The greatest American holiday is nearly upon us. It’s a time for being with friends and family, recognizing and remembering things we are thankful for, and certainly for eating too much and falling asleep with a loosened belt.

The perfect holiday needs a perfect home — and that’s exactly what Tarrant County Tuesday is here to do. However, there can’t just be one perfect home. I have selected a few features of the many homes we’ve covered this year for Tarrant County Tuesday and made that special dwelling that everyone can be thankful for.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday wherever you, and that the home you are in is the perfect home for you!

The Kitchen

Obviously, the kitchen is vital to the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only is it the place where all the tasty treats and meats are cooked, but it is where everyone seems to love to congregate and visit and sneak a little taste or two of the goodies.

It’s not just about the range or the multitude of ovens or sinks that makes a kitchen a perfect one. There have to be plenty of spaces to prepare the food. We are seeing more and more homes with multiple kitchen islands. There also have to be plenty of places to pull up a chair and catch up with family on their lives and experiences since the last time we saw them.

One highly underrated aspect to a kitchen is also the ability for the chefs to see the television so that they aren’t missing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the various football games later in the day.

Let’s Eat

Formal dining rooms are mainly decorative rooms where two holiday meals a year are enjoyed. These days, homeowners don’t seem to use the formal dining room all that much.

Dining areas don’t even have to be inside the home. Yet one more benefit of living in the greatest state on the planet is that the weather in November can be warm enough to enjoy a meal in the open air.

Some November days you don’t even need a roof over your head to enjoy an outdoor meal.

Thank You, Sir, May I have Another?

Holiday meals always go better with celebratory toasting or a fine vino to wash down the cornbread dressing. Of course the perfect Thanksgiving home would have an experiential wine room or cellar to enjoy.

Time For Football!

You know that feeling. That “Oh shoot! I ate too much but it was so tasty that I just couldn’t help it!” feeling of post-Thanksgiving meals. But you don’t have time to boo-hoo about your growing belly or the realization that your eyes are suddenly getting quite heavy … it’s time to watch some football!!

Getting The Second Wind

Win or lose, as long as you got a little snooze during halftime, it’s all good. Once the game is over and you’re getting your second wind, the leftovers, maybe a little slice of chocolate pecan pie or a sip of some adult beverage — along with more catch-up conversation — is the next thing to do in the perfect Thanksgiving home.

That Competitive Spirit

Maybe you had one too many sips of something and you and your long lost Uncle Paulie start talking about how you made that half-court shot in high school. Obviously, his memory isn’t quite what it used to be because you remember it being the game-winner and he seems to think that it didn’t count because Coach Brown hit the buzzer too soon.

Whatever the truth, the competitive spirit always seems to rear its ugly head during a family gather-up and so you’re going to need a place to prove to the younger generation that you’ve still got it.

Thus ends the greatest holiday on the planet. Another successful gathering of friends and family, eating a bit too much, getting made fun of because you snored the entire second half of the Cowboys’ loss, and twisting an ankle trying to touch the rim … which you swear you could do 30 years ago.

The perfect day. The perfect holiday. The perfect house.