Nothing gets you a bye week from traveling for Thanksgiving like being eight months pregnant with twins. The only chore I have today is to post for Serina, so while the turkey is cooking I'll share what I think about every Thanksgiving: the similarities and differences between Thanksgiving in New England and the Deep South.
I grew up in New England and my family is still there; I left for Tennessee when I was 28 years old. After four years of too much Rocky Top, I now make my home in Jackson, Mississippi married to a man who's never lived outside the Magnolia State. I still boggle at the idea of having to go north to get to Memphis, but it's worked out well and I only get homesick in the Fall. On Thanksgiving in particular.
And that's because Thanksgiving is a particularly family oriented holiday, celebrated in each home with traditions and foods that are special to that family. Regardless of the fact that we all take the day off and spend it eating with relatives, what we do and eat depends largely on what that family has developed as their style over the years. And that's how Thanksgiving is similar in every home in this country: it's about your favorite pie that you eat every year, your favorite after dinner past time, your least favorite relative cornering you for a thirty minute chat. It's about your family and your traditions and we all have our own.
And that's also what makes it different in every home too, especially those that are in diverse areas. Pie, for example, could be Concord grape or mincemeat at my mom's in Massachusetts, while Granny's pecan pie is the only favorite here in Mississippi. Still pie for dessert, but different pie. After spending a good deal of time in both the North and the South, I steadfastly hold to the fact that it's all just America and the differences we love to point out to each other strike me more as the differences between urban and rural cultures or the differences between individuals (and are due more to people's adhering to stereotypes than actually experiencing both places and developing an informed opinion). That said, here are a few things that I really think are different about Thanksgiving in the North and the South:
Five Food Things1. Cranberry sauce is rarely served in the South and it usually comes from a can; cranberry sauce is frequently served in the North and it is just as often made fresh from whole berries as popped out of a can. I am still annoyed that Kroger had zero fresh or frozen whole cranberries for sale yesterday.
2. The breaded substance cooked inside a turkey is called dressing in the South and stuffing in the North. Dressing is thinner in consistency.
3. Southern pies: pecan, pumpkin, sweet potato, chocolate. Northern pies: pumpkin, mincemeat, apple, Concord grape.
4. Southern vegetables: greens, black eyed peas (field peas, grandfather peas, you call them whatever your mom called them peas), green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and any other vegetable overcooked with bacon or made into a casserole. Northern vegetables: green beans, lima beans, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, sweet green peas, garden salad, acorn squash, or carrots.
5. Southern drinks: tea (which means iced brewed orange pekoe with sugar added), unsweet tea (the same without the sugar), Coke, Diet Coke, other kinds of "coke," water, canned beer, milk. Northern drinks: wine, bottled beer, milk, water, coffee, any "soda," hot chocolate, egg nog, and mulled hot apple cider.
Three Tradition Things1. Dinner time: Way too early in the day in the South (Thanksgiving dinner at 11am anyone?). Usually 2-6pm in the North.
2. Football: college preferred in the South, NFL preferred in the North. (Because the SEC is best.)
3. Alice's Restaurant: my Yankee Dad told me today that they had "one radio station playing Alice's Restaurant at 5:30. And if two radio stations, two radio stations do it...can you imagine fifty radio stations, I said fifty radio stations playing Alice's Restaurant all at the same time...they may think it's a movement!" My Southern father-in-law: "What's Alice's Restaurant?"
So, it's not without a little selfishness that I decided today's Thanksgiving in Jackson, Mississippi would have whole berry (canned) cranberry sauce, stuffing, mincemeat pie, acorn squash, and mulled apple cider served at 7pm while my husband watches college football and I listen to Alice's Restaurant. I'm sure Serina enjoyed her dinner at her Mamaw's several hours ago without cranberry sauce, but with dressing, pecan pie, greens, Diet Coke (Diet Pepsi if they had it), no football, and "what Alice's Restaurant?"
And for that I'm grateful. We both celebrated our traditions, enjoyed our favorites in our own way, and had a lot to appreciate. Different in the details, but the same in our memories. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
2) A round of pajamas for everyone!! I am a pajama fanatic, Every year I buy way more pajamas than I should...but it makes me happy, so there.
3)Dishes for the princess! She has already opened these once (oops!) and loves them, so I am sure that they'll be a big hit.
4) Super Z and Princess H loved this movie. I got it at Borders for 9$! Can you believe that? And it came with a free charm bracelet. I will let you know who ends up with it. I am sure that Super Z will want it and his Dad will cry from the shame of it all. I can't wait.
5) I love this book. It is one of my all time favorites. My two are definitely Wild Things, so I can't wait to introduce them to this book.
6) The Shake and Go Race Track was another MUST HAVE for Super Z. I don't know how much that means, since he MUST HAVE everything..but still, I think that this one will get a lot of play.
7) We fell in love with this little bike the instant that we saw it. The Princess is always trying to (kill herself on) ride Super Z's bike. We think that this might be a tad bit more her size.
11) This is for Ty. He didn't ask for it. This is me taking a risk. I figure that it will go over well. I mean, he can take cool shots of his friends doing skateboarding tricks, he can take pictures of himself, he can take pictures of pretty girls. The options are endless.
13) And last, but definitely not least, the red four wheeler!! Super Z has been asking for this for years. I have always been too cheap. I know, that is awful. I finally convinced myself that it was now or never. I can't wait to see the look on his face Christmas morning.
There is the car that Randy and I bought together on our first Christmas. We were broke, so we had a hideously small fake tree and about ten ornaments, mostly hand me downs. I remember sitting there for hours, in the dark, admiring the magic of our first tree. I remember thinking that it was the prettiest tree I'd ever seen. I still think that every single year. I remember Randy's joy over the car that I had picked out in honor of his love of all things automobile. I remember still being amazed that I was his wife. It was all so new. It was all too perfect.
There are the hand painted wooded ornaments of my childhood. These were painted by my Mom sometime before my memory begins. They have been a part of my Christmas tree tradition my entire life. They bring back everything from the Christmas that I learned to ride a bike to the Christmas that I had my first job at McDonald's. I can't imagine Christmas without these old guys. They are the Hallmark of my Christmas tree, the gaurdians of the magic.
There is also the silver glitter apple. I was a 6th grade teacher the Christmas that Super Z was born. The day that I was induced, December 20, also happened to be the last day of school before Christmas break. One of my students came to the hospital to see the baby (the CLASS baby) and brought me this apple. I remember being so happy that her Mom had gone to the effort to bring her. I remember being so proud to introduce my baby to one of my first kids. When I see this apple, I am flooded with love for all of my first kids. I miss them all so much at this time of year.
I could go on and on. There are at least a hundred ornaments and memories on my tree. I hope to keep adding to them for a long time to come. I hope that your trees make you feel this way too. I hope that you make a hundred new memories this Christmas and I hope that they are all magical.
