Thanksgiving in Amish Country
Thanksgiving is a time when Amish people celebrate with their family, and sometimes friends and neighbors.
While there are many different Amish communities, most celebrate Thanksgiving in a similar way.
After sharing a big meal with all the traditional trimmings, Amish families may play games and engage in conversation. There is no TV to sit and watch, like many English people do, and no one communicates with others via text or social media.
Some of my readers have asked if the Amish do devotions on Thanksgiving Day. I can’t say whether all Amish people do, but those I know personally do their devotions daily. They want to express their gratitude to God for all He has given them, and by reading their Bible and praying, they draw closer to Him.
How do you celebrate Thanksgiving at your house? What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving Day foods?
Usually we will go to my granddaughters house . It may not be held on Thanksgiving day but we will try to pick a convenient day that suits all. For years I was the Thanksgiving hostess but over a year ago we sold our house and have moved into a smaller apartment. There isn’t room here to accommodate everyone so I passed this job to the younger family members. However I do miss it and wished I could still do it. My Favorite food for Thanksgiving is the traditional Turkey and all the good things that go with it. I usually do cook the turkey and take it to my granddaughters house and like to take along a crock pot full of dressing. I like to fix my kids a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. We really feast out on Thanksgiving.
This year my husband and I will make a small meal as it’s just us, we may have to work later in the day. In the past we would have a large family meal at my husband’s parents or cousins house
We share Thanksgiving by meeting at one house, whoever is hosting this year and we eat mashed potatoes and gravy with dinner rolls, etc. One of my favorite foods would be the prime rib which is braised and I like the sauce. We do a little bit of shopping for the holidays, as well.
Wanda I just love how you capture my interest in every book I read that you have written. I know that you do your research or speak from experience when writing. Thank you for making me feel I’m right in the books you write.
I always have my children, my 2 single brothers and my mom & mentally handicapped sister to my home for Thanksgiving. I also do a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and sides. While cooking I always have on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
It’s usually just my husband and I along with our son. Both sides of our families live a long distance (mostly in other states). We try and invite someone to come but they usually have family they go to. But we are still thankful. We usually get the biggest turkey we can find. I LOVE leftovers. lol And then my husband makes turkey salad. Along with the turkey we have stuffing of course, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, sometimes we have green been casserole, Rolls and of course my husband’s famous and delicious Pecan Pie! I also make brownies as our son doesn’t care for the pie. We don’t do much else all day. It’s a day of just relaxing.
Just finished The Kentucky Brothers” series. Loved them. Love all the books by Wanda B. Such heartfelt stories and so close to home. I have even tried the recipes. All very good. When I go to the library it is always Wanda’s books I seek.
Generally go to both my parents and my husband’s family. Food varies every year but I usually put in my two cents and request turkey. Sometimes I get it, sometimes it’s a casserole or soup and sandwiches….all depends what the mother feels like making.
I spend thanksgiving with my parents and we have
Traditional Southern food for thanksgiving.
My favorite is the Turkey and dressing along with
The fruit salad.
We usually celebrate at my house or my aunt’s house. We have all kinds of yummy foods. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, gravely, baked goods, etc. The best part is left over Turkey to make Turkey sandwiches and Turkey soup. Yum!
Dear Wanda,
I read your most recent journal of how the Amish celebrate their Thanksgiving. It is heart warming to hear of loved ones gathering and giving thanks for our bounty of food, each other and giving thanks to our Lord.
Our Family gathered each year at our home. My favorite food of course is the Turkey but I also loved the stuffing. The Family has grown quite a bit with sixteen Grandchildren and now has outgrown our home. We now gather at our Children’s homes. We all bring something to contribute to the Thanksgiving meal. We give thanks for each other and our bounty of food, and our Lord for his many blessings.
May you have a wonderful Blessed Thanksgiving.
Best Wishes, Silvina Irwin and Family
This year we are celebrating with our daughter and her family. My mom will be in rehab after hip replacement surgery. I’m sure Dad will join us for a while that day but will spend most of his time with Mom.
I love all of the traditional Thanksgiving foods – turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls, etc…. I think the aromas of the cooking foods are what make the day! LOL
We have family and friends and have Turkey, Dressing, cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and custard pie. We also have a church dinner a week before Thanksgiving where we are the pastors and have about the same coarse. Thanksgiving is the Time of just what it says we should be Thankful for all God has blessed us with.
