November 19, 2025
There are certain foods that live in a very specific corner of the calendar. They don’t show up in July. They don’t wander in around springtime. They have one job, one day, and they show up like clockwork: Thanksgiving.
And honestly, I kind of love that.
When I think about the foods I genuinely only eat on Thanksgiving, I always start with green bean casserole. It’s not that I couldn’t make it other times of the year. I own an oven. I know where the cans of mushroom soup are kept. I’ve seen fried onions in every grocery store I’ve ever walked into. And yet, the dish only appears on my table one day a year like a seasonal celebrity that refuses to tour.
And it’s not the only one. Stuffing? Thanksgiving. Sweet potatoes with marshmallows? Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce shaped like the inside of the can? Absolutely Thanksgiving. Nobody is making that in March unless they’ve reached a very specific kind of emotional crossroads.
But the older I get, the more I realize these foods aren’t just foods. They’re memory triggers. They’re tiny edible time machines. The moment I see them, I’m transported back to kitchens filled with too many people, timers going off every eight minutes, and that strange harmony where chaos and comfort learn to coexist.
Thanksgiving foods are tied to people and stories. Maybe you remember your grandmother’s stuffing that nobody could replicate. Maybe your dad always insisted on carving the turkey, even if the turkey disagreed. Maybe there’s that one side dish nobody likes but everyone feels obligated to make because it’s “tradition,” and tradition is apparently stronger than flavor.
When I ask myself what food I only eat on Thanksgiving, I’m really asking something else:
What part of my past still shows up at the table?
And do I make space for it because I love it, or because I’ve never questioned it?
Every family has its own culinary mythology. One strange casserole. One beloved dessert. One dish that sparks arguments every year because someone “tweaked” the recipe and was immediately put on culinary probation.
Thanksgiving food is personal. And your once-a-year dish says something about you, maybe something small, maybe something heartfelt, maybe something absolutely unhinged. All valid.
So today’s Question of the Day is an invitation to look at what only appears in your life once a year… and to ask why. Maybe it’s time to let the dish go. Maybe it’s time to make it in June just for the chaos of it. Or maybe it’s perfect exactly where it is, once a year, surrounded by people, wrapped in meaning.
Whatever your answer is, I promise someone else out there has the same one… or one much weirder.
👉 Read the full blog post where I answer this Question of the Day and share the Thought of the Day
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💬 Your Turn
So… what is a food you only eat on Thanksgiving?
Your weird little truth might be someone else’s comfort zone.
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