It’s not about the food, silly – the intersection between tradition and risk taking Blog #14
Nov 27, 2023 by Amy Elizabeth Matuza
“Honor the past. Live in the present. Build for the future.” – Sharon Reed
For someone like me who rarely likes to vacation in the same place twice; has changed careers multiple times; and who tries new things constantly - I really love traditions. This may seem incongruous, but after giving it some thought over Thanksgiving, I think it makes perfect sense.
Thanksgiving has arguably become my favorite holiday – maybe even trumping Christmas. Over the last seven years or so, our Thanksgiving holiday really begins on Wednesday when I head over to the local YMCA to pick up our race bibs for the next morning’s road race; my sister shows up armed with prosecco and various ingredients to begin meal preparations; the college kids lie sleeping upstairs trying to erase their slumber deficit; and Aria, after suffering through her half day of school in the morning, comes on scene around noon to start the long weekend.
After making a round of mimosas, (and peeling the college age kids out of bed), we get busy prepping the various dishes for the following day’s meal and catching up on what has been happening with each of us over the last few days/weeks/months. We put on our favorite Spotify playlists and sing our favorite songs. When Dmitry arrives home from work, we order from our favorite pizza/sub shop and pick up takeout. The kids usually head out to see friends that they have not seen since summer and the adults watch Christmas movies that we know by heart.
On Thanksgiving morning, we all get up way too early and head to the start line of the Feaster Five road race. We join thousands of other crazy people to run either a 5K or 5 miles in order to receive a free apple pie at the finish line. We have run this race since the kids were in strollers – rain, snow, sub-zero temperatures – it does not matter. We even ran it on our own in a rain/sleet mix the year that it was cancelled due to Covid.
After the race, we head home to celebrate with a mimosa, shower and watch the Macy’s Day parade. If the Andover vs. North Andover high school football game is home, we walk over to watch a bit of it. (Usually with another mimosa in hand-notice a theme here?) Upon returning home, we make our final meal preparations while watching the National Dog Show and nibbling on shrimp, cheese/crackers, veggies and dip. Dmitry’s parents arrive usually around 1pm and we all sit down in the dining room to eat. The table is set with my grandma’s silver set and our wedding china – usually, for the only time all year.
When we all sit down to eat, everyone reads their place card which Aria has made. This has become Aria’s “thing” and each year the cards are different. Some years they are hand drawn pictures with individual quotes. This year, she made paper turkey feathers with everyone’s names on them and a personal message. After reading them, we stapled the feathers onto a paper turkey body and hung it up in the kitchen. Before FINALLY getting to the business of eating, each of us says one thing for which we are thankful.
The rest of the weekend involves decorating the house for Christmas, picking out a Christmas tree, watching the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game, seeing friends, texting and calling out of town loved ones, and simply just being together. Nothing crazy. All pretty traditional.
If you have read this far, you may have noticed that I have not said a word about our Thanksgiving meal itself. This is where the risk taking comes in. You see, every year I look up new recipes online or in cookbooks to make a different menu for us to eat. There are no family recipes that have been passed down over the years for Thanksgiving dinner. Each year my family gets something different from the proverbial Forrest Gump “box of chocolates”.
After years of trying to be traditional with my meal, I have given up. I don’t like turkey – there, I said it. My kids don’t really like it either. I have ordered turkeys from farms and gourmet stores. I have brined them and done all sorts of fancy shit with them and no one in my house ever eats more than 4 bites of the expensive and labor intensive turkey. I wind up throwing it out and feeling terrible about killing a turkey and wasting all that money and time preparing it. So, we don’t have one. We have done ham and most recently this year, a Market Basket roaster chicken. This was a total hit! Everyone got 4 bites of it and there were no leftovers...
In the last few years, our daughter has become a vegetarian and then a vegan and I have modified our menu accordingly. We have had some really good vegan vegetable sides and some not so fabulous ones. I have decided that I love REAL mashed potatoes with REAL butter, cream and cheese in them-not with vegan butter or almond/soy milk. So instead of mashed potatoes, this year we did baby roasted potatoes with rosemary and spices. They were delicious. We had Thai green beans and spiced, candied carrots – tasty!
My father in law is gluten free, so we use cornbread or gluten free bread for our stuffing. It has taken a few years and a few different recipes, but we nailed it this year. Also, most of us hate pumpkin pie so you won’t find one in our house. Same with pecan pie. We get an apple pie for three of us, a vegan dessert for Zoe and a gluten free dessert for my father in law. The rest of us devour my sister’s baked goods which include 7 layer bars and peanut butter buckeyes. Our meal is far from traditional in ingredients, but very much so in its community.
The thing is this. Both establishing a tradition and taking a risk involve a common trait: Intention. Something becomes a tradition because you intentionally decide to do it over and over. Taking a risk involves the intention to break with the status quo and try something new.
As you can see, risk and tradition live hand in hand in my house at Thanksgiving. If you get invited to our home for this holiday, it is pretty guaranteed that you will partake in some of the traditional activities that I outlined above no matter what year it is. However, you will most likely have no clue what will show up on the dining room table for Thanksgiving dinner. You will be taking a risk that it might be absolutely delicious or that I have epically failed.
I am trying to marry these two tenets in my daily life as well. It is important to do the things that we love (tradition), but also that we try new things in order to not get stuck in a rut (risk).
