As much as I truly enjoy the holiday season, Thanksgiving is by far, hands down, my favorite of holidays.

It’s a day of steep traditions; traditions that I loved growing up with that I now share with the family Sean and I have created.

Anyone that has been reading my blog for 5 minutes, knows that all of the holidays around here are centered around food.  Decorating is certainly a close second, but it’s the menu planning that I absolutely adore.  I do change things up a little from year to year, but I still always serve the canned cranberry sauce in the exact bowl that my Mama served it in that she has passed down to me.  And too, I shared last week how I follow the Ultimate Turkey recipe that I’ve enhanced only slightly.

I do follow a lot of traditions passed down from my Mama’s side of the family, but my Daddy brought a valuable one to us that he grew up with, that I now share with my family every Thanksgiving.

This tradition would be the treasure hunt.

The treasures are all in jest – more fun than valuable, and a tradition that we most fancy.  I write a short rhyming verse for each of us, that hinders on funny rather than making much sense.  Here’s an example from a couple year’s ago.  This was Caroline’s verse:

Our sweet Little Miss

You try as you might

You stay active and strive

Becoming a great swimmer is your plight.

But you love to play games

Cards and checkers to be true

You must always stay occupied

To us, this is nothing new.

Go look under little tree

Your treasure is awaiting

A little somethin’ somethin’

To maybe play when it’s raining.  

So as I continue to tweak our menu (yes, I plan and tweak; plan and tweak), there is also no doubt that I have already set the table.  A design that I will undoubtedly, tweak..

I would love to hear your Thanksgiving family traditions!

Cheers to traditions.