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Snapshots Tampa Bay
Thanksgiving Traditions, Football Rivalries, And Pie
The season feels different when you build it on purpose. We open the door to our Thanksgiving world—where a birthday-first rule delays the decorations, a kid flies home to hang familiar ornaments, and a fragile century-old heirloom claims the center of the tree. It’s memory as décor, a weekend where rituals do the real work of slowing life down.
From there, we pass plates and swap stories. We talk about growing up with packed houses and football rivalries humming in the background, and how retail years rewired our calendars, pushing us toward earlier lights and simpler expectations. The kitchen becomes a family archive: grandmother’s stuffing from scratch, sweet potatoes crowned with marshmallows, brisket joining the lineup, and cinnamon rolls warming parade morning while the Rockettes kick off the day. Friends blend into family at our table—people with holiday birthdays, neighbors who became regulars—reminding us that hospitality is less about perfect menus and more about open chairs.
We also share what this season taught us: skip the stampede, keep your patience, and choose grace for the people working the busiest shifts. And yes, we tackle the most passionate debate on the table—cranberry sauce with the can’s iconic lines or the bright pop of homemade, sometimes with orange or a hint of heat. Our take: let both exist. Traditions evolve when life changes, and that’s the beauty of them. Press play for a warm, practical guide to crafting meaning over noise, and then tell us the one ritual you won’t skip this year.
If this conversation made you smile or sparked a new idea for your own traditions, subscribe, share with a friend who loves the holidays, and leave a quick review—what’s the dish or ritual that says “home” to you?
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SPEAKER_00:Welcome back to Snapshots Tampa Bay. Uh, this is Candace. Hi, Lisa. Hey. How are you doing today? I'm doing good.
SPEAKER_01:I really am. I've gotten so much done lately. My Christmas shopping is almost done. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that leads right into our topic that we're excited to share today. Yes. So we're excited to talk about our family traditions, specifically our Thanksgiving traditions. Yes, I love Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01:I love it, love it, love it.
SPEAKER_00:I've already jumped into Christmas.
SPEAKER_01:I know you have. I I can't, though. So my son's birthday is right before Thanksgiving. So we do not put up any Christmas decorations until after his birthday is done. So we basically do it the week of Thanksgiving, which is really, really kind of cool because this year my son is coming home. He is actually going to school and playing hockey up in Boston. And for those of you guys who don't know, which most people know because I talk about him. Um, but so he's coming down, and we have a couple of traditions when we're decorating our Christmas tree, and that is every year we get new ornaments, whether as a family or like the kids get new ornaments and things like that. I I swear my son has the same ornament, like he has six of the same ornament because he was given it, you know, year after year. But they hang their ornaments. Yeah, I actually have an ornament that was my great-grandparents' ornament. So it is over a hundred years old. That's amazing. And it hangs directly center, but I mean, that's not Thanksgiving tradition. It's decorating the Christmas tree during the Thanksgiving weekend. So that is Thanksgiving traditions.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah. The holiday weekend.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and then you know, getting everything on, you know, the tree and having the kids home, you know, it's going to be pretty amazing.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's like I think a lot of parents who have kids in college experience that same kind of tradition. Yeah, I'm sure. As you know, and many of our followers know I don't have kids personally. Right. I have eight nieces and nephews. Yeah, you're nephews. Yeah. So and I have friends, kids who are calling me Aunt Candace. So it's it's I have lots of kids in my family. But like you growing up, it was Thanksgiving weekend when we put up the tree. Because also both of my brothers, their birthday is the week before Thanksgiving. So we couldn't. What is their birthday? The 14th and 19th. 19th is my son. Yes, I think we discussed this a couple weeks ago. Yeah. Oh my goodness. So we didn't do we and my parents always had a real tree. We I grew up in Maryland, so we always went out and picked out a tree that they cut down and you know, put it a real tree. I have fake trees because I have cats, and some real trees can be poisonous to cats. So I just don't even risk it.
SPEAKER_01:I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I just don't want to clean up the case. Well, that's too. I I don't like all the mess.
SPEAKER_00:So that's that's why I already have Christmas up because I don't need to wait. Well, my daughter. I don't have to worry about a live tree dying because it's they're fake. And I have three of them, so they're they're up and ready to go.
SPEAKER_01:Beatta every night driving home from dance. Um, mom, we need to play Christmas music. I mean, she's all about Christmas beer. She is decorating, she is she wants to listen to it, so we are we are in the depths of it. It seems to come early this year. Now we're in 2025, and and we went directly from Halloween to Christmas.
