A Magpie Thanksgiving.

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Good morning! Writing a caveat that the next few days are full of anxiety for many of us, myself included — please take care of yourself. I will continue to post diverting content if you’re seeking escape or distraction, but you know what you need. Onward…

This morning, republishing an edited version of last year’s Magpie Guide to Thanksgiving for those of us looking ahead to the next holiday, which isn’t that far off after all. Like last year, today I am also sending a special Thanksgiving newsletter to my subscribers (you can sign up here) with our Thanksgiving menu, our favorite Thanksgiving recipes (several Shoop family favorites for decades and decades), a calendar in which I plotted out exactly when to shop for what and at what time to start cooking everything, a Thanksgiving playlist, a few shopping finds for the holiday (you can find some of them in my Amazon shop and this collection of finds), and, of course, The Prayer, which so many of you have adopted in your own family traditions. I’ve lost count of the number of Magpies who have written to say that this simple prayer has brought them, and their loved ones, to tears, as they break bread together, positively shocked by the good fortune of all we have. It cuts to the quick, doesn’t it? I’m sharing the prayer below, but you can also sign up here and receive the full “Magpie Thanksgiving” email.

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving outfits, I shared several ideas here.

More finds on ShopMy and Amazon!

Like last year, I spent some time sifting through photos from Thanksgivings past, and again, I am awash with sentiment. Looking at my life through the clusters of photos I’ve taken this time of year over the course of the past decade reminds me how urgently I must take care to live where my feet are, as each year has presented such difference. Things lost, things gained: new cities, old homes, new babies, older parents. How different life looks plotted against a decade of late Novembers, how unbearably beautiful. As I wrote elsewhere, “What was unremarkable then turns out to be great now.” The flights home, the clutter and clatter of pans with all of my siblings bumping elbows over the stovetop, the early days of motherhood, when Thanksgiving felt a tad straining because, on top of the usual heavy responsibility of feeding the babies, putting them down for naps, changing their diapers, keeping them contained (or not), we were meant to dress everyone nicely and set the table and have a feast by four. All of it, every detail, now gilded with greatness.

Nothing will be the same in a year — in ways beautiful and painful.

And now, a walk down memory lane: snapshots and annotations from nine beautiful Thanksgivings. Proof positive that I want for nothing.

Mr. Magpie, Pre-Babies, 2014, at my parents’ house in Washington, D.C. These were the days (before children) when all of my siblings and significant others (some weren’t yet married!) would descend on my parents’ home for a big, everyone-cooking-in-the-kitchen melee. There was so much laughter and wine and warmth in that house.

Mr. Magpie and my beloved father-in-law, 2015, Arlington, VA. (Everyone, including friends and grandkids, calls him Doe.). Champagne in the basement (probably watching football) before Thanksgiving dinner. We used to sleep on the pull-out couch in the basement and I have the fondest memories of staying up late watching holiday movies and sneaking up for a midnight turkey sandwich.

Thanksgiving While Pregnant with Mini, 2016, Chicago. My in-laws flew in. My mom had purchased me this dress from a maternity shop on Michigan Ave in Chicago. She insisted I buy “one or two nice maternity dresses” and “a good winter maternity coat” and I felt so cared-for. May I also say that I look at this photo and notice my crooked teeth and remember how I rarely smiled for photographs for years and years because I was self-conscious of them. I’m so glad I took this photo of myself while pregnant, as I have few of them! — and am also so glad I finally got Invisalign so I could make space for more important things than worrying about my smile. But also: should I cut my hair into a bob again?!

Thanksgiving with my baby, 2017, New York City. We’d just moved to the Big Apple and felt strained and alone. I wrote about the experience here, and how Mr. Magpie welled up with tears while reading the Thanksgiving prayer.

