Suzanne Somers' family will have to celebrate Thanksgiving without the late actress this year.
In a new interview, the star's daughter-in-law, Caroline Somers, opened up about preparing for the bittersweet holiday.
“This year will be our first Thanksgiving without Suzanne and none of us can imagine," she told a news outlet. "She was Thanksgiving to us.”
Caroline, a professional chef, said the brood's tradition was to go to the Step by Step alum's home in Palm Springs, Calif., for "a week of family, nature, and decadent holiday tastes," adding, "It’s always been our family’s most treasured holiday.”
She added that the house's decor for the special day "was spectacular: antique linens, precious collections of china, Baccarat green crystal glasses, beautiful peonies or roses and a ton of candles."
Though things will be a bit different this year — Suzanne died from cancer on October 15, one day before her 77th birthday — Caroline noted they "will all be together," and she is determined to try and recreate her beloved mother-in-law's recipes.
"Every year she would look at me when we sat down at the dinner table, after the days of prep, after all the family was served, and she would take that first bite… and she would rate her gravy," Caroline recalled. "Then she would flash me that ‘thumbs up’ and we would revel in the tastes and watch all the family enjoy their meal."
“Suzanne always handled the turkey and made the world’s best gravy,” she continued. “Her homemade stock was the secret ingredient. She stopped adding flour to her gravy many years ago, and opted for rich pan drippings with finely minced giblets, reduced with homemade stock, then finished with a luxurious amount of butter. She would scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan and literally nothing was better.”
Other dishes from the businesswoman included creamy mashed potatoes and sautéed Brussel sprouts.
"So much of Suzanne’s legacy is in the kitchen!" Caroline gushed. "I learned from the best and I will do my d------- to honor her and feed our family with those familiar comforting tastes of Thanksgiving."
While the TV star's death was more than difficult for the family, her 87-year-old husband, Alan Hamel, is glad he was there with her when she took her final breaths.
"I was with her in bed at 5 o'clock in the morning, and so it was peaceful. And I was glad that our whole family could come and see her. It was a beautiful experience," he recalled in an interview. "We couldn't get anything out of her. She wasn't talking at the end. The last couple of days she stopped eating, stopped talking, wouldn't take her medicine and we didn't know if she was alive or not."
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People spoke to Caroline about celebrating Thanksgiving without Suzanne.
