Gobble Gobble!

Ready to surrender

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgivikkah, however you want to celebrate the grandest, most festive day in food preparation! An entire holiday that centers around a feast! America at its finest, celebrating Pilgrims and Native Americans joining together to be thankful for one land, while only one group ends up surviving. But back to the positivity. A marathon of food consumption until one must unbutton their pants and lay in a food coma. So obviously, naturally, this gluttonous affair is my main squeeze. As I write, I am stuffed by the food that is still largely in my belly. I am thankful for this blog that allows you all to see how gluttonous I can be, and that I have been able to over-consume food that pretty much has no nutritional value whatsoever, while people now shop for materials that have no value whatsoever. What a grand land this is!

As I dwell on the food that's now gone away, I will count down my top 5 favorite traditional Thanksgiving foods, that will not include cranberry sauce, because really people, who LIKES cranberry sauce!? If it ain't made from scratch, it comes out of a can in nasty circles of red jelly flesh that never EVER get eaten by who I'm with. But maybe my family is just too good for that kind of thing.

YUM....appetizing

5. Turkey- The truest meat of the Thanksgiving table of plenty, the turkey represents......America? Gluttony? Our forefathers? I really have no idea, perhaps the Bald Eagle should be the bird we consume, except nobody eats them and that would be strange to see on the table of plenty. So the turkey it is, and the only reason why I enjoy this is because of the skin. The fatty, oily, crispy, skin is one of my favorite foods in the entire world. Give me the skin of any animal that we eat and I will enjoy the skin to the fullest of extents. Talking about this might be making me hungry again when I thought I wouldn't eat for days....

Show me the skinn

4. Carrot souffle- Ok so perhaps this isn't exactly traditional, unless it was made with sweet potatoes, but despite popular belief, I am not a loyalist. I make a mean carrot souffle, because as a food blogger, I have to sometimes promote myself and my cooking skills. So here it is. Made with carrots, which is the only healthy ingredient, and a whole lotta sugar and butter, you get a dish that beats out any sweet potato with marshmallows (which have I said I hate?) combination you may have. And thus, it has become a staple at my Thanksgiving table, brought down by my Aunt who does the same.

Decadent.

3. Lasagna- If you don't eat lasagna or baked ziti or some form of pasta after the soup/salad portion of the billion course meal, you are missing out my friends. Is it traditional? Perhaps not. It is freaking delicious and satisfying? Absolutely. And for my family, even the non Italian side, it is traditional. As it will always be, because cheese and sauce always win in my book. Always.

2. Stuffing-I used to hate stuffing. Like absolutely despise stuffing. For years as a young foodie beginning to discover my distinct (and now noncommittal) palette, I would attempt to try this dish every year. I laugh at that young girl who actually looked at more foods than I do now with disdain, for she was able to choose between options and not stuff her face entirely because she likes everything. (Like the wonderful person I am today). Ah yes, but year after year, my palette would not accept the flavors associated with stuffing. I like to think this was because I had an affinity for richer tasting foods, that I somehow lost in college when I was forced to eat anything remotely food-like from near poverty and appreciated all that I had. And in that appreciation came a love and (finally!) a fancy for stuffing. Especially one with sausage, and the one that I ate tonight (shout out to my cuzz) because that adds an extra flavor kick. Who knew pieces of bread with some spices and veggies could one day because my 2nd favorite Thanksgiving food? I could see my younger self cringing at the thought.

1. Pumpkin/Butternut squash/Soups- How typical. My favorite part of the meal WOULD be the first course. Where your stomach isn't inflating like a balloon, you are still just tipsy enough to enjoy the food but not want to vomit it up, and your taste buds are raging because in my family, we never eat until 8:00, 7:30 if one is lucky. So as always, the first course is always soup/salad, and I LOVE me so traditional Thanksgiving soups. The veggies are always used in a way that doesn't overtake the creamy taste, nor make it seem too healthy. Always made from the freshest of ingredients, with lots of heavy cream, I always scarf it down and then lick the bowl clean, and then proceed to lick other bowls clean, because remember how I have no shame?? Ok I'm lying, about the licking other bowls clean part, because I have done this to my own bowl. Stop judging me.

Too busy licking my bowl for a real picture....

Would it be too much to say I'm almost hungry again? Is that humanly possible after this monstrosity of a plate? You be the judge. Happy Thanksgiving!

I swear kept my dignity