Thanksgiving Traditions!

Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to remember all the things to be grateful for. I love the feelings of the holiday and that it is a time to reflect and spend time with your loved ones. We love the food too, but it's much more than just a fancy meal. We have a lot of fun traditions and we are always adding new ones each year! This will be our second Thanksgiving living in Kentucky and we are excited to make many more memories to come! 

Hot Chocolate Thanksgiving Morning

My all time favorite tradition and our longest standing tradition is getting up first thing Thanksgiving morning and grabbing a hot chocolate. We used to get up and go get a paper for the ads, but the last few years the paper has gotten less and less. We still go for a Starbucks though! This is usually the first day I grab a peppermint flavored drink instead of pumpkin! We usually start cooking early so it's fun to have a warm drink while we get going. 

Cook a Feast! 

We didn't use to cook for Thanksgiving while we were with family, but the last few Thanksgivings we have been on our own. My husband cooks the whole meal while I'm his little sous chef. Our favorite is the sweet potato souffle. My husband makes the best mashed potatoes, turkey and greens. I tend to do the gravy, rolls and dessert. It is fun to play your favorite fall tunes and be together in the kitchen while cooking. 

Sweet Potato Souffle 

It isn't a Thanksgiving meal or season without Sweet Potato Souffle. It is my absolute favorite dish my husband makes. It is a sweet potato base with pecans and marshmallows on top. The sweet potato souffle is sugary, sweet and very fall tasting. We make this a few times during the season and eat them all up every time! I love lots of marshmallows on top! It warms up good too! 

Fun Drink at Dinner! 

Another favorite tradition for us is having a fancy drink at our Thanksgiving dinner! We usually have Martinelli's, but last year living in Kentucky we switched it to Ale-81. It is just fun to go along with such a yummy meal. We have found a really good Berry Soda at Trader Joe's that we get for holidays throughout the year. There are so many fun drink mix recipes and ideas on Pinterest. 

Football 

We usually have football on all season long, but Thanksgiving Day is a must! The sounds of the game lofting through the house while you are cooking, eating or hanging out is just part of the day! I usually make a treat while my husband is watching football during the fall time and then we finish the game together. Beignets are my go-to during this time of the year! It is super simple, you just fry the store bought pizza dough and add powdered sugar on top! I am all up for snuggling while watching football too! 

Black Friday 

I have grown up going to Black Friday and it's something that my husband and I have kept doing once we got married. Our first year married we got up and went to the mall and shopped for each other. It was the funniest shopping trips. We tried to not run into each other the whole trip, but then we were there together too. It was too funny. We went to the Simpsonville Outlets in Kentucky last year and it was so busy, but super fun! 

Christmas Tree Picture

Every year we go Black Friday shopping and have to get the first picture in front of the large trees out and about! It is amazing at how many places have large Christmas tree's out for the season by Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite Christmas time activities to find all the Christmas decor. We have a picture in front of the mall tree's every day after Thanksgiving since we have been married. Even when we have been out of town we have still been able to find a tree for a picture!

Movies on Thanksgiving

Growing up, we used to go to a movie at the theaters on Thanksgiving weekend! There is always a fun, new movie coming out that week to go see! It was one of my favorite traditions! We haven't done it since being married, but we do tend to relax and watch movies or football during the day now! There are a couple of good movies coming out this year! We will have to make a tradition again! 

Chocolate Cream Pie 

My mom makes the best Chocolate Cream Pie on Thanksgiving every year. It is a family recipe and is made with love every time. I remember staying up super late the day before Thanksgiving making pies and Jell-O salads with my mom. This is a must on Thanksgiving! I don't usually make this pie now, but I have tried to make a few different pies for dessert. Kentucky has Derby pie that is popular and a ton of bakeries that sell pies too! I want to get pies from Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen in Kentucky this year! We will see how it goes! 

Set up the Christmas Tree 

Yes, I am that person that either sets up the Christmas tree Thanksgiving day or sometimes a few days before! It is just so fun to have the Christmas lights on and the feels of both holiday's in the home. It brings a lot of joy to me to have the decor up! Thanksgiving is the green light for Christmas to be in full swing! I feel like a month of Christmas is not long enough so I do overlap the holiday's a bit and it works just fine for us! I know not everyone likes that so maybe just wait until the evening to set up the tree or Black Friday would be fun too! 

Donuts for Breakfast 

We went to Seattle for Thanksgiving one year and stopped for donuts at the grocery store for breakfast. I loved it so much! I want that to be a tradition forever now! You tend to forget to eat because you are cooking and working hard that morning! Donuts were the perfect grab and go treat and didn't take up any space in the kitchen. Donuts are quite delicious as well so it was a win, win situation! 

Fall food at Trader Joe's 

It is not fall until I have walked into a Trader Joe's during this time of the year! They have the cutest fall treats and items. The store smells like fall, looks like fall and feels like fall. There are tons of treats that would be adorable for a Charcuterie board for snacking on Thanksgiving Day. They have the cutest chocolate pumpkins that I have had my eye on every fall season. Imagine a little chocolate pumpkin on your Thanksgiving table scape. So fun! 

Pumpkin Treats 

I love all the pumpkin treats this time of the year! There are so many pumpkin flavored drinks at any coffee shop, grocery store, or make at home options. I love pumpkin cookies, muffins, and donuts! I have tons of blogs about all things pumpkin as well. My top pumpkin items to get this time of the year are the pumpkin steamers at Kneaders in Utah, Quill's in Kentucky and Starbucks anywhere in the world! Any donut shop should have some type of pumpkin flavored donut. Grocery stores have pumpkin cookies, pumpkin Little Debbie treats, or even mixes to make it at home. It is just fun exploring for all the pumpkin treats! We can't forget pumpkin pie too! Costco has the best pumpkin pie for the price, taste and size! All my pumpkin blogs can be found right here: Pumpkin Blogs

Gratitude Journal 

Thanksgiving is a time to remember and reflect on being grateful. I try to write in my journal every day for something I am grateful for each day in November. It is always so tough to just pick one thing! Life has so many beautiful, good, amazing things and when it's not good so many good things come from it. We are super blessed to be here and for such a neat experience. It is great to have a time and season to really focus on the good and the blessings. To make this even better, ask your family members each day too! My husband says the funniest things, but it really shows you that there are truly blessings for each individual on this earth.

Fall Hiking

The greatest time to hike is in the fall time! Not only is it cooler, but the leaves are the prettiest this time of the year! We hiked on a Thanksgiving weekend in Seattle one year and I thought it was the best thing ever! You get to eat that big Turkey dinner and then go hike it off in the beautiful fall nature around you. It was the best of both worlds for me, food and nature! I do like hiking in the fall the best. The leaves are just so pretty and it gets you outside. I feel like this is a great way to socialize with family and to make memories. 

Turkey Dinners

I used to think that you could only eat turkey on Thanksgiving and only when you cooked it, but I was wrong! So many places now a days have turkey items on their menus! Cracker Barrel has the best fried turkey plates during this time of the year. Capriotti's in Utah has a pulled turkey sandwich all year long and it is so good! It never hurts to make a turkey at home too! It just is iconic for the Thanksgiving Day dinner. I love a turkey and roll sandwiches as leftovers too! 

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

We found a spot in Nashville that sells sweet potato cupcakes that are so good. They are moist, have fall like flavors and the best frosting on top. I found a sweet potato cupcake recipe on Pinterest that is good too! The flavors are one hundred precent fall flavors and bring the warmth and vibes all in one bite. For me I thought it would be so weird but I really like it! This would be a great addition to the Thanksgiving Day dessert table! 

What are your Thanksgiving Traditions?