Thanksgiving Traditions

Traditions are something we can either create purposefully to build relationships with others or they just happen because of a repetitive situation, like holidays, days of the week, or even the hour of the day. While there may be no rhyme or reason to many traditions we have now, some are special and close to our hearts.

Each Thanksgiving time, I make gnocchi with my daughter. We each make a batch, she the potato gnocchi and I make the pumpkin version. We stand around in the kitchen adding our ingredients to large bowls, mixing and squishing with our bare hands, finally rolling the dough into a large ball. Then we hand roll, cut, and stamp with a fork each piece of gnocchi. By the end of our gnocchi-making, every table in our house is covered with gnocchi covered towels, and we are each covered in flour, as is our kitchen floor.

We make enough gnocchi for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not only is it a tradition, now, for us to have the gnocchi at Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is a tradition that my daughter and I make it together. We spend the time together to make the dish, which, for me, is better than the gnocchi itself. I think I would make it with her even if it was made of play dough and we threw it away at the end of the day. However, it is really good and we both enjoy eating it as much as we enjoy making it together!

For a few recipes we've posted on The Kitchen Cupboard for gnocchi, click here: Pumpkin Gnocchi with Nutmeg Cream and Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sauce.