Paul Ille [dot] com

So it’s a couple days late Happy Thanksgiving anyway.

We hosted our first Thanksgiving here this year and it was a lot of fun. While we weren’t able to get the entire family together, we did manage to get a good portion of it, we had a good time and damn did we have food. I didn’t even get to taste all of the food we had cause there was just so much! There was:

Turkey, Chipolte Turkey Breast, Ham, Home made Cranberry sauce, String beans, Califlower with cheese, Califlower, Mushrooms, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Spinach with garlic, Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Creamed Onions, Cornbread Casserole, Corn…and that’s just what I know we had on my half of the table!

For dessert we had:

Brownies, Brownies with Chocolate Chips, Apple Pie, Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pie, Cookies, Rhubarb Pie…there were more, but I was running around so I didn’t have the chance to see everything.

The food was phenomenal. I just love the year end holidays. Great food and great company.

But, this year wasn’t JUST our first Thanksgiving at our house. It was the first year Sandy or I had Thanksgiving anywhere, but our Grandparent’s houses. This was something that weighed heavy on our minds, but I can’t imagine it didn’t weigh a bit heavier on mine. While this year was the first year Sandy’s family didn’t have Thanksgiving at her Grandparent’s house, it was the first time I hadn’t spent any of Thanksgiving with my extended family – they were unable to come for one reason or another. This fact didn’t fully hit me until I spoke with my Grandfather on Thanksgiving morning. I thought about him throughout the day and wished he had been able to make it. Don’t get me wrong. I was still very happy to have my Brother, Sister-in-law, newly born neice, Mother and Aunt Betty there to represent.

I enjoyed having Thanksgiving at our home and I’d like to continue to host it for the family. Everything has to change doesn’t it?

I had Thanksgiving at Sandy’s Grandparent’s house one year earlier – Sandy’s Grandmother has long since past, but I always say Grandparent’s anyway. I remember the long room they had with a long table going all the way down through it fitting at least 20 or 25 people. I remember thinking, damn that’s quite a table and I appreciated the fact that everyone was at that one long table together. My family always had a good time, but we always had one smaller dining room table with everyone else at semi-crappy folding tables – it was somewhat disconnected at times. There was always a distant feeling I didn’t like, but of course I hadn’t realized that until I saw this gigantic table.

The following year, Sandy’s Grandfather unfortunately broke his hip and decided to sell his home. With that, he also decided to give us his dining room table. Being such a stickler for tradition, it was clear we’d have to take the torch and host it for the family, but it’s funny that I didn’t realize there was a very crafty trick played on me. The dining room table was 110 inches long with the leafs in! It couldn’t fit 20-25 people! It could maybe fit 10 or so maxed. So what exactly did Sandy’s Grandfather do? He built additional tables to butt up against the dining room table to give the illusion of a long table. It worked. Brilliant. Fooled me. The whole time I was wondering how on Earth we’d fit that table in our dining room!

I decided to take Sandy’s Grandfather’s idea and run with it.

The dining room table was 110 inches long and 42 inches wide. I took two 6 foot heavy duty folding tables that I had, bolted 3/4 inch plywood 6 foot by 42 inch on top to match the width and height of the dining room table and presto! We had a 21 foot and change dining room table.

Sure, it didn’t look so hot with sawdust and rulers on top, but that’s when I turned the show over to Sandy’s wizardry (and Jonathan’s vacuuming skills hehe). She did an amazing job getting table cloths and decorating the table from cranberries with candles to plate chargers and nicely folded napkins. Amazing. The final touch was the centerpeece sent by a good friend who unfortunately couldn’t make it. It was perfect.

I was a bit bummed that I didn’t get a picture of the entire table full with the entire family. I should have had everyone pose for one big picture (I will next year), but sometimes I guess the moments just can’t be captured. The best I got was a partial table taken from my seat at the head, but there were about 5 people cut out. The two empty seats are from my Brother and his wife putting baby Maddie to sleep.

But in the end, the entire family WAS there and everyone contributed. The centerpiece, my Mother’s chairs, Sandy’s Grandfather’s dining room table, my Grandmother’s piano and everyone who came or was on our minds. To history, future and new beginnings!

It was a great day and we had a lot of laughs, good food and great company. We hope you and your families all had the same I can’t wait until next year! – but Christmas cometh We’re hosting that too!

We have a lot to be thankful for. I think we all do, don’t we?

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