Sweet or Savory? Our Doctors' Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions

While Thanksgiving will look different this year for most of us, some things never change. Our doctors and PAs share what they look forward to eating each year, what won't grace their plates and how they like to relax after the big meal.

Classic Favorites

Most of our providers have a classic Thanksgiving dish they can't wait to eat. Speaking of classics, does your family eat "stuffing" or "dressing" at Thanksgiving?

Sweet potato casserole with extra brown sugar!
– John Martin, MD

I'm very big on the stuffing!
– Bryan Saltzman, MD

My favorite dish that my family only has at Thanksgiving is dressing.  It's made from my great-grandmother's recipe and includes homemade biscuits and cornbread.
– Lindsay Collins, PA-C

Stuffing with cranberry sauce. 
– Kristen Harte, NP

Mac and cheese. My mom makes the best baked macaroni and cheese dish. I look forward to it every year- it always tastes better when my mom makes it.
– McKenzie Seippel, PA-C

My wife's stuffing, with smoked chorizo sausage. 
– Salvatore Rondinelli, PA-C

Sweet Tooth

Thanksgiving dinner is incomplete without dessert! Here are some of our providers' favorite sweets to cap off their meal.

My grandmother's pumpkin pie.  It has to be hers because she makes a topping out of brown sugar and butter that she bakes to a crisp and then adds just the right amount of cool whip. 
– Lynn Gilbert, PA-C

Apple pie and vanilla ice cream. 
– Andrew Hylton, PA-C

Dessert! 
–  Esther Gelbard, PA-C

Pecan pie. 
– Robert McBride, Jr., MD

A hometown favorite of Greater's ice cream for dessert. 
– Shannon Reilly, PA-C

Creative Combos

It's hard to pick just one favorite dish. These providers get creative and enjoy a combination of delicious options.

My favorite dish is ALL OF IT.  It is the one time of year to consume a plethora of unnecessary calories.  I don't feel guilty, not even a little bit.  I usually make dinner myself and everything is made from scratch. . . Cooking is my superpower. 
– Kelly Stafford, PA-C

The day-after leftover sandwich. (Turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce). 
– Kaitlyn Barger, PA-C

Clockwise movement starting at 12. Turkey/Mashed Potatoes/ Stuffing/Green Bean Casserole/Gravy. 
– Evan Cline, PA-C

No Thank You, Please!

For all the delicious eats at Thanksgiving, everyone has a dish they'd rather leave off their plate. Sorry, Mom!

Not a huge fan of the cranberry sauce, especially when its still in the shape of the can. 
– Kevin McCullough, PA-C

I avoid beets at almost all costs. 
– Shannon Reilly, PA-C

Honeybaked ham. 
– Jonathan Riboh, MD

Anything with zucchini in it. Zucchini is my arch-nemesis. 
– Salvatore Rondinelli, PA-C

Fruit cake!  
– Jonathan Faggart, PA-C

After the Big Meal

We asked our providers what they like to do after Thanksgiving dinner. You can probably guess what the top responses were – watch football and nap. And eat more.

Since I was a kid, after I finished eating I would roll out of my chair and take a nap on the floor while everyone talked.  My mom still rolls her eyes at me when I have continued that tradition as an adult.
– Margaret Lynch, PA-C

Routine: 5k run, nap, eat, nap, walk, *maybe eat again*, sleep, football mixed in there. It's like clockwork every year. 
– McKenzie Seippel, PA-C

Watch football, nap, and go back for seconds. 
– Kevin McCullough, PA-C

Plan which dessert to attack first.
– Brian Opalacz, MD

We put up and decorate my grandmother's Christmas tree for her.
– Lynn Gilbert, PA-C

Browse Black Friday ads and watch football. 
– Jonathan Faggart, PA-C

Watch football until I fall asleep. 
– Walter Rumfelt, PA-C

Prepare the selection of pies for dessert later on. 
– Jeffrey Dabkowski, PA-C

From our OrthoCarolina family to yours, happy Thanksgiving!