There are two types of people in this world.

People who have “traditional” family holidays and people who do not.

When I was a child I thought that my family holidays were picture perfect. In my mind our holiday meals looked just like the setting for a Normal Rockwell painting.

Now, that I am no longer a naïve little kid I realize that the family in that Norman Rockwell picture was clearly not an Italian family

.I used to think it was normal to have a bowl of spaghetti and various meats almost the same size as the turkey on the table during our holiday meal.

I figured that everyone had 4 different types of potatoes (hand mashed, hand blender mashed, sweet mashed and oven roasted) 5 different types of stuffing (stovetop, cooked in the turkey, sausage, egg, sausage and egg.)

Not to mention the other dozen or so vegetables that grace our table. Green beans, asparagus, carrots, salad, broccoli and the mashed turnips *shutter* Let me tell you never know pure disgust until your take a spoonful of mashed turnips expecting it to be mashed potatoes.

And the bread. Oh the bread. Both my aunts bring an oversized loaf of bread each year. So considering this knowledge, one would wonder why my Grandfather insists on purchasing 2 more loaves of bread and a dozen rolls for dinner as well. But the really sad thing is that all of this bread usually does get consumed throughout the day. 15 people easily consume 4+ loaves of bread at one sitting.

If you do not fill and clean your plate at least three times during dinner you have not eaten enough. And trust me everyone knows if you aren’t eating enough because everyone sits dressed in their Sunday best squeezed together at one long table in the dining room.

The seating arrangements also makes it a lot easier for someone to stick their fork into your pieice of turkey because they just “want a little bite” which is not a valid excuse considering there is usually a good fifty pounds worth of turkey in the house. It is not that hard to get your own piece!

And I can’t even get into the desserts. I really can’t. The amount of pies, cakes, pastries and cookies that pile up on top of the washer.

Yes the washer. We run out of room in the kitchen so Nana has store food in the laundry room.  It’s kind of sad when you think about it.

So I guess my family dinners aren’t so “traditional.” And even though I have to guard my turkey and triple check to make sure the blob on the end of my fork is the hand mashed  mashed potatoes, I wouldn’t want anything different.

And besides, I eat so much that I can go at least 3 days without a meal after a holiday at Nanas.

But let’s get real. With the amount of leftovers there are, skipping a meal is not an option.