Perhaps next Thanksgiving our family will try a tofurkey? You are all invited – if you dare!
For someone like me who rarely likes to vacation in the same place twice; has changed careers multiple times; and who tries new things constantly - I really love traditions. This may seem incongruous, but after giving it some thought over Thanksgiving, I think it makes perfect sense.
Thanksgiving has arguably become my favorite holiday – maybe even trumping Christmas. Over the last seven years or so, our Thanksgiving holiday really begins on Wednesday when I head over to the local YMCA to pick up our race bibs for the next morning’s road race; my sister shows up armed with prosecco and various ingredients to begin meal preparations; the college kids lie sleeping upstairs trying to erase their slumber deficit; and Aria, after suffering through her half day of school in the morning, comes on scene around noon to start the long weekend.
After making a round of mimosas, (and peeling the college age kids out of bed), we get busy prepping the various dishes for the following day’s meal and catching up on what has been happening with each of us over the last few days/weeks/months. We put on our favorite Spotify playlists and sing our favorite songs. When Dmitry arrives home from work, we order from our favorite pizza/sub shop and pick up takeout. The kids usually head out to see friends that they have not seen since summer and the adults watch Christmas movies that we know by heart.
On Thanksgiving morning, we all get up way too early and head to the start line of the Feaster Five road race. We join thousands of other crazy people to run either a 5K or 5 miles in order to receive a free apple pie at the finish line. We have run this race since the kids were in strollers – rain, snow, sub-zero temperatures – it does not matter. We even ran it on our own in a rain/sleet mix the year that it was cancelled due to Covid.
After the race, we head home to celebrate with a mimosa, shower and watch the Macy’s Day parade. If the Andover vs. North Andover high school football game is home, we walk over to watch a bit of it. (Usually with another mimosa in hand-notice a theme here?) Upon returning home, we make our final meal preparations while watching the National Dog Show and nibbling on shrimp, cheese/crackers, veggies and dip. Dmitry’s parents arrive usually around 1pm and we all sit down in the dining room to eat. The table is set with my grandma’s silver set and our wedding china – usually, for the only time all year.
When we all sit down to eat, everyone reads their place card which Aria has made. This has become Aria’s “thing” and each year the cards are different. Some years they are hand drawn pictures with individual quotes. This year, she made paper turkey feathers with everyone’s names on them and a personal message. After reading them, we stapled the feathers onto a paper turkey body and hung it up in the kitchen. Before FINALLY getting to the business of eating, each of us says one thing for which we are thankful.
The rest of the weekend involves decorating the house for Christmas, picking out a Christmas tree, watching the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game, seeing friends, texting and calling out of town loved ones, and simply just being together. Nothing crazy. All pretty traditional.
If you have read this far, you may have noticed that I have not said a word about our Thanksgiving meal itself. This is where the risk taking comes in. You see, every year I look up new recipes online or in cookbooks to make a different menu for us to eat. There are no family recipes that have been passed down over the years for Thanksgiving dinner. Each year my family gets something different from the proverbial Forrest Gump “box of chocolates”.
After years of trying to be traditional with my meal, I have given up. I don’t like turkey – there, I said it. My kids don’t really like it either. I have ordered turkeys from farms and gourmet stores. I have brined them and done all sorts of fancy shit with them and no one in my house ever eats more than 4 bites of the expensive and labor intensive turkey. I wind up throwing it out and feeling terrible about killing a turkey and wasting all that money and time preparing it. So, we don’t have one. We have done ham and most recently this year, a Market Basket roaster chicken. This was a total hit! Everyone got 4 bites of it and there were no leftovers...
In the last few years, our daughter has become a vegetarian and then a vegan and I have modified our menu accordingly. We have had some really good vegan vegetable sides and some not so fabulous ones. I have decided that I love REAL mashed potatoes with REAL butter, cream and cheese in them-not with vegan butter or almond/soy milk. So instead of mashed potatoes, this year we did baby roasted potatoes with rosemary and spices. They were delicious. We had Thai green beans and spiced, candied carrots – tasty!
My father in law is gluten free, so we use cornbread or gluten free bread for our stuffing. It has taken a few years and a few different recipes, but we nailed it this year. Also, most of us hate pumpkin pie so you won’t find one in our house. Same with pecan pie. We get an apple pie for three of us, a vegan dessert for Zoe and a gluten free dessert for my father in law. The rest of us devour my sister’s baked goods which include 7 layer bars and peanut butter buckeyes. Our meal is far from traditional in ingredients, but very much so in its community.
The thing is this. Both establishing a tradition and taking a risk involve a common trait: Intention. Something becomes a tradition because you intentionally decide to do it over and over. Taking a risk involves the intention to break with the status quo and try something new.
As you can see, risk and tradition live hand in hand in my house at Thanksgiving. If you get invited to our home for this holiday, it is pretty guaranteed that you will partake in some of the traditional activities that I outlined above no matter what year it is. However, you will most likely have no clue what will show up on the dining room table for Thanksgiving dinner. You will be taking a risk that it might be absolutely delicious or that I have epically failed.
I am trying to marry these two tenets in my daily life as well. It is important to do the things that we love (tradition), but also that we try new things in order to not get stuck in a rut (risk).
Perhaps next Thanksgiving our family will try a tofurkey? You are all invited – if you dare!