The Macy’s Parade, New York City, 2018. We lived on Central Park West at this time, and one of the absolute delights of living there was that they’d block off all of CPW to street traffic and it was even difficult to get there by foot — you had to show an ID that proved you lived on the block! We were able to trot downstairs and get a front-row view of the parade. I look at this photo this year and miss my Tilly girl. Our first Thanksgiving in eight years without her under foot.

In the second photo: had to show off the way I used to dress my little dolly. The big bows! The embroidered dresses! The pom pom knee socks! Do it while you can, mama. Dressing her like this was one of the greatest joys!

Our second NYC apartment, 86th and Columbus, UWS, 2019, with my new baby. My in-laws drove up for the coziest holiday. Can you even deal with micro’s chunkiness?! The rubber band wrists! The thigh rolls! It’s so delicious. The photo of my FIL with micro is one of my most cherished. The good stuff.

Making the best of Thanksgiving during the pandemic — are the COVID beard and mask telltale enough? UWS, 2020. I still got everyone dressed up to the nines. I so clearly remember the walk we took through Central Park before Thanksgiving dinner, and how much I missed family this year.

Thanksgiving 2021, Bethesda, MD. Our new suburban home! We hosted a big crowd this year, and I took very few photos as a result. It felt full and busy and slightly frenetic but also joyful after several years of very quiet Thanksgivings.

Thanksgiving 2022, Bethesda, MD. We hit our stride this year with hosting Thanksgiving for a crowd. Such a happy day for me — funny enough, my major memory from this day was actually after dinner, after the children were in bed, enjoying the whole ‘fare la scarpetta’ with my husband, sister, and brother-in-law. We were sitting around the kitchen counter, blasting music, drinking wine, nibbling on leftovers, for hours.

Thanksgiving 2024. My children colossally disinterested in my photography. To be honest, this holiday was challenging for me, as I was going through a very tough time with a family member, and it clouds a bit of my happy memories. But we publish the good news, right? So I am choosing to remember how full our kitchen was, and how well the meal itself turned out, and how happy the morning of Thanksgiving was — watching the parade, cooking together. Onward.

Post-Scripts.

+On viewing time as a gift.

+Something I won’t soon forget.

+So many golden moments in the photos above.

+Easy and elegant happy hour snacks — some good ideas for a pre-feast snack, or night-before gathering, etc.

Shopping Break.

+Lots of great tabletop/home finds for the holiday here. Love this turkey platter (great price and reminds me of the turkey dish from Williams Sonoma) all Emile Henry bakeware (I cherish the few I own!), and these chic, well-priced cloth napkins.

+If you have a cheeky fam, these “superlative” placecards would be hilarious. I’ve used these and the past and they’re always such a great conversation-starter.

+I reference this in my menu/notes, but we use this Aldo Sohm book and this one to help with wine selection all the time. They both provide great ideas on what to drink with what you’re eating, including what to serve with Thanksgiving dinner. (The TL;DR for Thanksgiving — for red: gamay, pinot noir, zin; for white: gewurtzraminer, gruner veltliner).

+ICYMI: what to wear on Thanksgiving.

+Every year, I give my children Christmas pajamas to change into after Thanksgiving dinner. I already have some holiday styles from Lake and Petite Plume waiting for them!

+Good sources for Thanksgiving table linens: Christina Dickson, Julia Amory (15% off with JEN-15), Mrs. Alice, and Maison D’Hermine on Amazon.

+As we head into holiday season, remembering the ultra-fun retro cocktail party we put on while watching Kasey Musgraves’ campy holiday special. We’ve done this the past two years! Think espresso martinis, swedish meatball on toothpicks, etc.

+Also for fall/winter festivities: treat yourself to some glitzy earrings! I wear these ones constantly.

P.S. We compiled all Magpie recipes into beautiful cards for your kitchen! Get the recipe card collection in your inbox here.

P.P.S. If you, like me, are already thinking ahead to Christmas, too: I’ve begun to organize my gift finds here, and my holiday decor/home finds here.