Thanksgiving in California

It’s sort of become this tradition… My husband and I spend our Thanksgiving in California. After I moved to North Dakota, we both decided it is too hard to try and split Holidays. So we told both of our families, Thanksgiving will be spent in California and Christmas will be spent in North Dakota. I hope one year one or both families will be able to travel with us for the appropriate Holidays. And as much as it sucks to be away from one family on the Holidays, it is the reality you face when you a girl from CA marrys a guy from ND.

If you’ve followed me any amount of time, you will know the production that is the Dewey Family Thanksgiving. It has been featured on this blog three years running, with the exception of 2012 which featured an engagement versus all the yummy food. I apologize, the giddy school girl in me took over! If you’re just joining me, let me give you some background into the Dewey Family Thanksgiving…

It usually begins the night before with Dad cooking turkey parts for stock and gravy. It is this intense process where he saves the drippings, the fat, and of course the stock. And of course, it makes the house smell glorious. Then he gets up early the next morning and spends the entire day in the kitchen. Everything is from scratch… I’ve honestly never known anything besides homemade gravy and stuffing. I know, I’m spoiled. But honestly some of my best Thanksgiving memories involve spending the morning and afternoon in the kitchen with my Dad. And this year was no different, he actually let me make one dish all by myself! 😉 My husband, of course, loves it because he is the official taste tester when he gets up early with my dad.

So here’s our Thanksgiving in California wrap up… It always begins with Mom’s tablescapes that are something out of Martha Stewart. Honestly, when I grow up, I hope my Thanksgiving tables look like this! I guess first I need to amass enough fancy dishes and cloth napkins…. Sigh, a girl can have dreams!

And of course, there are the stars of the show.. The food. Our spread included your typical turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (two kinds), sweet potato casserole (made by yours truly), and mom’s fantastic green salad. Dad also typically does something a little out of the ordinary.. Some years it is deer, this year it was Jambalaya AND Cioppino.

Even my husband even got in on the cooking, he made the green bean casserole. Y’all don’t know the weight of this… The Dewey Family Thanksgiving doesn’t allow just anyone in the kitchen. I must say, as a fellow Rohrich now, I was so proud!

Are you hungry yet?

Another tradition I’ve sort of started is taking photos while we are there. It is quite a task to drag everyone outside and make them stand around for photos. But when you only see your family twice a year, you cherish those moments with them. For me, my memories live in photographs.

I LONG for photographs of my family now that I am not with them all the time. It is one of those personal goals I have to scan and get a copy of every family photograph from all the albums my mom has. I miss having that library of memories to look through. Photographs capture moments in time and take me right back to those moments. This year we didn’t get a big family photo which I am sort of bummed about. But we did get a few.

And of course, no Dewey Family Thanksgiving is complete without our furry friends… Macy celebrated her Thanksgiving on her spot on the couch. And Gracie, of course, was in the kitchen. Waiting for a treat to fall from the counter.