We go to my in laws house about 5 1/2 hours away. We have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. My favorite Thanksgiving food is the turkey, but I really wish it wasn’t a smoked one.
So many wonderful posts are making me hungry! Wanda, I am blessed with a large family gathering for Thanksgiving dinner, usually at my brother’s home, but we all live near so its easy to visit anytime. I love watching as the years go by, the babies turn into teens, and the teens into adults with new babies arriving! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
We either spend Thanksgiving at our house or we go to South Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with my mother. If it is at my house, I cook a Turkey dinner will all the trimmings. If it is at my mother’s house, we find a nice restaurant for dinner.
We usually watch the Detroit Lions play football on Thanksgiving day and just enjoy each other’s company. It’s a nice break from our hectic schedules.
I always fix everything for Thanksgiving…turkey, stuffing mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, a pumpkin pie and mincemeat pie, and I fix a large a Raspberry jello with 1 can whole cranberry sauce and 20 oz can crushed pineapple mixed in (can’t get enough of this). My favorites are the stuffing, green beans and the jello salad. I eat everything else also, but like those the best.
Sometimes I will fix a ham also.
I am 72 years of age and unfortunately, All of my family have passed. But I remember all the good celebrations when I was a child. The house was filled with love, laughter and great smells. My grandmother always made the suet pudding with a scrumptious sauce. All of my brothers and a sister were there, some old enough to have spouses and it truly was a fun time. Pecan pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and shoo fly pie were made. Old fashioned dressing, moist turkey and of course, mounds of mashed potatoes topped with gravy. Many good memories of when life was simpler but yet filled with so much joy.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Wanda, since our children are grown and in different parts of the country we do not always get together on Thanksgiving but over the years we have spiritually adopted sons and daughters around the area. So we have several homes where we can go for Thanksgiving and it is always such a blessing to spend time with different families, watching the children grow and enjoying the fellowship. Love reading your books that share how the Amish celebrate the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Praying you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family! Love and appreciate you and the sharing of your gifts with the world.
We usually spend Thanksgiving with my youngest sister and her family. We do not have children so Thanksgiving is almost always spent with family. Sometimes we go to a restaurant to eat. We are always thankful for God’s blessings on us and our family. We always have turkey with all the trimmings and lots of pies. Way too many for us to eat in one setting. A must is pumpkin, apple, coconut cream, and sometimes a pecan.
For the last few years, I have volunteered at a homeless shelter to help serve Thanksgiving dinner. It is a joy that warms my heart for a long time after all the dishes are done and the last slice of pie has been eaten. This is a Christian facility, so everyone is required to attend a short service prior to dinner. The man in charge of the dinner gathers all the volunteers together prior to the start of the meal and thanks us for coming and makes it clear that each client is to have a 5 star restaurant experience. As each person is seated, the server goes up to them and says, Hi, my name is Kate and I’m your server this evening. The tables are set with tablecloths and regular dishes and flatware. The local grade school children make centerpieces for all the tables. The servers are encouraged to start up a conversation with the clients and it is an amazing experience. And the man in charge of the dinner…..last year he told us that a few short years ago, he was sitting at one of those tables being served. You don’t have to look far to see the face of God!
Sadly that my husband is in care facility. So, I will spend the day with my husband
of 49 1/2 years. I sure miss family gathering but I can’t leave him alone while I join
with married son with family. Breaks my heart.
Our Thanksgiving was celebrated last month (I’m Canadian) Our family gets together for supper. With one of our grandchildren in college, it was a great time to touch base with everyone and thank God for his many blessings. Many hugs, many laughs and such a great time to share with family.
I spend Thanksgiving with my daughter, son in law, my grandchildren, and my son in law’s family. My son in law’s family is Filipino. I have eaten some interesting foods. Pancit, purple sweet potato dessert, rice cake, and meat on a stick. They also serve American foods. A day of fun and laughter for all.
I enjoy having my kids & their families here. We’re not fans of turkey so I fix ham & bar b cue ribs plus all the other fixings. Am so thankful for family & friends.I make pumpkin & apple pie. Want to make mincemeat pie this year too.
with family with a covered dish dinner
We have always had family gathered around the table for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We all pitched in to make delicious food. Afterward we have fellowship and we either play a board game or cards, and we have a craft for the kids to make. Then we all eat dessert!
