The Thanksgiving Fairy has come early to Glover Gardens, and our dining room is all set for the gratitude celebration on Thursday.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s just about the food and the family, with no extra expectations or requirements. A meal that’s rife with memories and laughter and rich, satisfying food that you don’t normally eat.
We like to get started early, and I really enjoy the process of preparing the table and getting a head start on the meal.
There are so many memories of lost loved ones in the items I’m touching to set the table. There’s silver from both of my grandmothers. The crystal candelabras are from my maternal grandmother, circa 1950s. My Dad made the lazy susan (above).
The table itself and the china cabinet are also from my maternal grandmother.
Other treasures and memories are associated with family members who are still with us. The Avon Cape Cod water glasses are part of my mother-in-law’s set that she gifted me with over the summer.
The memories of previous Thanksgiving meals – spanning preparation to consumption and conversation to the endless cleanup – from years gone by are also fun to revisit as I set the table. My niece and I had some hilarious moments one year as I filled up the vintage turkey salt-and-pepper shakers (see one set below in the middle of the pic), then forgot to put the stopper in and dumped pepper all over the kitchen counter (twice!).
This is the inaugural Thanksgiving for our vintage birdcage wine bar, a find in Fairplay, Colorado late last year while the big kitchen remodel was ongoing.
The wines on our holiday table this year are from Gracianna Winery in Healdsburg, CA, named after the great-grandmother of one of the owners, representing their deep appreciation of the feeling of gratitude (and illustrated by the gift image on the label).
That’s all for now, it’s time to get started on the dressing and the sweet potatoes! You can find other Thanksgiving-related posts here, if you’re in the mood.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, what’s on your table that conjures memories?
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