Thanksgiving Table Traditions #SOL

It’s been a few years since we actually hosted Thanksgiving at our house, but every year my husband insists on cooking the turkey for my family — and the roast at Christmas, and the lamb at Easter. He’s fussy like that. Wants it cooked just so! I can’t complain. He gets up at the crack of dawn and does his thing while I sleep in. It works and boy does the house smell amazing!

When it comes to side dishes, there are two that are always on our family’s Thanksgiving table — my brussels sprouts and my Aunt Cindy’s fruit compote. I’ve been making the same Stout and Orange-Glazed Brussels Sprouts recipe since I first discovered it in Bon Appetit back in 1994. It sounds a little unusual, but is delicious. The combination of broth, Guinness, orange juice, butter, brown sugar, and pepper boils down to a delicious glaze that you saute the sprouts in. So good, you’ve got to try it! If you are not a fan of sprouts, try this and it’ll win you over. Promise!

Now onto the fruit compote. My Aunt Cindy has been gone for while now. We lost her –my dad’s kid sister — far too early from a brain aneurism when she was in the prime of life with two young boys. They are grown now, with children of their own, but every year we honor her legacy by enjoying her “famous” fruit compote, a concoction of canned pineapple, peaches, and pears swirled around in a bowl with cranberry sauce. It’s divine served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream, the perfect complement to the Thanksgiving bird.

What’s on your table, that you couldn’t live without?

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Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here each Tuesday. Won’t you join us?