We go to one of my sister’s homes and have the traditional turkey dinner. Everyone brings a covered dish. my favorite foods are the salads I take. I make Garlic Salad and Hot German Potato Salad. They are requested of me and Thanksgiving is the only time we get them. Have a great Thanksgiving.
Most of the time my husband and I have Thanksgiving by ourself with most of our familys and friends live in Oregon and were in Ohio my favorite dish is the yams,thank
The whole family usually goes to my parents house and we all bring something for the meal and desserts. After the meal and clean up if the weather is nice most of us women will go for a long walk around the lake with the kids. Then we will play board and card games and have dessert. My favorite foods are my mom’s homemade stuffing and pumpkin pie.
Hi Wanda and Happy Thanksgiving I visit with all My children and grandchildren and great grandchildren on Thanksgiving. We have a big dinner that my daughter fixes I am blessed to have a family of children that can cook the meal and my baby girl can make The homemade stuffing just like her dad use to make she has got the tradition done so great and it taste so yummy everyone can’t wait to dig in to her homemade dressing! I Thank the Lord for my family and friends! Happy Thanksgiving Wanda!
We still go to my mother’s house on Thanksgiving Day. Sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
I like the kind that has the caramelized nut topping on it…yum, yum. Mama is 70 years old. She still does Christmas Eve Day meal as well. We don’t do personal gifts anymore, but we do play “Dirty Santa” as a group. Gifts are suppose to be about $10 max, but some spend more. That’s always fun. There are so many of us. Our family is so blessed. I do Christmas Day at my house. My parents, siblings, children and grandchildren come to eat/fellowship after they’ve had Christmas with their families. I’m a quilter and have given everyone in our family a quilt of their own over the years. I received one back recently that was so loved that it needed repaired. If it comes back again, it’ll be repaired, but a new one will be given along with it. This year, I have charity baby quilts that I hope to give to the crisis center. I need to add binding before I can do this. I hope everyone has a blessed holiday season!
Sense all my children are grown and left home with families of their own now, we try to get together at Thanksgiving at our family home to have dinner. The grand kids put up Grannies tree for me on Friday and we enjoy our time together. On Saturday we do Christmas and then all go out to eat dinner and celebrate two family birthdays. Sunday we go to church and as the children leave during the day we say our goodbyes. With their careers most work on the day after Christmas. So I spend my Christmas with friends or volunteering and it is not lonely at all since my husband has passed.
Thanksgiving was a big deal in our family we would all gather at our grandparents house in a very small room 35 of us touching elbows and one person had to get up that’s was closest to kitchen to get us a second helping we never complained it was very loud and grandma always made it special with her homemade decorations she made pies and the whole dinner herself not wanting help she made her special fudge for prizes for bingo we had a game guess how many candy in a jar when they died so did the get-togethers it was missing there presence and love and no one felt like continuing them .we stopped for about 15 years and now we are doing them again having lots of new memories but still missing them terribly.
I’m growing older and it saddens me that my children often forget about their mother. They are across the nation and have families of their own. This world has created such a mess with most Mothers having to work outside the home to make ends meet. I’m so thankful that the Lord allowed me to stay at home with my seven children. It’s such a joy to read your books ? that tell of simple times of the past and family being the first priority. It is a special blessing to read how the Amish take care of their own. I have spent many Thanksgiving days alone. Only the Lord knows what this one holds. Precious memories flood my soul thinking of food preparations in the past. Trying to make the favorite foods for everyone, the children making placards for the table, etc. God is so good ? and greatly to be praised.
We generally have Thanksgiving with friends that are like family and all of their family. There is generally about 20+ people that gather. It’s a great time together. When my Mom was still living we always went to Colorado for Thanksgiving but my Dad and his new wife have decided that they will do Thanksgiving by themselves. My favorite dish at Thanksgiving is egg noodles over mashed potatoes.
I cook and my kids and grandkids come over for a big dinner.then we sit and chat awhile,then watch the parade on t.v.
My favorite thing for thanksgiving dinner is cranberry sauce. I have to make my own ,I have to have sugar free.
