Thanksgiving
For Thanksgiving, my husband, Paul and I, try to plan. Paul wants to spend time with his sons, and go with them to Kansas University basketball games, and, if the weather holds, to play golf. I want to create taste treats in the kitchen, party a little, talk spontaneously if the spirit moves us, and take a walk in nature.
Sometimes, though, we have to improvise. Pre-occupied with other things until the last minute, we made a mistake. If you have a 22.2-pound turkey that you stuff, how long should it bake? Quick, to the Internet. It says, 330 minutes. No problem. Just 3 ½ hours–plenty of time to bake the pies before the bird goes into the oven.
So my daughter, Cora, sets to peeling apples and some other stuff to make her pies, while I scurry around feeling very important while I make a stuffing; I do make a good stuffing. Then, there’s a spicy South African sweet potato dish Cora wants to make, plus an asparagus/ ham/parmesan new dish she wants to try. There’s also a wonderful spinach/pomegranate/avocado/cucumber/tomato/scallion salad she’s made for the past three years, which is not going to be ignored this year. Paul will wing back into the kitchen at some point to make his mashed potatoes.
When we peak in the oven after three hours, the turkey looks a wee bit tired–like it wants to do a good job, but it just needs a little more direction. Is 330 minutes really 3 ½ hours? Oh, my God. We’ve screwed up Thanksgiving! The turkey won’t be ready till 9:30 at night! That’s usually when Paul and I are winding down from the day. How could we make this mistake? How many years have we made a turkey?
Improvisation worked. We ate at 9:45. We did not hurry the turkey. It was moist and tender. My favorite of Cora’s dishes was her apple pie, which had a baked apple/cinnamon/cardamon flavor. Paul’s mashed potatoes were creamy, yet light and fluffy. The stuffing and gravy were both savory–quite yummy–if I may so myself.
Sometimes, though, we have to improvise. Pre-occupied with other things until the last minute, we made a mistake. If you have a 22.2-pound turkey that you stuff, how long should it bake? Quick, to the Internet. It says, 330 minutes. No problem. Just 3 ½ hours–plenty of time to bake the pies before the bird goes into the oven.
So my daughter, Cora, sets to peeling apples and some other stuff to make her pies, while I scurry around feeling very important while I make a stuffing; I do make a good stuffing. Then, there’s a spicy South African sweet potato dish Cora wants to make, plus an asparagus/ ham/parmesan new dish she wants to try. There’s also a wonderful spinach/pomegranate/avocado/cucumber/tomato/scallion salad she’s made for the past three years, which is not going to be ignored this year. Paul will wing back into the kitchen at some point to make his mashed potatoes.
When we peak in the oven after three hours, the turkey looks a wee bit tired–like it wants to do a good job, but it just needs a little more direction. Is 330 minutes really 3 ½ hours? Oh, my God. We’ve screwed up Thanksgiving! The turkey won’t be ready till 9:30 at night! That’s usually when Paul and I are winding down from the day. How could we make this mistake? How many years have we made a turkey?Improvisation worked. We ate at 9:45. We did not hurry the turkey. It was moist and tender. My favorite of Cora’s dishes was her apple pie, which had a baked apple/cinnamon/cardamon flavor. Paul’s mashed potatoes were creamy, yet light and fluffy. The stuffing and gravy were both savory–quite yummy–if I may so myself.
Table of Contents for Blog Articles
- Beginning of my Writing Life
- Should I begin a website?
- Three Steps to Creativity
- Communicating Effervescence
- The Fallen Leaves of Books
- After a Virus Has Passed
- Sex, Horses, and Breathing
- Feast for Seven Women
- Talks with My Cousin Dorothy
- What’s in a tidbit?
- The Value of Layers
- Tweaking Facts to Create Fiction
- Thanksgiving
- Thinking of Our Summer Cabin at the Lake
- Christmas Is Coming
- Jo
- Roland
- Christmas Cards
- The Pinch of Christmas
- Passed Away
- “I’m here, but the car ‘s not.”
- Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed; A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
- About Happy Times in Norway
- Satisfied
- Innocence Lost
- Picnic in the Park
- They Don’t Make Boots Like They Use To
- Pale Nouns
- Ballet’s Jacques Revisited
- Breakfast at Dottie’s True Blue Café
- Jewels and Clocks
- Sipping Wines in the Valley on St. Patrick’s Day
- Disappeared
- Dreams and Me
- A Design Project Takes Shape
- Value
- PRETTY SHOES
- Shapes and Color Inform
- Chalk Painting on the Sidewalk
- Roommates
- The Importance of Siblings, My Cousin, and Old Friends
- Anticipation = Work + Work
- What I Didn’t Tell You in the Last Blog
- It’s Tuesday already?
- GROUPS
- Delia’s Rug
- UPNORTH AUTHORS CIRCLE
- Headstones
- Bad Backs
- My Very First Pie
- Are We Ready?
- I Can’t Breathe
- Meeting the Carvers
- FAMILY RECIPES HIT THE ARCHIVES
- A Place I Loved
- Highlights of a Trip to Madeline Island, Largest of the Apostle Islands
- What Am I Writing Now?
- Teaching Kids to Connect to Art
- Website as Forum
- ENCOURAGING WRITING SUCCESS FOR EIGHTH GRADERS
- BACK IN LAWRENCE
- A “Published Book” by Students for Students of Students Has Impact
- Thoughts from a Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Buttercup Hill
- BENEATH THE ARC OF A DOUBLE RAINBOW
- ME AND MY SIBLINGS
- Why Learning the Ethical Culture Way Sticks
- Chestnuts
- An Apology and a Promise
- England Part I
- England Part II
- England Part III
- England Part IV
- England Part V
- England Part VI
- England Part VII
- England Part VIII
- England Part IX
- England Part X
- England Part X1
- England Part X11
- England Part X111
- England Part XIV
- Paris Part 1
- Paris Part II
- Paris Part III
- Paris Part IV
- Norway Part 1
- Norway Part II
- Norway Part III
- Norway Part IV
- Norway Part V
- Norway Part VI
Read or make comments for this article