family thanksgivings growing up

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. growing up, my extended family would gather at my grandparents' house in west texas for thanksgiving, which was spent eating too much pie, playing spoons or canasta late into the night, drinking wine, climbing their mountain, and sometimes, going to a star party at the McDonald Observatory, or taking a trip to Marfa for the famed modern art museum. i also spent lots of time holed up with the huge collection of sci-fi books my grandfather had acquired and avoiding chores. it was always a highlight of the year, especially seeing all my cousins. i remember one year we made 11 pies (for 40+ people). i also seem to remember that my uncle james made a stellar dressing. and my aunt roberta usually contributed something very untraditional but delicious. i will never forget that green chili with venison. i loved that my grandmother always had cheese and bread in the fridge when we arrived from our 8-hr long drive—and espresso and a big tin of biscotti for breakfast. and my favorite was to see all my aunts in the kitchen, laughing and reminiscing together while they cooked.

i really miss my family during this time of year, now that we live in Georgia and it usually doesn't work out for us to get back to texas. but this year, we are making thanksgiving at our house! it is quite exciting, though i would much prefer to have all my family around me to help make (and eat) it. and since the only thanksgiving dish i've ever in my life made is pie, i thought that this year we'd go ahead and make everything! sounds reasonable, right? actually, my in-laws are making most of the sides, but still.

yesterday i got a head start with the gravy and a spicy red pepper cranberry relish. today it's dressing and pie-prep, so that hopefully tomorrow there won't be a crazy amount of chaos (of course there will be, otherwise it's not thanksgiving, right?).

i'm so excited. especially for the pie. :)