How We Spent Thanksgiving Day

I have several half-written posts that I have never gotten finished, but it's the day after the day after Thanksgiving, so I have to start a new one.

We thought we were going to have 10 people for Thanksgiving dinner, which (as I was planning for food and drink) seemed like about thirty. Tom found the three extra leaves for the dining room table, we rounded up enough extra chairs, and we had enough plates (even if they didn't all match). The tablecloth was long enough, with the three extra leaves in place, and the chairs did fit.

In previous years Kroger has run out of fresh cranberries and we have had to make due with canned cranberry sauce. This year I bought a bag early and another one on Thanksgiving day (10 people are a lot), but there was no butternut squash to be had at Ansley Kroger. (They did still have turkeys, for the true procrastinators.) I didn't realize that Tom was waiting on me to put the turkey on (the seasoning and the mesquite chips were also on the Thanksgiving morning shopping list) so I headed on over to the Kroger at Sage Hill to look for butternut squash. They were out too, and one of the produce clerks looked at me like I deserved pity for even *thinking* I could get butternut squash on Thanksgiving morning - "That was all gone yesterday." But the manager walked up to me as I was heading to checkout and asked if I had found everything, and I told him no, that there was no butternut squash to be had, either there or at Ansley. He offered to call the Toco Hills Kroger, and sure enough they had it. In the meantime Tom was asking me where I was, so I headed home with the cranberries and the Emeril's Original and the mesquite chips so the turkey could get started and he headed over to Toco Hills to get the butternut squash later that morning, after the turkey was on.

The girls made pies - Caroline made the traditional blackberry pie, and Sarah two pumpkin pies. Thankfully the dishwasher had gotten fixed on Tuesday (a random screw had gotten caught in something, which accounting for the sound it was making, like it was in pain). Tom was responsible for preparing the turkey, which is complicated process taking several days. It includes brining - a step involving kosher salt and a cooler and a lot of water - and then he cooks it in the smoker. Tom had gotten a wireless digital thermometer so he could check the temperature of the bird from inside the house. This is the kind of gadget that Guys Who Grill really like. So all morning, while I am dealing with the mashed potatoes and the butternut squash and the green bean casserole he is asking me what the temperature was. It was usually too high or too low. He does not yet have the wireless control to adjust the damper from inside the house, or the computerized controller where you program it to maintain exactly the temperature you want for the time you want (note to Guys Who Grill: I just made that part up - these devices as far as I know do not exist. As far as I know.)

So we were expecting our neighbors Mark and Angela (who did not know each other, even though they discovered they nominally were on the same trivia team at George's on Tuesday nights), and Angela had asked if she could bring her former mother-in-law (of course, that's fine). We also had invited Susan, my flute-playing partner, and our friend Fred. But Fred was sick and Angela's former mother-in-law couldn't make it either so we were down to eight. Removing two plates and chairs from the table and rearranging the ones that remained seemed very challenging for my children. (Math education is not what it used to be. "There are 10 places set at the dining room table, one at each end and four on each side. Two guests cancel. How should the remaining places be arranged?")

There was the traditional playing of Alice's Restaurant during the turkey carving. The turkey was very good, but not as wonderfully smoky was in some previous years - but plenty good enough. I never got the gravy made (the turkey pan was not available until we were serving) but there was plenty of everything, even for the vegetarian daughters. After the meal, the kids drifted off, but the adults stayed at the table and eventually the guitars came out. There were stories about travels and music and Mark gave Iain a guitar lesson (Tom wants him to play "Sweet Jane" in the Morningside talent show). Caroline shared her Nirvana greatest hits songbook, and Tom transposed a classical guitar piece to tabulature for Mark. Susan left sometime during the afternoon, but Mark and Angela were there until 9:30 or so. It was great fun.

Friday morning Tom looked at the overflowing recycling bin and said we should take a picture of it and put it on our Christmas card, saying "We had a great Thanksgiving - we hope you have a merry Christmas."

Thanksgiving is the best of the holidays - it has defied commercialization (there is only so much you can buy for one meal), and fundamentally is about the Things That Are Really Important - family and friends, and being thankful. Gratitude is underappreciated as attitude that contributes to happiness, but that's for another time. In the meantime, there's leftovers in the refrigerator, and we are getting some much needed rain. There is indeed much to be thankful for.