Thanksgiving Traditions in the Willis Household: What are Yours?

Like many of us, when I think of Thanksgiving, I think of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more! Let's face it, I love food, always have.

I was told once in high school, again in college and even now in my adult life, to always KISS. That means "Keep it simple stupid." Somehow the message came from different people in different states and stages of my life, but the acronym stuck. I use this "philosophy" when putting together my Thanksgiving meal.

So, in true internet fashion, I "google" how to cook a turkey every year. I guess that's the first of my quirky traditions?

This T-day will be the third time my husband and I prepared a turkey. In 2008, we found a recipe that incorporated apple cider and apple brandy in the gravy. We thought that was a great idea, however, my husband thought it was too sweet. Then, in 2009, we found a recipe that called for orange juice and other spices for the basting juices. Again, too sweet. So, this year, we found an "Easy Herb Roasted Turkey" recipe from allrecipes.com. Fingers crossed that the third time really is a charm!

Of course, we usually stick with Stove Top stuffing, store-bought rolls, homemade mashed potatoes and a dry packet mix for the gravy. In 2008, Robert attempted to make giblet gravy. I just didn't care for it. So, we chucked that idea.

Although many of our items are pre-made or store bought, we have stuck to our tradition of serving honey butter. Been doing that for years. We use:

• 1 cut butter (room tempterature)
• 1/3 cut honey
• pinch of cinnamon

Here is a similar recipe I "googled" on allrecipes.com. It's stimple, it's always a hit and for some reason and we really only make it on Thanksgiving.

The day wouldn't be complete without pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We've always stuck with Libby's canned pumpkin pie filling. I haven't gotten around to making pumpkin pie from scratch. Last Thanksgiving we made two sweet potato pies from scratch and that was a workout. Worth it, but still a work out!

All in all, we really do keep it simple. Now, because I have a sweet tooth, I try to throw in a few more desserts each year. Last year, we made banana cream pie, Nutella stuffed crossants and Oreo truffles. This year, we have less mouths to feed, so we're going to make the Oreo truffles and I'm going to try to make a pumpkin spice cake, in addition to two pumpkin pies. Pumpkin pies are my husbands favorite dessert!

The recipe I use for the Oreo truffles can be found on the Kraft.com website. It's super easy and very tasty. I would suggest making small balls. The one-inch truffles are so full of flavor that you have like two of them and you're done for the night. So, I'm going to try and make half-inch size truffles this year.

The recipe for the pumpkin spice cake I found is from the book "The Cake Mix Bible" by Louis Weber. The recipe is simple and calls for ready-to-make spice cake mix. After all, that's my style, at least for now!

Happy cooking, baking and eating today! Hope to hear from some of you about your Thanksgiving traditions, stories, recipes and more! Taking photos of your masterpieces? Upload them on this story.