Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for, this year especially. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays... if not for the simple magic of Christmas, it would be my favorite. I love the food and the memories that come with it. My favorites are always the standards: squash, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans... all the trimmings. These things are really more than just food, they are a connect-the-dots pathway back in time to my childhood. For this reason, I don't mess with Thanksgiving. No new recipes, no overly messed with recipes. Sure, brine the turkey, but don't completely overhaul the thing.

I love being around my family. I used to go to my grandmother's very regularly, close to every week at times. There would nearly always be aunts or uncles there as well. You know, just writing about this makes me miss those times, when I was young and would goof around endlessly with my cousins. A low hanging cloud of cigarette smoke would hover near the ceiling, the kitchen would be filled with people, Uncle Bruce in his chair by the sliding glass doors, the gold furniture in the living room, the glass bowl of candies on the counter and my grandparents would be sitting on either side of the little wooden table with fold-down sides in the kitchen. The house and surrounding hill and yard would be ours for games and exploration.

My wife's family is the total opposite of mine and the experience follows suit. It has actually mellowed out on both sides of the family schism. It used to be that I would go to my family and the alcohol would flow freely... Fun, craziness, incredibly loud and fun times would ensue. Actually, this does continue in some ways, the smoke is gone, but a couple years ago my cousin Brian did still set off fireworks in my aunt's back yard on Christmas eve (and yes the police were called).  We would then go to Jenny's family and it would be nearly silent. No craziness, no alcohol, no hype, but a serious sense of family would pervade through things. Both were great, just the opposite sides of the spectrum. Jenny's family has since gotten louder with the addition of little nieces and nephews as well as my own two noise makers. I love both of these families. Oh, and most importantly Jenny's family has a propensity for making pies. Oh, the pies... homemade crusts... pies of all types are scattered all around thanksgiving. This year's options were apple, chocolate, pecan, and a pumpkin roll with the addition of cherry (my absolute favorite that Jenny makes) pumpkin and another apple pie at my family's celebration.

I love Thanksgiving.