Tag: CookbookMemoir

The Maysgiving Table Is Now Available

Seven years ago, I set a table in May and decided to call it Thanksgiving.

Today, I get to tell you that it is a book.

The Maysgiving Table is officially available, and I am still a little overwhelmed by what it means to say that. This tradition has lived in my kitchen, around my table, in my family’s memory for seven years. And now it gets to live in your hands.

The book is part cookbook and part memoir. It holds the recipes that have anchored Maysgiving from the beginning alongside the stories that made them mean something. It is for the home cook who wants something beautiful to gather around. It is for anyone who has ever wanted to build a tradition but did not know where to start. It is for the person who believes that gratitude is worth a whole meal and not just a quick thought before dinner.

The Maysgiving Table is available in three formats:

Hardcover for the kitchen shelf, for the person who loves a beautiful book in their hands.

Paperback for the practical cook who wants something that can be opened flat next to the stove.

Kindle for the reader who wants to take it everywhere or search a recipe in the middle of cooking.

Get The Maysgiving Table on Amazon: Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle

If you have been following along for this whole series, thank you. You already know what Maysgiving means to me. You know the cranberry sauce story and the stuffing and the Gratitude Pie and all of it. Now you can bring it to your own table.

And if this is your first time here: welcome. There is always room at the Maysgiving table. The book is a great place to pull up a chair.

Here is to May. Here is to the table. Here is to deciding that today is worth celebrating.

I hope to see you at Maysgiving.

Order The Maysgiving Table today on Amazon

May 25, 2026
Inside the Book: Recipes, Memories, and More

So what is actually in The Maysgiving Table? I am so glad you asked.

This is not a traditional cookbook. It does not organize by protein or technique. It organizes the way Maysgiving actually flows: from the weeks of anticipation leading up to the day, through the cooking, to the table, all the way to the quiet after everyone has gone home.

The Recipes

The recipes are full and tested and written the way I actually cook: with room for personality. I tell you what I use, why I use it, and where there is space to make it your own. There are the Maysgiving classics, the dishes that have been on the table every single year. And there are the ones that rotated in and out over seven years, the experiments that became keepers.

You will find the turkey and all its trimmings. You will find sides that outshine the centerpiece. You will find desserts that make the whole house smell like something worth celebrating.

The Stories

Between the recipes, there are stories. Real ones. The Maysgiving that almost did not happen. The year my boys took over the kitchen. The moments at the table that I knew I would carry with me forever. The cookbook-memoir format lets the food and the memory live side by side, which is where they actually belong.

The Philosophy

Woven throughout the book is the idea that has driven Maysgiving from the beginning: gratitude does not need a calendar date. You can decide to celebrate. You can set the table in May. You can make a tradition out of nothing but intention and a good meal.

The Formats

The Maysgiving Table is available in three formats so you can read it the way that works for you.

The hardcover is beautiful on a kitchen shelf. The paperback is sturdy and practical for actual cooking. The Kindle edition lets you search and scale and take it anywhere.

Get The Maysgiving Table on Amazon: Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle

May 14, 2026
Why I Wrote The Maysgiving Table

There is a moment that kept coming back to me, year after year, as I cleaned up after Maysgiving dinner.

The table full of dishes we had cooked together. The lingering smell of turkey and pie. The sound of people still talking even as plates were being cleared. And this quiet, certain feeling that something sacred had just happened.

I kept thinking: this should not just live in my memory. Other people should be able to sit at this table too.

That is why I wrote The Maysgiving Table.

The book is part cookbook and part memoir. It holds both the recipes and the stories, because at Maysgiving, you cannot really separate them. The cranberry sauce is not just a recipe. It is the one I finally got right in year two after two previous attempts that, let us just say, did not go well. The stuffing is not just a stuffing. It is the one my boys started helping make, and now it tastes like all of us.

I wrote the book for a few different kinds of people.

I wrote it for the home cook who wants something beautiful and intentional to gather around, not just in November, but any time of year. The recipes in this book work for May. They also work for any moment when you want to say: today matters.

I wrote it for the person who has been thinking about starting a family tradition but does not know where to begin. Maysgiving started with one decision. This book is that decision handed to you.

I wrote it for anyone who has ever felt like the holidays move too fast, like November disappears before you could really sit in it, like gratitude deserves more than one month and one Thursday.

And honestly? I wrote it for myself. To have a record. To give this thing that has meant so much to my family a form that can outlast the moment.

The Maysgiving Table is available now in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle. Whatever format you prefer, there is a place for you at the table.

Get your copy of The Maysgiving Table on Amazon

May 11, 2026
The Evolution of Maysgiving: A Family Tradition Story

Seven Maysgivings. That is where we are.

If you had told me seven years ago that I would still be doing this, that it would grow into something with recipes and traditions and meaning layered upon meaning, I think I would have laughed. I just wanted a reason to make stuffing in May.

But here we are.

Year One was the experiment. I was not sure anyone would take it seriously. My family showed up a little skeptical and left asking when we were doing it again. That was enough for me.

Year Two, I started taking notes. Not formal ones, just little scribbles. What worked on the table, what felt right, what I wanted to remember. The cranberry sauce recipe got locked in that year. It has not changed since.

Year Three brought more people and more food. I learned that Maysgiving scales beautifully. You can do it for four people or fourteen. The spirit is the same.

Year Four was the one I almost skipped. Life was full. Schedules were impossible. But I set the table anyway, and I am so glad I did. That year reminded me that traditions are most important when they feel hardest to keep.

Year Five, my boys started helping with the cooking. That changed everything. Watching them understand that we do this on purpose, that we choose gratitude, that we make it happen, was one of the most quietly beautiful parenting moments I have had.

Year Six, I realized I had a real body of work on my hands. Seven years of recipes. Seven years of reflections. Seven years of stories from around the table. Something kept nudging me to write it down properly.

Year Seven, I did.

The Maysgiving Table started as a family dinner. It became a tradition. And now it is a book. A cookbook-memoir that holds everything I have learned, cooked, laughed over, and been grateful for across seven years of intentional celebration.

Each Maysgiving has been different. Each one has taught me something. And all of it is in the book.

Available Now!

I even wrote a whole Thanksgiving Music Album!!! Enjoy a listen.

May 7, 2026