After we’re all stuffed we sit around and talk and laugh. My favorite food is well everything
My siblings and families have Thanksgiving together. Our parents are both deceased My husband is also deceased. Family tradition when our parents were still living. We continue meeting any time we are able to do so. Thanksgiving is a special time of the year. We have so many things God has provided for us. I always enjoy ALL your books. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a special time to reflect on God’s blessings. Unfortunately due to illness, death and distance, our special meal together has lessened. We now try to combine our family with in laws of our son’s, with a meal out at a favorite restaurant. My Mama and I always cooked the meal together
But with her death and my increasing back problems, we’ve decided this is the easiest way to enjoy the time together with less work! It’s not my preferred way to celebrate but at least we can be together! Last year I did cook a special meal for my husband and I, after we had shared thanksgiving day with the rest of the family! That way we enjoyed both times!
When we were growing up we spent Thanksgiving Day at my maternal grandparents house.
Now, since they have passed on we usually gather at my sister’s house or my oldest son’s house.
Favorite food….well, I’m not sure I can pick one. We have a combination of PA Dutch dishes with Southern Style dishes. If I had to choose I’d say mashed potatoes and gravy.
I spend Thanksgiving Day with my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren where ever they decide we are gathering. My favorite Thanksgiving food is PA Dutch Filling. My mother is no longer with us and now it’s my oldest daughter that carries the tradition of making the Filling and Filling Balls.
This year we will spend Thanksgiving Day with our friends (that we call our kids adoptive grandparents – even though they are not really old enough) and we change what we eat each year. I always try to make some new recipe as well as family favorites (even if they are not traditional Thanksgiving food – we had chicken enchiladas one year.) We always try to do a new craft or creative way of reminding ourselves to be thankful not just one day a year, but every day.
Now that our children are all grown, live hundreds of miles away and my husband is also gone I usually stay home and watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In years past I have spent the day with friends. I miss the fellowship we all enjoyed when our families were young, but am so grateful for how God has blessed me then and now. Pecan pie and Candied Sweet Potatoes are always favorites of mine and my hubby liked the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie I made every Thanksgiving. God is so good.
I am usually alone on Thanksgiving but I still count all my blessing .ai 81 years old I have many many things to be thankful for . I thankful for each and every day.
My hubby and I spend Thanksgiving with whichever grandchild invites us. At one time when I was younger, I did the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes and gravy. Also the cranberry dish. The family brought side dishes. I do like the way the Amish spend their Thanksgiving, so nice and simple.
Our family spends Thanksgiving having dinner ant one of the resturants in Lancaster County. Since my brother can no longer have certain foods, because he is on dialysis, this works out fine. We can turkey and all the trimmings or seafood or whatever is we want to eat. There are only four of us so it works out just fine My favorite foods are mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and gravy and of course turkey
Thanksgiving is a huge holiday for my family. We actually do two thanksgivings. For one odcthwm we go to my grandparents. We eat the usual food and visit with each other. There is usually a football game on the TV and an argument in the kitchen. Lol. The second one is the one I host. It includes my family, my parents, my siblings family and a few friends. I do all the cooking. My kids and i do some kind of table craft that includes a bible verse for the year. Last year we did silverware holders but we have done placemats and even table decorations. The TV remains off and everyone says what they are thankful for and grace. Plus a little talk of Christmas decor. Lol.
In years past, we spent Thanksgiving with either my parents or my husband’s parents. Since they are gone, Thanksgiving has become my responsibility. I do the traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, filling, gravy and much (too much) more. I don’t really have a favorite food – everything is so good. God has blessed us with much and we appreciate it all. Any family member who is available is welcome. After the meal the women just sit around the table and scour the newspaper ads for Christmas present ideas for everyone while the men watch football. Thank you for sharing your talent of writing with us. I enjoy reading your books.
I will be watching TV and having a TV dinner on Thanksgiving Day. My beloved husband died on Thanksgiving Day. My one surviving child will be celebrating Thanksgiving with her husband’s extended family because Thanksgiving Day has long been a family reunion tradition for them.
My daughter has been having Thanksgiving for quite a few years. This way she has our immediate side of the family and my son-in-laws side. My daughter cooks the turkey, makes the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. The rest of us brings the rest. My daughters mother-in-law will make an apple, pumpkin and raisin pie. They are so good, especially the raisin pie! My daughters father in law or her husband says grace and then we enjoy a wonderful meal.. Football is watched, except during dinner when the tv is turned off.
My favorite Thanksgiving food is stuffing. It is plain bread,celery,onion and a few spices. My family likes to cook the turkey the night before.
