50 Reasons We Can't Wait For Thanksgiving

We Love Thanksgiving! Shutterstock
Lauren Gordon|

With Thanksgiving on it's way here, we can't help but feel that buzzing excitment starting to build up. After all, year after year The Daily Meal strives to be your guide throughout the season to help you achieve the most perfect holiday you could ever imagine. While we do have plenty of tips from top experts to help you improve your dishes, we're here to help you take care of more than just the bird. We're here to make you remember  why all of the hours of cooking and planning are well worth it. To help you get excited for Thanksgiving, we compiled 50 reasons why we love the Thanksgiving holiday season. Did any of your favorite things make our list?

  1. Digging out your family's traditional Thanksgiving recipes.
  2. Finding the best ingredients for your Thanksgiving meal.
  3. Trying out new and exciting recipes to enjoy on Thanksgiving.
  4.  ...Like this Creamless Wild Mushroom Soup Recipe.
  5. ...Or this Crispy, Seared Rillettes with Biscuits Recipe.
  6. Heck, you could even host an all-chocolate Thanksgiving if you wanted to.
  7. Getting to spend Thanksgiving Eve hitting up all of our favorite old haunts with childhood friends, which of course means drinking delicious Thanksgiving cocktails.

     
  8. Waking up to the smell of Thanksgiving turkey.
  9. Upon smelling the turkey, immediately realizing you need a Thanksgiving hangover cure.
  10. Watching football and enjoying a Thanksgiving tailgate. All. Dang. Day.
  11. Getting to see Crazy Aunt Mildred (cause you know, she brings the green bean casserole).
  12. Sneaking bites of mom's famous Thanksgiving stuffing.
  13. And bites of the cornbread.
  14. And the Thanksgiving garlic mashed potatoes.
  15. And mashed sweet potatoes.
  16. And basically all of the Thanksgiving sides ever.
  17. Getting to break out the old kitchen gadgets is always a blast ('cause you know we only use them on Thanksgiving).
  18. Getting to watching all of our favorite Thanksgiving specials on TV.

     
  19. Watching the Macy's Day Parade live.
  20. Getting to play a little football before dinner.
  21. Even researching the last minute emergency tips is kinda fun! Oh admit it, you love being the only one that knows how to "work the Google machine."
  22. Getting to set the table and making it look even better than it did last year.
  23. Arguing over whether to serve dinner family style or buffet style.
  24. Hanging out with the kids at the kids table.
  25. Feeling a twinge of guilt about the amount of calories you're about to eat, but getting ready for an epically satisfying cheat day anyway.
  26. Bringing a date to Thanksgiving dinner to meet the family.
  27. Hearing cheesy/funny Thanksgiving jokes and immediately regretting bringing a date to Thanksgiving.
  28. Hearing your dad give a great Thanksgiving Day toast and remembering why your family is pretty awesome.
  29. Taking a minute to tell everyone what you're thankful for.
  30. Including stuffing on that list.
  31. Getting to be the one to carve the turkey.
  32. Being surprised by your favorite uncle coming home for the holiday and bringing with him your favorite Thanksgiving beer.
  33. Trying out bacon-wrapped sides and loving your sister for making them.
  34. Fighting with your cousin over the last bit of cranberry sauce.
  35. Enjoying your third (fourth? Fifth?) glass of perfectly paired wine.  
  36. Wrestling your brother for the last biscuit.
  37. Finding a way to make room for dessert.
  38. Helping yourself to a slice of pumpkin pie.
  39. And a smidgen of pecan pie.
  40. And just a sliver of apple pie.
  41. Wondering if turkey is making you sleepy or you're just exhausted from the busy day.
  42. Going back for just one more piece of dessert before crashing.
  43. Realizing Thanksgiving isn't even over yet after you wake up to a Thanksgiving breakfast of leftovers.
  44. Getting to host a post-Thanksgiving party with all of those leftovers.
  45. Or pulling together your friends' leftovers and hosting a "Friendsgiving."
  46. Of course you could always just make a great leftover sandwich and recover on the couch.
  47. And if a boring sandwich doesn't tempt you, you can make amazing dishes like Thanksgiving leftover pizza.
  48. Or you can use turkey to make Thanksgiving empanadas.
  49. Even an inventive Thanksgiving leftover macaroni and cheese is possible.
  50. We are even thankful for the end of Thanksgiving, because that means the kickoff of the holiday season!

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