As we kick off the Thanksgiving season, we want to recognize the importance of spending time with our loved ones and take a moment to pause and be thankful. We asked six Extract families what their favorite Thanksgiving traditions are, and we encourage you to share yours with us in the comments! Maybe you will find yourself adopting a few new traditions yourself!
Doug
“Every other year at my parent’s house in Ohio, we have Thanksmas (which I usually spell Thxmas). I run the Flying Feather Four Miler with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and sometimes other family members: there’s a free bottle of (usually terrible) wine for each 21+ participant. The rest of the day is standard Thanksgiving and Friday is Christmas. The combined holiday is because the other year my brother, sister, and I spend Thanksgiving with our in-laws. It works out well and I think Thanksmas is the best holiday since it crams Turkey Day and Xmas into one holiday---less exhausting than the standard schedule!”
Chris
“My Thanksgiving tradition is a common one: having leftover sandwiches we call “turkey gobblers” the day after thanksgiving. With a big extended family things get pretty hectic on Thanksgiving, so it’s always been nice to have a more relaxed day where we heat up leftovers (and add some bacon and cheese) to make unique sandwiches out of what’s left!”
Cody
“My dad always deep fries his turkeys and all guests need to bring a “unique staple” dish. Katie usually does pumpkin pie, my sister does cheesy potatoes, my brother does cajun corn, and so on. We discuss ahead of time who is doing dessert, potatoes, etc. so we don’t all show up with potatoes for example. While there, he and I put on a movie marathon for in the background. Used to be the classic Indiana Jones movies, but we recently started changing it up: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, so on. Another room will have the football games on. People migrate between the two rooms, though sometimes we’ve just had football on during Thanksgiving proper and then had the marathon over the weekend.
My wife and I also usually visit her family as well (and actually, we’re hosting this year). There, we eat oven-roasted turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and so on. More traditional dishes. Her Uncle usually has a Bond marathon going on in the background. The highlight there is the pies: usually 2 pumpkin, 1 banana cream, 1 pecan, and two other pies (French silk and apple last year).
I also always watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles sometime that weekend.”
Taylor
“Every Thanksgiving on my Mom’s side, we do the traditional ‘thanksgiving’ food at lunch time. All of the cousins (and my Papa’s) birthdays are between Thanksgiving and New Year’s so once lunch has wrapped up, we celebrate our birthdays with ice cream cake and presents!”
Prithvi
“In addition to more traditional Thanksgiving dishes like Turkey and mashed potatoes. My family will make a lot of different Thanksgiving inspired Indian-fusion dishes for our Thanksgiving dinner, some examples include Cranberry Chutney, Pumpkin Halwa (desert), and Masala Green Beans.”
Alex
“My partner’s family has had a lot of divorces and remarriages so there’s a lot of competition for Christmas gatherings, so with her mom and stepdad we do “Thanksmas”, which is Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The grandkid presents are all hidden for a scavenger hunt.”
Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!
About the Author: Taylor Genter
Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.