Let’s Support Meatballs And Lasagna As NJ’s Official Thanksgiving Meal

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting.  This was one thing that shouldn't have been a surprise to me. 

This was my first Italian Thanksgiving meal in quite some time and there are so many options!  Why can't this be the official way we celebrate Thanksgiving in New Jersey.

Instead of boring, dry, turkey.  Oh, and in some places, they fry the turkey without letting the poor thing thaw out.  Then boom, a turkey bomb.  That's just not safe.  Or delicious.

Now, at this Thanksgiving there were meatballs!  Yes, meatballs.  In delicious sauce.  Did I mention lasagna?  Thick, hot, lasagna.  Piled high on my plate, and inside meat and cheese all layered together.  (Now I'm hungry again.)

This was definitely a bonus moving back home.  Over the last five years, in the middle of Texas, my wife and I with our daughter didn't really branch out on our Thanksgiving meal, to be completely honest, in 2018 we didn't even celebrate Thanksgiving.  We cooked everything then immediately threw everything into the refrigerator to rush to the hospital (nothing bad, it was the perfect timing for our turkey to finish and our daughter to arrive.). Trust me, that was a much better celebration.

But, all of the other years, there were no meatballs.  No, we dried out a turkey and attempted to make the sides, which unfortunately came out of a packet or pre-prepared.

Not this Thanksgiving, that all changed.  I'm pretty sure if you're in an Italian family or married into one, you are well aware there are more options when you get ready for your Thanksgiving meal.  Well, any meal, for that matter, around the holidays.

Now, back to the point at hand.  The official Jersey Shore, heck, the official New Jersey Thanksgiving meal should be meatballs and lasagna.

Now, if you still have some leftovers laying around in the fridge today, according to the USDA, you should not eat leftovers from Thanksgiving past Monday after the holiday.  That's roughly four days that your leftovers are still safe to eat.

Now that we got that out of the way.  What do you say?  New Jersey's official Thanksgiving meal should be meatballs and lasagna.

By the way, there's the turkey, tucked away in the corner.