I am like most of you who probably believe strongly about how good of a cook your mother is or was, especially during the holidays. My late mother, Charlotte Hope, was the absolute greatest cook. She made delicious dishes from scratch and with love.

I recall watching her work all morning to prepare a feast for the entire family and whomever visited on Thanksgiving.

I can still see her mixing the bread, spices and other ingredients by hand to make her delectable dressing or stuffing.

Of course, like most families, we always had a big, juicy turkey and usually a ham too.

And yes, there were plenty of side dishes like green beans, potato salad, yams, hot rolls and cornbread. (My dad always wanted his cornbread with about any dinner.)

There were various desserts like tasty chocolate cake and sweet cinnamon apple pie. Her icing and cake batter were made from scratch, never from a box or can. I can still see her roll out her pie crusts on wax paper with the old wooden rolling pin on the kitchen table.

Times have changed and many people today have grocery delis or restaurants to whip up their holiday meals. But it is just not the same. Yes, it is less trouble and makes for a cleaner kitchen, but it just does not taste as good as homemade meals.

I actually like to cook. I inherited that trait from my mom. So did my sisters Karen and Martha. But even though we all are accomplished cooks, there is no way it is as good as Mom’s dinners.

We have tried to pass this down to our children and, hopefully, our grandchildren. But I know today’s generations will likely not continue to cook at home and will buy prepared dinners or even go to a restaurant.

That just is not the same as past traditions.

My wife Vicki says I’m the cook in our family and I think I do a pretty good job preparing meals. She has laughed about how often she has gone into the kitchen and proclaimed that there was nothing to eat yet I can go and prepare an entire meal. Except for my stuffing—I must admit it is easier to buy the pre-mixed stuff and maybe add a few more spices to make it better. However, it is nowhere near the delicious dressing my mom made.

Of course, she made her meals and cooked with love. Her generation grew up learning to cook from scratch and had the recipes in their brains. Mom had some recipes down on cards, handwritten, but I know she did not need to refer to them.

Growing up, we usually had a lot of family that would visit, which made the Thanksgiving holiday even more special. It was great to have a house full of relatives.

Thanksgiving was the one time of year when the “good” plates, silverware and glassware were used. Some of us older folks may remember helping our parents set the table with the best dishes, usually brought out for “company.” Nowadays, we mostly use disposable paper plates and cups, so we do not have all of those dishes to wash after the big dinner.

Many times, it was warm enough for the kids to go outside and play. A lot of us like to play a little football on “Turkey Day.” Sports fans can also enjoy watching plenty of football on television.

The Macy’s holiday parade has been a Thanksgiving tradition since 1924. Many “Baby Boomers” enjoyed watching the parade on the old television set where we only had three channels. But this was something to do early in the day when we were younger or if the weather wasn’t good enough to allow us to go outside.

Leftovers are always good, and to me, the food is even better the next day. I’m not sure why, but I seem to enjoy it even more on Friday or Saturday after that traditional Thursday.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all of the tremendous blessings we receive. It is a day to spend quality time with family. To me, that is very important.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on old traditions and create new ones.

These are some special memories that I have. I’m sure many of you can relate and also have some precious recollections too. I hope you, your family and your friends have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)