metanoia's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pass the Gravy Kent brought a 23 pound turkey home. It is his job each year to buy the turkey, and he likes them big. Real Big. We only had 8 people this year for dinner, but we still had a 23 pound turkey. I don�t mind except it is pretty tough to muscle around a big turkey and stuff a big turkey (because I still do stuff) and of course I have to eat turkey for the next two weeks, even after I send loads home with anyone who will take it. *sigh* But � this was one of the best Thanksgivings, ever, and not just the food. The turkey was done right on cue. The stuffing was perfect � not too dry or too moist � just right. And, the real kicker, I did not forget the rolls in the oven. This is almost a tradition in my house. We sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and then, a couple of minutes into the meal, someone mentions they smell something burning. Ack! �It�s the rolls!� I cry as I spring from table to oven in one giant leap. Only not this time. This time, I remembered the rolls and placed them ever so tenderly in a lovely woven basket lined with linens woven in a fall leaf motif. So there. Usually my woven basket lined with linens woven in a fall leaf motif lies lonely and waiflike waiting for rolls that never appear, or if they do they are hard and black and shriveled. So this was a good, good meal. Everything done perfectly and right on time. Phenomenal. And the guests! Congenial, and in a great mood, all. Even though it was raining and many wanted to go horseback riding and were stuck inside, there was no carping or whining. We had a couple of young men from Rwanda to share our meal and they were a delight. My daughter-in-law-to-be was able to make it because she quit her job (a good thing and a bad thing, I guess, but � hey - she got to come for Thanksgiving!) and her medication is fairly well regulated now so she was her delightful self. It was just so good. I will always remember this one, if only for the fact I did not burn the rolls. Thanksgivings of my childhood were always dramatic and violent times. Arguments and chaos ruled the day. I suppose each and every Thanksgiving may not have been like that, but the ones I remember were. My father would begin drinking as soon as he got up in the morning and would not stop. This would either mean he would leave for awhile and go to the bar and not get back for dinner or that he would stay and my mother would being griping and nagging him for drinking, or maybe she would start drinking. Then the battle would rage. