Thanksgiving Traditions

Hello dear friends and Happy Tuesday. Thanksgiving is a little over two weeks away. Have you finalized your plans?

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭100‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭

Today I am excited to join seventeen table stylists to bring you a Thanksgiving Tablescape Blog Hop hosted by my friend, Rita @ Panoply!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because it is about gathering around our table laden with abundant food, and joining hands with family as we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for His gracious gifts and blessings.

You will find links for the creative stylists at the bottom of this post.

I love traditions that have been passed down and those that I have begun during our almost 50 years of marriage. From my very first memories up until my beloved mother passed away, every holiday was spent at the home of my parents. She never allowed my sister-in-love or me to prepare any of the food. Not only was every holiday spent around my Mother’s table, but also Sunday lunch every week. The only exception to the holidays began four years before my beloved Mother passed away, when I decided to start hosting Thanksgiving at our home. We had just completed a new kitchen addition and I was excited to have my family for Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted my sweet Mother to be served and not to be serving us. Of course, she wouldn’t have it any other way but to cook the turkey and make her famous dressing!

My Mother made every holiday special and I do my best to continue her traditions. The Thanksgiving menu rarely changes! There will be turkey or ham, but I don’t really care for the meat, just bring on the sides!

Mother’s recipe for dressing (not stuffing) was never written down, but fortunately I watched her make it many, many times. The first Thanksgiving after her passing, my Daddy gave me the highest compliment when he said my dressing tasted just like hers. Butch will make his famous rosemary mashed potatoes, they are amazing! Sweet potato casserole, green bean Caesar, baked 4-cheese macaroni, broccoli salad, cranberry sauce from the can (my Daddy’s request), and homemade rolls complete the menu. Desserts will be hummingbird cake (my personal favorite) and pecan pies!

The Spode Woodland dinner plates always grace our Thanksgiving table. It is a tradition!

The Royal Stafford turkey salad/dessert plates were added a few years ago. They are a newer tradition and I use them to serve dessert!

The feather placemats were purchased for the first Thanksgiving at our home as well as the acrylic tortoise flatware and are a part of our Thanksgiving traditions.

“Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.”
~Robert Caspar Lintner

The plaid chargers were added within the last three or four years. The plate depicting a mallard duck is one of my favorites!

Tablecloths change from year to year and sometimes I decide to allow the bare wood to show in order to give warmth to our Thanksgiving table!

Eight different game birds are depicted on my Spode dinner plates. Each bird is illustrated in great detail and framed by Spode’s British flowers border which dates back to 1831.

Left to Right – Mallard, Red Grouse
Bottom Row – Lapwing, Wood Duck

Quail, Pheasant
Pintail, Snipe

I am often asked about the amber stemware. It was purchased for the first Thanksgiving hosted at our house from a local department store that is sadly now closed.

One element that always changes is the centerpiece. The very large charcuterie board (that I found at Blackberry Farm) was crafted in Europe using antique wood. It normally resides on our kitchen island but I do love to use it as a base for the dining room table centerpiece!

Pumpkins, antler sheds, foraged leaves and acorns make up the simple centerpiece! For a floral centerpiece, check out yesterday’s post, Living Every Day With Thanks.

The center peachy/pink pumpkin on the wooden cake stand is one that RM and the girls grew in their pumpkin patch! It has a place of honor on the table.