Marion
When I was small my parents and me went to my maternal grandmother’home. The cooking did not start until late in the afternoon. I was so hungry I was almost sick. Waiting all that time was worth it.When my twin sisters were born it was just too much to get to my grandmother’s home,so we stayed home and made our own Thanksgiving dinner.
Joan
Thanksgiving in our house is always a quiet time. After our Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings e had pie after we had turkey sandwiches for supper. We put mayonnaise and cranberry on the sandwiches.
Marilyn
We actually don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, but rest assured we are thankful for much in our lives.
I will be spending thanksgiving with my sister, nieces, nephews and Great nieces and nephews. It is the first year my sister and I will not have our Mother with is. She went to heaven September 22. ?
My sister and family told me I have to make my grandmas recipe for cranberry sauce, which I do every year. My grandma was Amish. So I really love reading your books. ?
A typical Thanksgiving with the Amish sounds similar to the Thanksgivings we had when I was growing up and we went to my Grandma’s in Arkansas to celebrate. I can remember Grandma and Mom being up during the middle of the night working on getting the turkey cooked. The food was always delicious and the leftovers just as good. Grandma didn’t have a television that worked so we amused ourselves in other ways. If it was warm enough, the kids would go outside and find some kind of games to play. If it was cold, we would stay inside and both the adults and kids would play games, such as Jumping Over the Broom or Who Can Do But Little Can Do. I really miss those days.
The last several years I have gone to my Mom’s in Indiana and spent the long weekend with my family. There are not enough beds at her house for all of us but we make do because we enjoy being together. We have a traditional meal with turkey and dressing and add our favorite side dishes to that. Again, leftovers are always wonderful!
This year my husband and I will be staying home in Tennessee and going out to a local restaurant for dinner with my son and his girlfriend. This year I have cancer and am going through chemotherapy and don’t feel like traveling. I’m sorry for rambling on but Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I sure miss the dinners we had when my dad, my son, and my grandma were alive but cherish the times I can spend with the rest of my family.
Thanksgiving at our house has changed over the years. Always celebrated at my folks home with my siblings and our children but my parents have passed on. We miss them so much but we all still celebrated the way we always have and still cook the same dishes but what is most important is we are still all together and share our wonderful memories. We are all thankful for each other.
We celebrate Thanksgiving at my parents and usually have friends over that have no family close by. My favorite food is pumpkin pie.
Yes, I do Thanksgiving dinner. My oldest son comes with his family. We do not do all the trimmings, But Turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed turnip, gravy, cranberry sauce, olives, and most of us are chocolate lovers, so I do a chocolate pie.
We go to my parents house with the rest of my family, I bring the pumpkin pies because my grandson likes mine best! We used to go to my in-laws in the evening when they were alive and my brother-in-law was in town and play games in the evening and they would have a cribbage shoot out every year. I enjoyed reading the article on how the Amish picked their bishops it was really interesting, using a lot like that was a way of letting God have his say.
I like to carry on my Mom’s tradition – when people arrived, there was always a bowl of nuts (2 kinds) and shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. Then, she started the family turkey dinner when people sat down and had a fancy stemmed glass dish of fresh cut pieces of fruit (oranges, grapefruit, etc.) topped with lemon sherbet. This is what she called a palate stimulator for the dinner ahead. We then had the full turkey with giblet gravy, onion and herb stuffing made with bread crumbs. She always included a jello mold salad with vegetable/fruit pieces (carrots, apples, cranberry, celery, etc.). And she served a cold relish tray of green and black olives, sweet and dill pickles, and cranberry sauce on the side. Mashed potatoes and hot vegetables were also included (squash, corn, peas, etc.). And, of course, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and plum pudding for dessert. I don’t make the plum pudding, however. And the best part of all is after dessert and some cleanup, we take the tablecloth off and play Mexican Train Dominoes. Who needs a TV? Who needs a radio? Maybe some quiet music playing as a background. Think that’s about it! And I was always in charge of making up place cards with each person’s name hand lettered and a favor at each place setting (usually a Russell Stover Thanksgiving theme candy.) Sorry to be so lengthy but I love this tradition and love to tell people about it! And it’s been my pleasure to carry this on after my parents were gone which always evoked very happy memories!
