Make Your Own Tradition This Thanksgiving

""What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" I have been asking myself this question since late summer as I sort through my work calendar, restaurant openings, and vacation schedules. My family asks too, and my friends remind me of their standing invites. I'm still not quite sure as I write this letter. I have been traveling the last few Thanksgivings-usually for work-and have had to send kind wishes through group chats and swoon over turkey and dressing and dishes of macaroni and cheese on FaceTime."

"Although I have been too busy to host Thanksgiving in recent years, it's still my favorite holiday. I love being in the kitchen with the smells of celery and sage, cinnamon and clove, and rolling out dough for yeast rolls between my fingers. I can quickly end a canned versus fresh cranberry sauce debate with Bon Appétit's gorgeous Cranberry-Lime Tart from the archives."

"Over the past few decades, Thanksgiving has become more about peace, grace, and friend- ship, where we celebrate our chosen people and our family ties. Even if I'm not at home, I still feel the connection and intimacy I'm thankful for. We've also moved away from culinary conventions with access to spices and produce from all over the world, allowing us to make Thanksgiving dinner whatever we want."

I have been asking what to do for Thanksgiving while juggling work calendars, restaurant openings, and vacation schedules, with family and friends extending standing invitations. Travel has often meant sending kind wishes through group chats and sharing meals by FaceTime, or spending the day at restaurants, on planes, or as a guest at a neighbor's table. Hosting has been rare, but cooking remains beloved, with aromas of celery, sage, cinnamon, and clove and the ritual of rolling yeast rolls. Thanksgiving now emphasizes peace, grace, chosen family, and flexible menus enabled by global spices and produce, and tradition becomes something people create; invited immigrant friends sometimes question whether the holiday is for them.

Read at Bon Appetit