For me, Thanksgiving is the best holiday because:
- It’s simple (versus Christmas).
- It includes a long weekend to rest.
- Home-cooked comfort food is central.
- A few glasses of good wine is expected.
- Three days of the long weekend follow any food and wine binging that takes place on the first day.
- The obsessively connected, professional world usually exits the grid.
- I don’t have to be anywhere, so I can generally avoid the materialistic mayhem of Black Friday.
- We’re not into full winter, so the climate is usually optimal for getting outside (at least around New York, where it’s now sunny and 47 degrees Fahrenheit).
- There’s usually enough Thanksgiving leftovers to feed a family for days (read: instant meals and craving satisfaction).
- With the exception retail stores, people are mostly in a good mood.
- Finally, it’s refreshing when so many people stop at once to think about what they’re thankful for, versus continue calculating how they’re going to attain what they don’t yet have.
Importantly, I typically prepare roast leg of lamb, not turkey, along with sweet-potato puree and pumpkin soup (the guts of our Halloween pumkin).
