepared to eat the traditional meal. Because y'all, these foods go way beyond just eating them, it is the family history that these dishes represent. To us Southerners, and hopefully to y'all Northerners too, the stories of family members present and those that are passed are in those dishes. Being a family of story tellers, those dishes evoke memories and stories around the holiday table. My family has my grandmother's cornbread dressing, my mother's gelatin salad and deviled eggs, my Aunt Martha's pumpkin pie, my Uncle Tommy's turkey and meat carving ability, my cousin Jenny's corn dip, my green bean casserole, my cousin Christy's broccoli rice casserole, my Aunt Margaret's ambrosia...the list goes on and one. Of course we add new dishes regularly but many of the basics make their yearly appearance sometime during the holiday season. Even the new dishes are in line with what is traditional. These dishes are just a part of the holiday season that for me is part of the formula that brings up the feelings of home, warmth, comfort, and family. Breaking tradition for BBQ or Chinese food just wouldn't be the holidays for my family.
Of course, do what you would like to do but there is something to be said about the peace that tradition brings especially in the upcoming months. I, for one, am looking forward to these familiar smells and repeating the same stories with enthusiasm. As for serving other types of foods, I will save the other 363 days for being different. And as for commercials,I am still waiting for the Hershey Kiss Jingle Bell commercial...another great tradition!
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