Thanksgiving 2008

I wasn't planning on baking or cooking anything special for Thanksgiving. When I was asked by my friends and colleagues "what are you doing on TG" my response was "nothing really. hang out with my family and relax" They couldn't believe I wasn't making turkey, even though I explained that my daughter is a vegetarian and plus my oldest son doesn't really like turkey.

Well, the night before Thanksgiving & guilt spread through me. Why, you ask, just because I wasn't cooking an abnormally large meal? Yes. It's in my blood some how. For 40 years this has been part of my annual rhythm so why stop now. I was in the grocery store and saw that organic turkey sitting there, calling my name. Eat me, eat me, they killed me for no reason if you don't eat me. Let me add that I was a vegetarian before I met my husband. Well, not a real vegetarian as I ate a bucket of steamers every Friday night with my son Nigel. Other than that, no meat. Then I met my husband who is strictly meat & potatoes. I cooked meals for both of us at the beginning (veggie & meat); then became lazy and slowly incorporated meat into my diet too...

Anyway, back to the turkey. I put it in the cart, bought a few other items and headed home. Nobody made a smarty comment like "I thought you weren't going to cook" which was a shock. So, I seasoned the turkey and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up, went to the gym and I worked out (ran into some coworkers, yuck, not the way I want to see them) came home, baked turkey, stuffed eggplant, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, noodle kuggle, dressing (w/meat), dressing (w/out meat) and chocolate pie (remember, I'm cooking for a veghead and meatheads). After 5 hours in the kitchen, we sat down and devoured the fabulous meal. I was stoked everyone ate. Even Cooper the 15 year old who said "I don't like turkey" consumed a growing man's share of turkey and stuffing

So, I'll call this years Thanksgiving a success. Next year, I want to rent a beach house or a yurt in Grayland and just escape the desire for big cooked meal and focus more on being disconnected from the digital world and more connected with my fabulous family. I hope you and yours had an absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. Cheers!