Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m watching the parade, a custom since my childhood. I remember sitting on the rug in front of the TV eating snacks. We always had tangerines, M&M’s and mixed nuts in the shell. The nuts were in a bowl, and we had silver crackers and silver picks to pull the nuts out of the shells. The walnuts took some strength. I loved the Brazil nuts. I have a bowl just like the old one. It is wooden and has holes to put the picks and the cracker. I fill the bowl with nuts every year and put it on the dining room table. I keep a bowl of M&M’s here in the den. They don’t last long. All I’m missing are the tangerines.

I still can remember how wonderful the house smelled of turkey. When I close my eyes, I can see my mother in the kitchen getting dinner ready. She’d stand at the counter and peel potatoes, lots of potatoes, and fill pots with the canned veggies, the peas, the asparagus, the corn and the green beans. The stove was small and every burner was filled. The turkey was on the rack at the bottom of the oven. The other rack had been removed to fit the turkey. We always had a big turkey, all the better for leftovers. We’d eat in the kitchen. The house had no dining room. The table and chairs were crammed against the wall. They didn’t fit all of us. My mother ate at the counter. My father carved at the kitchen counter. He was an adept carver. He was the fastest eater. He had a football game to watch. My mother and I cleared the table and washed the dishes and pots and pans. We didn’t have a dishwasher until much later.

Once everything was cleared we brought out the desserts. My father always had a piece of apple pie with a slice of cheddar on the top. I went for the lemon meringue.

The turkey lasted for days. First, we had a repeat dinner then we progressed to open turkey sandwiches covered in gravy and surrounded by veggies. Next came cold turkey sandwiches piled with stuffing and cranberry sauce. I loved those. I’d toast the bread and slather it with mayo. My father picked the turkey clean. He had talent for that. We’d have turkey salad sandwiches and, for the final meal, turkey soup, rich tasting from the carcass boiling for a while.

I’ll eat my turkey dinner around 2 or 3. It has everything including clam chowder and shrimp for the first courses. All the veggies are there, and there is plenty of gravy. I even have a roll. Apple crisp is the dessert. I have to admit, though, I’m missing the lemon meringue pie. Having that for dessert would be perfection.

I know somewhere there is sun, but there will be none here today. To add to dreary, a bit of rain is forecast for tonight, and it will rain tomorrow. It is in the low 50’s, but that strong breeze, dare I say wind, is still here making the air feel colder. None of us love this weather.

One of my strongest memories of Thanksgiving is how the aroma of cooking turkey filled the house especially when my mother would open the oven door to baste the turkey. She’d also steal a bit of the crusty stuffing hanging out of the bird, maybe as an award for the basting. The best part was it would get crusty again so I could also steal a bit. The turkey was always cooked in the same huge pan, the blue one with white dots. I don’t remember anything else cooked in that pan.

My father had two official Thanksgiving responsibilities. Both involved the turkey. He would pull the heavy pan out of the oven and put it on the counter. He’d then take the turkey out of the pan. It was a delicate operation. The turkey was huge and hot. He’d grab pot holders and hold the turkey on each side and hope for the best, that the turkey would stay intact. It always did. My father was also the official carver. He’d fill the plate with cut turkey, including the legs. He’d always say, “There’s more in the kitchen.”

I have uke practice tonight from the Christmas book. We have officially finished with bluegrass. Tomorrow I have my lesson, and we have our first Christmas concert. I need to gather my Christmas accessories, my fascinator, my red shirt, my Christmas socks and my red Converse sneakers. I also need my noise makers, the bells and buzzers. I’ll be festive and loud.