Most of us have holiday traditions and celebrities are no different. Here’s what some of country music’s biggest stars are looking forward to this Thanksgiving.
Blake Shelton makes creative turkeys with his stepsons.
“The last couple of Thanksgivings, me and the boys will decide on a weird Turkey to make,” Shelton told People. “The first year, we made a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos turkey. We crusted it in the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
“Then, just playing off that, the next year Apollo, or maybe it was Zuma, I can’t remember, we ended up doing a Funyuns turkey, which actually tasted a lot like a regular, traditional turkey. I guess whatever they put in Funyuns, it’s the same stuff. This year is going to be bacon-wrapped. One of them saw a picture of the bacon-wrapped – like the whole thing. And we’re doing it.”
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Tracy Lawrence loves deep-fried turkey, dressing and football.
“I cook at least three turkeys at the house because we could have as many as 20 or 30 people at the house for Thanksgiving,” he said. “We do a traditional spread. We’ll have a turkey. We’ll have a ham, homemade cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, all the sides, we have a massive spread, and we like our pies at Thanksgiving.
“We eat and watch football, and we play games all day,” he said. “It’s a lazy day with family interacting and kids playing, and those are some great memories. By the time we get to Thanksgiving, it’s been a long hard year. I’ve been gone a lot, and having everybody at the house and being able to slow down is very gratifying.”
Brett Young REALLY hates canned cranberry sauce.
“My Grandma Bonnie, she’s not with us anymore; she would always spend a long time massaging the can so that the cranberry sauce came out in the shape of the can. I’ll never forget one Thanksgiving. I had just met my wife two days before. Grandma Bonnie perfectly got it out on the plate. My dad was giving the blessing, and my dad’s brother started smushing it up. And my grandma interrupted the prayer because he was ruining the perfect canned-shaped cranberry.”
“Fruit on meat never works for me. I never touch the cranberry, but it’s been a tradition in our family for as long as I remember.”
Deana Carter loves her mama’s dressing – and canned cranberry sauce.
“My mom’s dressing is the perfect consistency. She does the cornbread dressing. We were never stuffing people. I think the green onions are key, and the amount of sage. It has to be completely buried in sage, and it’s so good.
The canned, jellied cranberries are a must. I don’t want Martha Stewart whole cranberries with shaved orange peels. No! I want the can with the rings in it, and we slice it up with a little butter knife, and it falls over in the dish.”
John Shearer
Scotty McCreery is having a Cajun Thanksgiving with his wife’s family.
“We went down to Louisiana for Christmas a few years ago, and it was all the good shrimp boils. It was a traditional turkey and ham, but I think there’ll be a lot of fish. They know how to eat, how to drink and how to have a good time. It’s never a dull moment down there for sure.
John Shearer
David Nail is starting new traditions at his house with his wife and three children.
“I grew up across the street from my grandparents, so for 40 years, I walked across the street at 10:30 a.m. and sat down to eat turkey and dressing. Then after Thanksgiving lunch, it was, ’How long is it going to take my dad to Houdini out of there and go watch football in his recliner. It really is a thing.
We got a new house in Thompson Station, and we’re hosting. Catherine makes an insane turkey and dressing. She’s just worked on it and worked on it. I never was a dressing person, but it’s pretty special. Then it’s pecan pie all day any day with extra pecans. I don’t like a super amount of goo. The goo to pecan ratio has to be perfect.”