SPEAKER_00:It does that every year. I think there's just more people who are doing it too. Okay. Okay. I didn't I couldn't. Because I worked because we've discussed this. I worked retail management for many, many, many years, and we were already putting up the Christmas merchandise displays. Yes, okay, okay. In October as the Halloween stuff was selling out. I'm getting like my grandmother. I was like, oh, this year it's so different, it's so early. My my thoughts are is if it brings you joy and it doesn't hurt anyone, just do it. Like, just just do it. But growing up, Thanksgiving weekend was was definitely when we went and got the tree. But Thanksgiving Day, we always went to my grandparents' house, and it was the whole family cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, great aunts, like the whole family of my grandparents' house and running around everywhere. So uh I definitely have a lot of memories around football because growing up, my my mom is a my mom's side of the family, we're all what's now the Washington Commanders Washington football team, and my dad was a Dallas Cowboy and raised me as a Dallas Cowboy, and they back in the 70s they always played on Thanksgiving Day. So it was a big rivalry. So it was football, it was family, it was eating, it was drinking, it was just being with family. And it was the house was full, like really at your house.
SPEAKER_01:No, my grandparents' house. Your grandparents' house, okay. Um, when I was younger, we used to go over to my Aunt Ann and Uncle Sam's house, and she was a wonderful cook, and we would go over to their house, and and I loved it. And the thing that I loved about it is she would make two pumpkin pies, one for the family and one for me.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, dude, did you eat the whole thing by yourself?
SPEAKER_01:Um, yeah. Yeah. I'm not a pumpkin pie fan. Oh my gosh, I love pumpkin pie. Yeah, no. No, sweet potatoes are with dinner. Well that's it. But anyway, so so tradition now um is well, my mom and I, we make everything from scratch. So I have, you know, my grandmother's stuffing recipe. So I do all of this from scratch.
SPEAKER_00:Which I've had and it's delicious because I don't normally like stuffing, and I love your stuffing.
SPEAKER_01:So good.
SPEAKER_00:Are you gonna come and have it this year?
SPEAKER_01:I I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I haven't gotten an invite yet.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. Come on, girl. You are you are family, you are invited. So at my house, we always have a friend of my mother's, um, Santa is her name. So nice. And Santa's birthday is actually on Christmas Day. So she's named Santa. Um, and her daughter, um, they come, and a friend of theirs, Benny, who Benny comes to our Thanksgiving every single year. Um, and then you and your husband came last year, which was wonderful. I was, it was, I was so happy. So, you know, we always want to have people with us and and and there, but while we're cooking in the morning, it is tradition for my mother and I to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Of course. And and we have to see the roquettes.
SPEAKER_00:I don't even get out of my pajamas until that's done.
SPEAKER_01:We have to see the roquettes. That is our thing. I re my mom has told the story a hundred times, and my brother going, Where where are the kicking girls? Where are the kicking girls? You know, because they're a dancer by trade, so that's not really surprising that you know you have to see the yes. I love that they do all the Broadway shows in the beginning. And because my daughter is very much into musicals right now. Um, so I love that they do all of those. I'm gonna make sure that she gets to see those.
SPEAKER_00:But um that is our main thing that we do. Yeah, I love that. I I watch it every year, and I I literally do not get out of my pajamas until it's done. And then I get up and I shower and get ready, and then it's mostly been Tony and I for the last few years, you know, because we don't have any family nearby. Well, you got us. Now I have you. So yeah, so yeah, it's we don't our traditions can sound kind of stupid, but we love to make the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning. Ooh, those are so good. And Tony's already talking about it. It's like two weeks away. I'm like, he's like, I'm craving cinnamon rolls. I'm like, Thanksgiving. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Thanksgiving. Do you get the orange ones or the cinnamon rolls? No, just the regular traditional.
SPEAKER_00:I don't we didn't really like them. Oh, yeah. We just we just were classic traditional rolls.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:No, yeah. And that's our that's our main tradition. But because I worked retail for so many years, I don't have a whole lot of like Thanksgiving weekend traditions. I never really did Black Friday shopping because I worked it. Um, and I experienced it once after I got out of retail, and I don't need to experience it ever again.
SPEAKER_01:It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00:I thought it wouldn't be so bad on the other side. Oh, no, no, no. It's not people are crazy. Yeah, I avoid it at all costs. I really do. I don't need to save that much money.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. When when we were younger, Begrat and I, and especially Bagrat and his cousins, because they're all crazy when they're together, would camp overnight at certain places. And I was like, oh, but but we used to do the Black Friday. I wouldn't camp overnight. That's that's totally not me. And especially in cold, yeah, that's not happening. Not not on my watch. No, not with me.