Wanda, we celebrate Thanksgiving three times. My family celebrates the Saturday before , and my husbands family celebrates on thanksgiving, and both of them they have all kinds of food, plus the main food turkey and all the trimmings mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole,stuffing, cranberries, rolls,cherry cheesecake(some could fight over this) it is so good), pumpkin pie. . And the weekend after I have thanksgiving dinner at my home with my husband and four children . I started that 19 years ago . We all love Thanksgiving dinner, but two of our favorite dishes are green bean casserole, and tator tot casserole(I have to make double batches of the tator tot casserole when I take that to the other two Thanksgivings).Sometimes before the meal prayer everyone has to say what they are thankful for. Some things we do after eating, westher permitting play kickball, play cards, just hang out , play music, check the ads for shopping the next day. And also to say the we are so blessed to be all together on this Thanksgiving day and how thankful we all are..
So far we have a small family. My husband and I with two young kids, so we haven’t started our own family tradition yet. But tradition every year is too go to a family reunion, with cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and grandkids. We like mixing up our foods from year to year, one year it’s mashed potatoes, ham, turkey, stuffing, gravy, veggies and also different kinds of deserts. Other years it’s potluck, makes it easier for the person that hosts the gathering at their place. We don’t have television also, we don’t believe in that. It’s so much more fun communicating with one another and playing games. And my favourite food at Thanksgiving is pumpkin cream cheese pie.
Besides the turkey my favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner is pumpkin pie. Both my grandmother and mother baked great pies. I always look forward to eating all the foods served at this special meal.
In South Africa we do not have Thanksgiving. The only experience that I have of Thanksgiving is those experienced through your Amish books.
I would like to take the opportunity to tell you how much your books and stories mean to me. I only read Amish fiction and it is a great inspiration to me.
I have learned a few valuable lessons from the characters in your books, which I apply in my personal life.
So although I did not answer the Thanksgiving tradition question, I just wanted to share this with you.
Thank you !
My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is being with all the family that gathers at our daughter`s home. We all sit around the dining room table and share our thoughts on what we are most thankful for! Some of the answers are “priceless”,especially when the grandsons were younger!
I miss the large family gatherings we had when my parents were alive. Last year my husband and I had my single sister over for dinner. Afterwards we visited with my brother and family who were in town for the holiday. God has been so good to us and seen us through a lot. Praise him for his faithfulness!
Hello Wanda,
Happy Fall…. for me having our daughters and their families over to our home fora homemade meal, laughter, sharing stories, and playing with our three precious Grandlittles. My absolute favorite part of the meal is the Turkey and mashed potatoes!
Thank you Wanda for yet another chance to win a copy of your latest book! So excited!! Thanksgiving Blessings ~ Marge ~
There will be 10 family members at our Thanksgiving dinner.We will have turkey,dressing,potatoes and gravy,green bean casserole,sweet potatoe casserole,and lots of dessert.My husband is suffering from Parkinsons Disease so every day is a blessing.
Our son and his precious family will come and I will cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I always try a new recipe and the family votes to see if the new recipe will replace an old one. I rotate dessert recipes but always hold to pumpkin and pecan pie! I usually make 5 or more different desserts. This year’s holidays hold a new special meaning for me and my family. We have been blessed to befriend an Amish family. Barbara and I have been sharing thoughts and memories of our holidays. I am so very privileged that she asked me to make butter for her family for their Christmas celebration! I buy my raw milk and cream from Barbara to make my butter and buttermilk. We have become very close and cherish our friendship!
We use to go to my mom’s for thanksgiving. Then they moved out of state and the distance and snow often made it impossible. Now my mom has passed and I wish I had gone more often.
The way the Amish spend Thanksgiving is the way I would most enjoy our get together. We get together with our son and his wife and her mother and sometimes her sister and her husband and brother and his wife. We do have the big meal and then often play games (some of us), but modern technologies sneak in with some texting and others checking out the football games. Oh for the days before football was televised and phones had e-mail, texting, the internet,etc. Then our get together would be perfect.
My husband passed away in January and this is my first Thanksgiving without him. I’m in an lassisted living home now,but they are planning a big dinner for that day. My favorite food that day is dressing. I love your books and thanks for the chance of entering this contest.
The way the Amish spend Thanksgiving is the way I would most enjoy our get together. We get together with our son and his wife and her mother and sometimes her sister and her husband and brother and his wife. We do have the big meal and then often play games (some of us), but modern technologies sneak in. I love to read about the Amish and especially how the celebrate every occasion. Thanks for the insight on their Thanksgiving traditions.
