Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There are few things I enjoy more in this world than copious amounts of comfort food and day drinking. And (I feel you reading this, Mom) quality family time, of course.

I like that it's the only holiday I can recall that feels distinctly American. Tangent: 10 years ago, I was studying abroad in England over the holiday and my host university attempted to cook us homesick Americans Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely gesture but no amount of dried out turkey breast and typically British, flavorless sweet potato pie could replace the epic meals we'd grown up with.

I suppose part of that is because Thanksgiving often falls close after Election Day, forcing far flung relatives of differing political persuasions into perilously cramped kitchens, paving the way for an innocent gravy burning to morph into a familial battle royale over who voted for who. Ahhh, the sweet smell of Democracy.

But most of all, I love that it's the everyman's holiday – about nothing more than friends and family coming together and sharing a really good meal. No required gift giving, no obnoxious music and nary a jingle bell in sight.

The PHOENIX Magazine offices are closed Thursday and Friday so we can recover from that third helping of pumpkin pie. In lieu of regularly scheduled blogs, we're instead giving you this round-up of Thanksgiving odds and ends from around the Valley.

From all of us here at PHOENIX, happy Thanksgiving!