Tag: Maysgiving

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
How to Host Your Own Maysgiving

You do not need seven years of practice to host Maysgiving. You need a table, a meal, and a decision to show up for the people you love.

Here is how to start.

I Picked a Date in May

I schedule my Maysgiving on the fourth Thursday of May, just like we do for Thanksgiving. It marks the halfway point to Thanksgiving, and it gives the day the same kind of weight and intention. Put it on the calendar and let your family know! The act of scheduling it is itself part of the tradition. It says: this is happening. We are doing this.

Keep the Menu Simple the First Year

You do not have to cook everything from scratch to have a meaningful Maysgiving. A roast chicken works just as well as a turkey. Store-bought pie can absolutely sit next to homemade stuffing. The food is the vehicle, not the destination. Give yourself permission to start small.

Be Intentional at the Table

This is the piece that makes Maysgiving different from any other dinner. Take a few minutes before or during the meal to name what you are grateful for. You can keep it casual. Just go around the table. You can make it a whole thing if your family is into that. But say it out loud. That is what makes it Maysgiving instead of just dinner.

Invite Someone New Each Year

This is optional, but it has been one of my favorite parts of growing the tradition. Each year, consider inviting someone who might not have a big gathering to go to in May. Maysgiving has room for everybody.

Make It Yours

The best thing about Maysgiving is that there are no rules; well, at least my rules! The table belongs to you. Make the recipes yours. The traditions you build will be specific to your family, your kitchen, your people. Let it evolve. Let it surprise you.

If you want a full guide, a collection of tested recipes, and all the stories from seven years of doing this, The Maysgiving Table has everything you need.

Get The Maysgiving Table on Amazon and host your first Maysgiving this May

May 21, 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