We sat down with some of our favorite Troy friends to ask what makes Thanksgiving special in their homes. From treasured family recipes to football, games and gatherings, some traditions may sound familiar, others just might inspire a new tradition of your own.
Family, football and a full table
Food, fun and the Lions at our house is really about having the people we love all together. We usually host, our adult children come home and my husband’s best friend also joins us, a tradition that goes back about 40 years.
For my husband and his friend, Thanksgiving must include turkey and all the traditional fixings, so those are always on the menu. We usually add some type of beef for those of us who aren’t quite as enthusiastic about turkey.
Before dinner, watching the Detroit Lions game is a must. Afterward, we linger around the table, talk, laugh and sometimes break out Mexican Train dominoes or a game of Euchre. We also try to take advantage of having everyone together to get our family Christmas card photo, which is sometimes easier said than done.
It’s not especially fancy, and that’s what I love about it. My favorite part is simply having everyone together, with nowhere to be, enjoying good food, good conversation and each other’s company.
Ann Percy
Ann Percy State Farm l annpercyagent.com l (248) 879-9690
Our Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade family tradition
One of my favorite family traditions began on a bitterly cold Thanksgiving morning in 2006, when we bundled up and headed downtown for the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade. That first year, it was me and my two sons, just seven and five, along with my cousin visiting from California and his four-year-old son. It was one of the coldest parade days we can remember, but somehow we stayed until the very end.
None of us knew then that we were beginning a tradition that would become such an important part of our family’s Thanksgivings. Through the years, our little group grew right along with our families. My cousin added two daughters, I added a daughter and many years later my sisters and their children joined us. My father loved coming to the parade too, and looking back, those mornings with him are memories I treasure even more today.
We bring two ladders with a wooden plank stretched across them, giving the kids their own front-row seat above the crowd, and we always have plenty of hot chocolate to keep everyone warm.
Every Thanksgiving parade reminds me of how quickly the years pass and how something as simple as standing together on a cold Detroit morning can become a family tradition that lasts a lifetime. And after all these years, we still agree on one thing: it has never been as cold as that first parade.
Jeff Rogers
Acupuncture Wellness l acupunturewellness.org l (248) 731-7215
Thanksgiving filled with family, tradition and gratitude
For Hinnah, Thanksgiving is a celebration of family, gratitude and the Pakistani American traditions her family continues to make their own.
Growing up, Sunday dinners meant gathering around the table with cousins from both sides of her family. Today, those cousins have careers, spouses and children, and Hinnah loves watching the next generation grow up together. At Thanksgiving, her aunt and uncle open their home to as many as 100 people.
The celebration begins with an interfaith prayer, incorporating traditions from all three Abrahamic faiths, blessing the food and gathering while remembering loved ones who have passed.
Then comes a feast that blends cultures. Corn chowder and samosas are followed by tandoori turkey seasoned with northern Pakistani spices and served over aromatic rice. Masala corn, garlic herb mashed potatoes, jalapeño and cracked black pepper mac and cheese and plenty of bread fill the table. And every year, the elder relatives jokingly compete for the turkey drumsticks.
After dessert, everyone writes something they’re grateful for on a paper leaf and adds it to the family’s “thankful tree.” Cardamom tea and chai-spiced cookies follow as board games, puzzles and cards come out.
“To have one another,” Hinnah says, “that’s life’s greatest blessing in my book.”
Hinnah Sheikh
SamLab Skin l samlabskin.com l (313) 844-4102