I like to read Bible verses concerning giving thanks and then thank God for my blessings. I like appropriate decorations, hymns, and readings. I especially enjoy pumpkin ice cream pie.
We usually celebrate by staying home and having dinner here. Although, in years past, we’ve been to community gatherings as well as friends and/or family. My favorite Thanksgiving food is green bean casserole, but I also like cornbread and corn on the cob. 🙂
My family and my husbands family comes to our home for Thanksgiving dinner. Always a good time with many tables, much talking and lots of laughter. Sweet memories.
We are going to my son’s house for Thanksgiving this year. It has been three years since we have seen him.
In the past we have gathered at a family members home and enjoyed turkey with all the trimmings. We have moved to Florida away from family and now spend Thanksgiving with friends in our community. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family
Thanksgiving is very special to me because I was born on Thanksgiving day. My birthday is always near this day we set aside to be Thankful!
This year I will be spending Thanksgiving with my brother and his family as most of our family won’t be with us this year. In years past we would big meal and gathering of family and friends at my parents home with plenty of food, fellowship, and laughter. We would light candles in memory of the ones who had gone on each year. I’m so thankful for those times now.
I usually go to my Sister’s house in Michigan. We usually make something special for dinner (we are not fans of turkey), and invite friends to join us. Then we just chill out and enjoy the rest of the day.
Over the years our Thanksgiving celebrations have changed significantly. For many years we had morning worship at the church just like on a Sunday. Later, pastors had family in another state so they requested Tuesday evening worship, traveling on Wednesday to be with their families on Thursday. And it is so.
When it comes to food, that too has changed. Early on, we lived “in the big house”, so everyone came to our house. When our sons started having babies, one asked that we go there rather than toting all the things babies need. And it was so.
Menu changes from traditional turkey to standing rib to lobster to this year’s planned clam bake. We are always happy to be together and blessed to have a table of such delicious food.
I spend Thanksgiving Day with my husband’s family, and his mom makes a huge meal. She loves doing it for us and we love eating it! ? I especially like her sweet potatoes and broccoli casserole. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we go to my brother’s where my whole family gathers. We all bring contributions to the meal and always have way too much to eat. Then we play games. Our favorites are pictionary and Andy Griffith trivia.
Thanksgiving is very important to my family. It’s so nice to be with them. We sure miss our mother, my husband, and my brother, but they’re in our memories.
susanlulu@yahoo.com
The pies, I have a sweet tooth!
Its always a tradition to go to my parents house where mom has spend many hrs preparing the dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, and homemade noodles, of course she also does all the traditional stuff to. But the noodles are always the best she makes them about 2 wks before Thanksgiving.
One special thing we do is we have to have a cake for the day. We celebrate our daughters bday since it is on Nov 21st and normally close to thanksgiving that way everyone is there at the same time.
Yes Wanda, Thanksgiving is a;lways a special time in our family as well. We get together and have dinner and laugh and visit. But, first we giv thanks to God for all our blessings. We would have none of them if not for our Lord. So today let us say, Thank you Jesus for all our many Blessings from above.
Thanksgiving is a very special meal at our home. With my husband and me being the Grammy and Grampy, our family comes to our home for the Thanksgiving meal. We usually have about 13-15 family members. We cook the turkey, mashed potatoes, and dressing, and others bring side dishes and desserts. Its just a day of great food, great conversation, and lots of laughs. Ages range from age 2 on up to age 64. If it is nice out, we go outside and play a bit. Its especially awesome to see the 2nd cousins play and interact. Favorite food? Mashed potatoes and my daughter’s wonderful gravy! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Wanda!
It’s a day to get together with family and share a turkey dinner (when we can). No matter what, we share what we have and our gratitude to do so. Thanks.
We have our Thanksgiving with just the 4 of us that are in my family. We spend the day cooking, talking and laughing together. It’s just a relaxed and fun day spent with family. My favorite food at Thanksgiving is definitely mashed potatoes and gravy! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
At this time in our lives, it is just the two of us. We are very thankful for the family life we have had in the years gone by. Everything changes. We will go to a favorite restaurant. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and may everyone find peace and kindness.
My daughters and I used to go to my parent’s house and enjoy a couple of days with them. They both have passed away and my daughters have moved away. It gets harder for them to come home for my Thanksgiving dinners because of their jobs (back to work the day after Thanksgiving).
