honoring American Thanksgiving, I have decided to accept turkey back into my life

Honoring American Thanksgiving (I wrote this 3 years ago)

Turkeys come in various forms: white meat, dark meat, legs, breasts, and then there was that turkey I went out with once, on a blind date… ouch. My pescatarian lifestyle (vegetarian but with fish) was humming along nicely, but the Canadian Thanksgiving did me in. It’s just un-Canadian or maybe even un-American to abstain from turkey on these dates!

I give thanks for my new life; well, it is an old life regurgitated 8 years ago (divorce does that). Every one of those years has been full of adventure and surprises, and they all belong to me. Making those happen is half the fun. The last was the road trip across the Rocky Mountains to beautiful British Columbia.

A girlfriend and I took this road trip this past September, in a Lexus and packing a pup tent. There was only one rule for us: no cooking. It was a tough one, but we persevered. Of course, that meant no dishes either, darn. We ‘roughed it’ as best we could, that entailed eating a lot of chippy stuff and maybe a few milkshakes to keep up our strength,

Back to the turkey, he wasn’t bad looking, but he did gobble his food, and when he tried to peck me, I had had enough. There is pecking, which I hate, and then there is kissing, which, if done right, can curl your toes, ok, now where was I? Oh hell, wrong turkey.

I decided to go the whole nine yards last week and do a turkey feast, although it was one week before Thanksgiving here, I had company coming. I think I was still salivating from our Canadian Thanksgiving turkey.

Thanksgiving is for giving thanks and making memories, and who doesn’t have a memory of a good turkey dinner? I always cook my bird upside down; it always gives me moist white meat. There is enough crispy skin on the back to satisfy that craving, and there is none of that left by the time the bird hits the table. Oops.

Homemade cranberry sauce is so good, and I was testing that a little too much. Oh, and just make your own, it’s so easy. Add water to cover berries and a cup of sugar or more and boil for a while until delightfully bubbly. Add some orange zest if you want to ‘customize’ it. If you ate all the oranges earlier in the week, don’t sweat it, add some lemon juice, and when that doesn’t work out, keep adding more sugar and taste, sigh burp

Try boiling your potatoes with a little salt, and when you drain them, let them sit for a moment before you mash them with butter, and I use crème cheese instead of milk. Idaho russet potatoes are my favorite when we have gravy. Baby red potatoes with skin on is also a favorite, mashed with butter and garlic/herbed crème cheese .. omg!

Onto dressing or stuffing, either way, I will be dressing up and stuffing myself into my clothes.  A little Chinese man lives in my closet at night and takes in all the seams on my clothes, if I ever catch him, he is toast. That little Chinese man is not alone, a really messy woman also lives here somewhere and if I ever catch her, same.

Ok, back to food, just make sure you have turnips if you invite me. A turkey meal without turnips is just another meal, nothing special. Down here in the south, it is a green bean casserole they can’t live without, and maybe cornbread? This is why I am putting turkey back into my life.

I am truly grateful, and I am doubly blessed this American Thanksgiving because I get to celebrate twice. We had our Canadian Thanksgiving in October, and I imbibed on turkey and had my fill. I love my home here and all my American friends, there are no borders in my heart.

I wish all of my American friends a happy Thanksgiving!

copyright

November 23rd, 2017