Gobble Gobble

I've mentioned before that growing up my birthday and Christmas were always my favorite holidays. While my birthday and Christmas still definitely rank up there, these days Thanksgiving is a close contender. Starting in high school, we began a new tradition of having Thanksgiving at my house. We typically celebrated holidays with our family friends, but as my parents are both the only ones of their siblings to migrate to the US from India, we don't have too many blood relatives here. Now, two of my first cousins are in the US, with their significant others and kids. When we started having Thanksgiving at home with them, it was a welcome change. I don't get to see them too often as they still live several hours away, so I grew to look forward to eating turkey alongside them every year.

Typically for holidays from Christmas Eve dinner to Easter, my mom always serves Indian fare. Chicken biriyani, raita, and fried eggplant are staple celebratory foods in my house. Thanksgiving always meant American food, though. It's also been the only holiday that my dad would take full charge of. He grills a mean Indian style BBQ, but other than that we don't eat too much of his cooking. The subtle changes that Thanksgiving posed made the day all the more special to me.

Last year was my second Thanksgiving away from home (the first was when I studied abroad in college). Now in law school, a plane ticket back for just a few days shortly before finals didn't seem worth it. So, 1L year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner with two of my now-roommates and invited a few people over. This year I was lucky enough to find a decent priced plane ticket back home. Combined with the fact that there are now non-stop flights going back to my home airport, the answer was a no-brainer: I was going home for Thanksgiving.

I had a flight out this morning at 6 am, landed at 8 am, and was home by 9 am. Although I spent the majority of the day outlining for Business Associations, I still enjoyed doing so with a change of scenery. Whether at home or not, Thanksgiving will always hold a special feeling in me. And I won't say no to an excuse to overindulge in my favorite stuffing, casseroles, and pies. What better way to get geared up to go Black Friday midnight shopping, right? I hope you all had a pleasant and delicious Thanksgiving!