I will always remember my first Thanksgiving as a married woman. As a brand new stepmother, I was determined to make the holiday special
for the step-kids, which I assumed meant The Turkey Dinner. Now, I am not much of a cook, and had never done the whole turkey-dinner from scratch thing. I was working full-time and a part-time job, which meant I was less than thrilled to take my single day off work to spend it in the kitchen…..but I was up to the challenge.
Martha Stewart will never need to fear competition from Elizabeth Camden, but I was proud of that meal. The turkey was fine, I made ALL the associated fixings from scratch, I was thrilled down to my toes at how well the gravy turned out, and the whole apartment smelled amazing.
The reaction of my family? “We don’t really like turkey.” It was a battle to get them to turn off the TV off (I ultimately settled for the mute button.) As proof that men sometimes just don’t get it, my husband was the biggest offender of the group, fixing himself something from the fridge because of his indifference to turkey, then parking it in front of the football game while the rest of us were still eating.
That was seventeen years ago. It was the first and last turkey dinner I’ve ever made.
The following Thanksgiving, I polled the family for their favorite meal. BBQ came out on top. Okay! This is something I can do! Aside from the meat, I buy everything else ready-made. Bush’s Baked Beans, a vat of mashed potatoes from the local deli, frozen garlic bread that heats in the oven, and a couple of Marie Calendar pies. It is a feast the entire family enjoys, and a tradition Bill and I look forward to every year. The kids are now both grown and live out of state with families of their own, so it’s just me and Bill, but we both love our barbequed-Thanksgiving.
Oh, and I’ve given up battling Thanksgiving Day football. Sometimes, if you can’t beat ‘em, you’ve got to join them.