This picture captures my mom and dad in the kitchen trying to clean and arrange everything that was used for the feast. My mom is doing the dishes while my dad puts away the leftovers. In my family, my father cooks the meal and my mother does the dishes, however on thanksgiving they both share those jobs. Left overs are a big part of thanksgiving as well as they serve as lunch for the next few days.

This picture shows the food that we ate for our main courses. It includes many traditional thanksgiving food like turkey, stuffing, potatoes and squash. In both interviews with my parents they said that the first thing that comes to mind when you think about thanksgiving is the food, and this goes to show for it! It seems to be a theme on thanksgiving to make more food than can be eaten at once.

The way we set our table is fancier than normal with the table cloth, the flowers and the candle. They are all set in place to commemorate these moments and make them feel a little more special as we spend time with our loved ones. We are also in a little cottage in a vineyard that my parents rented specially for the occasion to bring family and friends together.

This picture captures my mom and dad and one of our family friends talking over some hors d’oeuvres. The hors d’oeuvres are served for the purpose of quenching our immediate hunger and to bring people together to chat and mingle and drink before we sit down for the feast that is thanksgiving starts. Small warm puff pastries, cheeses, and olives are often the hors d’oeuvres that my family provides.

This photo is showing our array of appetizers that we had prepared for our guests. We had some friends over and this was a means of gathering everyone in one place so we can mingle. This is the only food me and my family had after breakfast because we are saving room for the main course, which is what both my parents said was the most important part of thanksgiving when i interviewed them. Food and family interaction is a huge part of thanksgiving and it is portrayed well in the serving of hors d’oeuvres.

Food in my family is a big deal every night so it is even more important on thanksgiving. My parents shop for the food a week in advance and start smoking and marinating things days in advance. The actual day of thanksgiving they start preparing early in the morning while i clean and tidy the house so it is clean for our guests.