What's a Must?

The week leading up to Thanksgiving was full of email back-and-forths, discussing what must be included in our family meal.

That got me to thinking that Thanksgiving is a funny meal. Everyone has a must, it seems - from "I must have XYZ traditional food" to "I must try out my newest fancy recipe" to "I must not be required to cook the family meal - we're going out."

For the record: We cook. On both sides of the family, we cook a lot. Because when you start having folks marrying into the family, you soon add food items to the menu until the table is practically groaning.

My musts:

• Shannah's favorite orange jello salad - though there is some debate in the family if this is my favorite jello salad or Baby Sisters. The mere fact that I was born 12 years before her and my Grandma A made this salad for me during most of those 12 years should have put the argument to rest long ago. Suffice to say, we have to eat Our favorite orange jello salad.
• Green bean casserole - I like the Campbell's soup variety, with French's Fried Onions on top. It's commercial, it's highly processed and I love it.
• Grandma A's cranberry salad - fresh cranberries, fresh oranges, pecans. Finely chopped into wonderful, delicious sweet-tartness. I could eat this all year round.

 The Boy's musts:

• Cold ham - he doesn't have to have ham at Thanksgiving (but he does at Christmas), but if he has holiday ham, it should be cold and honey glazed.
• Turkey - roasted, simple, succulent
• Pie - apple or cherry, and perhaps a pumpkin pie as well
• Shannah's sweet potato casserole - mashed and topped with brown sugar and pecans. (Full confession: after living in Texas for over a decade, this is actually on my must list as well.)

What are your holiday meal musts?