Who is ready to feast? In the past, I have served up helping after helping of Thanksgiving content. Well, on this Thanksgiving Eve I am re-heating the leftovers and setting the table with a handful of my favorite Turkey Day-related posts.

The Thanksgiving MVP – By far my favorite Thanksgiving post I have ever written, this entry pays homage to all the brave and talented (and those who are just brave) people who prepare the Thanksgiving meal. Preparing a feast the magnitude of a holiday meal like Thanksgiving is no small undertaking and there is a lot of planning and stress that goes into it. Make sure to thank the cook tomorrow.

Hats off to my mom for all the delicious Thanksgiving meals she has produced over the years. Make sure to tell your Thanksgiving cook “thank you” tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Traditions – It was 10 years ago that I wrote about the Thanksgiving traditions I grew up with. A decade later, we are still honoring those traditions. What are they? Well, chiefly, we go to a movie and always serve lasagna with the turkey. But the most beloved tradition that my wife and I have instilled for our own little family is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade together every Thanksgiving morning.

Lasagna is always part of the Reser Thanksgiving spread, including this Turkey Day meal back in 2012.

Getting Your Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Fix – Speaking of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, let me expound a bit more on this beloved spectacle. As I mentioned, our family is pretty much obsessed with it. Every year we watch it live (starting at 5:30 a.m. PT) as we embrace the 3.5 hours of pure Americana. However, during 2020 when the parade was canceled, we had to get our fix somehow. What did we do? In an obvious example of our affinity for the event, we watched a past Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (2007). In fact, doing that was so fun that we watched a previous year’s parade the next year too (2013) as a “day-before” warmup.

Beau holds his stuffed Spider-Man as the actual Macy’s Parade Spider-Man float goes by in 2024.

My Top Choice for Thanksgiving Dessert – I am passionate about this, friends. When it comes to Thanksgiving dessert, give me pumpkin pie or give me pumpkin pie. The spices, the texture, and the crust are all reasons why I like pumpkin pie. As someone who will devour rich and heavy desserts with plenty of chocolate and peanut butter, Thanksgiving is my time to eat something more focused on flavor than something that is trying to induce a heart attack.

The Costco pumpkin pie is a classic and I will eat it for days.

Turkey Bowl – I have played in a few turkey bowls in my day but I retired from pickup football games in 2014. Why? Well, after competing in that year’s turkey bowl with high school friends I spent the rest of the weekend dead sore. It was baaad. I do feel it is important to engage in some exercise prior to the big meal so these days I either do a turkey trot or just head to the gym for an early workout prior to the parade.

My brother and I goofing around before the notorious 2014 Turkey Bowl.

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I will publish a brief post tomorrow, but for those who prefer to concentrate on turkey instead of blogs, let me wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. Don’t Blink.