With Thanksgiving around the corner (already!?), we wanted to share some of our family traditions, favorite must-have Thanksgiving foods, and the dishes we could live without. Most of all, we wanted to share how thankful we are to be surrounded by such a fun team, inspirational clients, and awesome families to celebrate the holidays with. 

Mia 

Thanksgiving tradition: Eat as much food as possible with no shame or judgement. 

Favorite food: Mashed potatoes. Convinced I consume about five pounds every holiday season.

Least favorite food: Yams with marshmallows. Who allowed that to happen?!

Kris 

Thanksgiving tradition: Our Thanksgivings have been big and small, but ever present in my memories is the pineapple turkey centerpiece — a pineapple with a hand-sewn felt turkey head attached to the bottom of it (so the leaves of the pineapple make up the “feathers”). It’s funny and kitschy and beloved, and now my girls want one for our house. I look forward to Thanksgiving every year — the warm and bustling kitchen, the Macy’s Day parade with my morning coffee, laughing with family over good wine while a football game plays in the background, all capped off with the feast of the year…it’s a great kickoff to the holiday season.

Favorite food: While I will own the fact that I LOVE green bean casserole, my favorite part of Thanksgiving is pecan pie.

Least favorite food: My least favorite might actually just be the turkey (sorry, so boring compared to everything else!).

Hailey 

Thanksgiving tradition: The must-have Thanksgiving food item in my family is sweet potato casserole. We have a recipe that draws on the one used at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. We’ve been making it for more than a decade and it’s just not Thanksgiving unless it’s on the table. 

Favorite food: Sweet potato casserole, of course.

Least favorite food: Real cranberry sauce. Only the terrible jellied stuff will do. 

Natalie 

Thanksgiving tradition: The main tradition my family has is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; in the era of Hulu and Netflix, it’s really the only time I lament not having cable anymore, because I still can’t figure out a way to watch it!

Favorite food: Green bean casserole — either my family’s traditional cream of mushroom/Velveeta/French’s Onions version, or the “grown up” version I stole from Pinterest that involves soaking cashews overnight and grinding them to make a cream base and Parmesan on top. 

Least favorite food: Gravy, no matter what it’s on. I’d rather have just butter on my mashed potatoes and nothing on my turkey. 

Hannah 

Thanksgiving tradition: Running the Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving. This isn’t a tradition we’ve done for my entire life, but it’s definitely something that I’d love to continue doing. There’s nothing like running a few miles in the cool, fresh air before stuffing your face later that afternoon! Plus, you can eat guilt-free! 

Favorite food: Mashed potatoes and rolls — the most buttery items on the table. I’m from the south, so you know there is always a Paula Dean-worthy amount of butter in every dish. 

Least favorite food: Fruit salad *hint hint, mom!* 

Ann 

Thanksgiving tradition: We spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family and it always involves plenty of great food, football and wine.  My favorite part of the day though is probably the morning prior to of all of the busyness: sneaking out for some sweaty “me time” with an early-morning Turkey Burn at Burncycle, followed by orange rolls, coffee and the Macy’s Day Parade at home with just the girls and my husband, and of course the arrival of our favorite elf Jingle, marking the official start to the holiday season.  

Favorite food: Dressing.

Least favorite food: Anything non-alcoholic.

Lisa 

Thanksgiving tradition: Every year, my family makes two separate turkeys — one roasted to perfection in the oven and the other traegar smoked — more varieties of potatoes than you can imagine (sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pecan potatoes), bacon Brussel sprouts, dinner rolls, pumpkin and pecan pies. In my brother’s eyes, thanksgiving isn’t complete without cranberries. My favorite tradition is spending quality time with family, watching football, drinking copious amounts of wine and eating leftovers galore. 

Favorite food: It’s a tie between bacon Brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I also LOVE a good dinner roll (now in the gluten-free variety :))

Least favorite food: Cranberries — my brother’s favorite. I just don’t understand the appeal.