Now I have my Thanksgiving dinner with my Church and just have a quiet day alone on that day.
Things have changed so much. I pray that God will bless my family even though we are far apart.
I mostly read books and I thoroughly enjoy yours because it tells about the happy times plus the real problems of daily life and how they are solved with faith in God.
I enjoy the clean reading because there are so many terrible things in the world that is grabbing at us and it’s refreshing to escape into the world of Amish life.
Thank you for sharing their world with us. It is a blessing to me.
My family is VERY small….only 5 of us in the immediate family. This year, along with all of our other Thanksgiving (& life!) blessings to be thankful for, we add a new family ‘member’ – my son’s fiancé. We all go to my Mother’s for Thanksgiving dinner – about lunch time. We share, remember, make new memories…love….& of course – over-eat!! Our world seems to have gone crazy. It’s sooo nice to spend time with my loved ones & – for a few hours – let the world pass by unnoticed. Thanksgiving blessings to all of you. I pray each & everyone of you takes the time this Thanksgiving to say an extra ‘thanks!’ to the One who gives us our loved ones, blessings, & life!
My husband and I have a small meal just the two of us. It’s nice and quite and we enjoy it after spending noisy days at our work! We wish all a Nice Thanksgiving and if you’re traveling be safe!
We have a family dinner and use the day to visit. No one is really a big football fan, so no-one plants themselves in front of the TV for the games. If the weather is good, we may go our an play a bit of soccer. Some of us will play games of Scrabble and the kids will play outside or get into the Legos. We may start pulling out the Christmas decorations. We try to put up the outside decorations during the weekend.
Favorite foods are turkey and dressing and the mincemeat pie and apple pie we make. We always make stuffed celery to munch on while waiting for dinner. We stuff it with a mixture of cream cheese and chopped green olives.
I don’t know what we will be doing for Thanksgiving this year. This year we are taking one day at a time.
Family members will gather at one our homes for dinner. Of course like every growing family, everyone doesn’t always make it with inlaws andprofessions like first responders who work holidays to serve others. We visit, play games in the afternoon and shared precious memories. Pray is included with each one expressing thanks to God for His greatness.
My family celebrates the usual way and that is with all the family gathering at my daughters house and enjoying all the tradional foods but we always add a new dish of somekind. Then we sit around and catch everyone up on what has been happening and then we plan our Christmas day gathering. I enjoy Thanksgiving with my family more every year as I get older.
My Thanksgivings were always going to my Nannie and Poppa’s house. So many relatives came that I had to sit at the card table with the kids until I was 21. Nannie and Poppa have been gone for years now. I would love to sit at that card table one more time.
My dad die this past year. I will get my mom to come to my house and eat with my husband, kids, and me. I hope we start some new memories. PS. I do love turkey and dressing
Every thanksgiving seems different each year for me. There is one recipe I make sure is on the table wherever I am. When I was a child my mom made a cranberry fruit compote which was my favorite part of the meal and has been enjoyed by many different families.
It is just my husband and I for Thanksgiving, but each year we discuss what we are thankful for as we prepare our meal together. We never do have a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving – we save it for Christmas – but whatever we have, we are thankful for food on the table and the chance to share it with one another. This year, we had hoagies and chips – not very traditional at all, but we do have chocolate pie and pumpkin pie for dessert, and this year, an apple crisp as well!
Every year we have a churchwide Thanksgiving potluck dinner! Our church provides the turkeys and everyone signs up to bring some part of the meal, or a favorite side dish or dessert. I’m always amazed by the bounty…all the different sides and desserts, no one leaves hungry! I’m usually not a huge fan of cranberry sauce but someone made a homemade orange-cranberry relish that was so good I went back for seconds and thirds! On Thanksgiving Day, it’s just 5 of us and the past couple of years we’ve started a tradition of going to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachussetts for their annual Thanksgiving buffet. Great food, no dishes or cleanup, everyone eats what they like (I am not a huge fan of turkey and enjoy the sides more), and we walk off our suppers with a stroll through the village where we can observe colonial Thanksgiving meals cooked in wood-fired stoves. The meat pies, fruit pies, and puddings look amazing! I also look forward to the short church service where a traditional Thanksgiving blessing is given. Always a fun day and we feel like we can relax, enjoy the day, and visit more with no worries or stress by going out. However, I always make a pumpkin pie to enjoy when we get home! 🙂