SPEAKER_00:And it's not so bad here because we're in Florida. So we don't want to look it's this week it was really cold.
SPEAKER_01:This week it's been very, very cold. But yeah, you know, I just love I love this season. I love this season. I I find joy. I well, I'm a joyful person. Um, but I find so much joy during this season. I really, really do. And music and you know, just atmosphere. And I really feel like it's the time of the year to give grace to people and be very, very patient, especially with the people who are working there because they're getting screamed at. And I am not a screamer during this season at all. I try to really, really stay as calm as I possibly can because those people hear it way too much.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, I always went on with people that start to get upset. I'm like, listen, we're not curing cancer here. Like it's we're not feeding starving children. It's a sweater. I know. If you don't get that sweater, pick out another one. Oh, not the end of the world. I know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, no, no. I I just I really enjoy this time of year.
SPEAKER_00:So well, that's why I started putting my trees up sooner, is because I always found because I worked retail, I could never get it done Thanksgiving weekend because I was working the whole weekend, so then it was the following week, and then I would work the whole season, and then by the time like Christmas came, I was like, I have to take it down already. Like I feel like I never had enough of it. So every year it got earlier and earlier and earlier.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I will tell you this you tell Tony that Bagrat is making brisket as well.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, nice, nice. That'll definitely get him there. Yes. That is definitely brisket as well. My favorite dish growing up, I know you have your grandmother's stuffing, but my family's tradition was just the mashed sweet potatoes with the marshmallows melted on top. That's Beata's favorite. Like that was my I could eat a whole tray of that myself.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, but here is the question. Here is the question of the decade cranberry sauce.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, jellied. I hated the I hated the jar stuff growing up. Like I despised it, like I would not even eat it. And I did not start liking that dish until I had fresh made cranberry sauce.
SPEAKER_01:I like mine with lines on it.
SPEAKER_00:I I know my family all liked. I'm all it all my if I'm gonna have jello, it's gonna be jello.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so so who makes the homemade cranberry?
SPEAKER_00:I had a friend when I you have a chef husband. I know he needs I had a friend in Orlando that made a really good one. Hers was actually very unique though, because she um had Spanish background in her family, and so she would add jalapenos to hers. So it was a little spicy. And I know you don't like spicy, so I can't make that spice. I can't make that dish. No, because I could do that one. But the fresh market had, I don't know if they still do, but when I was a general manager of the fresh market, we had a cranberry orange like dish that was really, really quite good.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know if they still do it.
SPEAKER_01:I haven't Tony on this.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. That's not really his specialty, but I might be able to I might be able to make that. But that's right, all right, then do I actually have like fresh cranberry like the cranberries at home.
SPEAKER_01:So that's uh that's on you now. I still need the one in the jar with the lines. There's this one, there's this one time I went somewhere and the pop. Yes. And I was like, where is the where where is the cranberries with the lines? Because this will never do. I'm gonna make you fresh. Okay. Just like I'll have my line.
SPEAKER_00:I don't like stuffing, and you made me eat your stuffing. Oh, yeah. I'm gonna make you eat the cranberries. Okay. I'm gonna have to practice this week because I haven't. Are you gonna eat stuffing this year too? Of course. It's so good. It was so good. Honestly, I've never really liked stuffing. I think it's the best stuffing in the world. This is my thing. If I'm gonna have bread, I want like a really good piece of bread with like really nice good butter on it. Like not like the grocery store butter, like the good butter. Yeah. So that's the gluten free.
SPEAKER_01:No, maybe on Thanksgiving Day.
SPEAKER_00:I will not. And you'll be paying for it all weekend. That's your that's your Thanksgiving tradition. Yes, we'll be paying all weekend for the gluten.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I hope you learned a little bit about our traditions. I know that Candace and I, we love sharing all this stuff with you guys. Obviously, we just sit here and we have a conversation in reality. Um, I like to fly by the seat of my pants and just kind of just talk. And um, we hope that you guys make a lot of traditions of your own.
SPEAKER_00:We would love to hear about them too. Yeah, send us a message. We would love to hear about other people's traditions and like maybe do an episode where we highlight other people's. Maybe next year. Yeah. I would love to do like a list of like other people's traditions. Oh, that would be so cool. Different than than ours. All right. Yeah, yeah. Well, until next time, may all your holiday traditions bring you joy and lead you closer to your happily ever after.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I'm always going towards my happily ever after. Happily ever after. Oh, yes. Bye. Bye. Thanks so much for joining Snap Talk Tampa Bell. Hit subscribe to our latest episodes and let us know in the comments what you want us to explore next. Keep loving the Tampa Bob.
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