charlie brown thanksgiving…
Did you grow up watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?
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I sure did. We were Peanuts NUTS at our house. Check it:
Me and my little brother, in Linus’ “most sincere pumpkin patch” made by my super talented Mom. Here’s another, a few years later when one of my little sisters came along:
No comments on the hair. Or the teeth. Those wounds are still healing.
For some people, the start of the holiday season has always been the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. For us, it was two things: the Peanuts gang going out in our yard, AND, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on TV.
I remember anxiously flipping open the new TV Guides that would come in the mail to see if this was week that the special aired. We would set the VCR to record, hoping this was the year someone would not forget pause the recording when the commercials came on.
Needless to say, if we stick one of those old tapes in the ancient VHS machine today, undoubtedly the kids will be asking us what the heck RC cola and cabbage patch kids are.
I’m trying really hard to instill the love of all things Snoopy into my children’s worlds. And this year, much to my complete delight, the kids asked if we could have a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving here at home.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving at home? With popcorn and buttered toast and jellybeans?
source: giphy.com via peanuts.com
Heck YES.
We happen to be set up PERFECTLY for this endeavor. For starters, our outdoor table IS a ping pong table!
source: giphy.com via peanuts.com
It’s like we were MEANT to celebrate Thanksgiving Charles M. Schulz style.
So that is what we did. We banded together round the toaster, and made ourselves some toast. Daddy and Sweet Cheeks manned the popcorn popper. Our oldest doled out the pretzels and candy.
It’s an all-carb-Thanksgiving, here at The Heathered Nest.
And I’m kind of loving every empty calorie of it.
source: giphy.com via peanuts.com
The kids were insistent on trying to get all the details just like they were in the TV special.
It was actually kind of difficult finding pink pudding and jellybeans at this time of year, so we got as close as we could.
And fancy napkins were a must. My daughter LOVES to make anything “fancy”. She walked outside to the trees with her little safety scissors and trimmed little sprigs of pine for this ensemble.
These Wayfair trays get a lot of use here. Since we eat outside a lot, we use these to carry all our goodies back and forth between the deck and the kitchen. Often, the kids will take a tray of snacks down to the treehouse, too. The trays are lightweight, and a perfect size to be shlepped around.
Thanks for being here with us today. We are grateful all the time, but especially around Thanksgiving, for each of you that takes the time to visit us here at The Nest throughout the year. And as a “thank you” for being a part of this crazy flock, we’d love to share some printable thanksgiving lunch box love notes with you…print them out for your little turkey birds 😉
Let’s eat a lot of turkey next week, and then…
Bring on the Charlie Brown Christmas special!
But first, I need to set up our Peanuts gang in our front yard. Just like always.

Happy Holidays from my childhood home circa 1980.
David C Brewster says
Pink pudding? I’ve never heard of pink pudding.
More likely, though, it was “pink stuff”. The “pink stuff” (sometimes called “cherry fluff”) was a common thing back in those days, and the recipe is incredibly simple:
1 can of Cherry Pie Filling
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 container of Cool Whip
Mix, chill, & serve.
Certainly easy enough for the Peanuts gang to make.
(The extra whipped cream & cherry on top indicate the extra fancy tone of the dinner.)
Any way, give that a try. My kids and I love it. You’ll see that it color matches the cartoon better, too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Heather says
THANK YOU for the recipe!! It sounds fantastic! Will try it this holiday season. Seriously so sweet of you to share ♥️!! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
mary says
I totally would come to your Thanksgiving party! This is one of my all time favorite holiday specials and I always thought it was funny what they served!
Heather says
You would be welcome any time, Mary! Anyone who loves the Peanuts gang is a friend of ours, for sure. Happy Thanksgiving!!