Between the heartwarming classics, “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” lies an oft-overlooked classic in its own right: “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” We have several November traditions that we celebrate as a family, and watching our DVD copy of “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” on the reg is one of them. Every November 1st, we gather up the vestiges of the Halloween season (except for the enormous quantity of candy, which somehow seems to last until Easter), pack them away, pop in our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving DVD, and begin celebrating the month of thankfulness.
In case you haven’t watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” lately (or ever), the premise of the show is that Peppermint Patty invites herself and several others over to Charlie Brown’s home on Thanksgiving Day, brashly expecting to be fed a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Snoopy put their heads together to prepare a delicious meal for their friends, using only the foods they know how to make by themselves.
The resulting Thanksgiving cuisine is popcorn, buttered toast, jelly beans, and pretzel sticks.
This, of course, sounded like culinary heaven to my children the moment they first laid eyes on it during our first-ever viewing in 2014. My oldest son concocted a persistent plan to have just such a lunch one day, and after he begged for a couple of weeks I began to think, “Why not?”
I delivered on my promise the day before Thanksgiving, and the boys received their long-awaited lunch. Their enthusiasm was so infectious that I immediately decided it must become one of our family traditions. As long as the boys still think it sounds good, I’ll keep it serving it up for lunch on Wednesday of Thanksgiving week! 
Honestly, mama friends, it might be the easiest meal I serve all year, and yet it is the most anticipated! I use microwave popcorn, pretzel sticks, simple buttered toast, and Mike and Ike’s. The Mike and Ike’s seem to more closely resemble the jelly beans featured in the show, and besides I hate picking out all of the spicy cinnamon jelly beans that my kids never want to be surprised by.
I then proceed to blow my children’s minds by choosing to eat something else for my own lunch. The fact that I prefer a sandwich or leftovers over popcorn and jelly beans for a meal is beyond their wildest comprehension!
So, if you find yourself drumming your fingers during your Thanksgiving week when the kids are home from school, you might consider our friend Charlie Brown and the easiest lunch of the year. Do you have any quirky traditions during your family’s Thanksgiving week?
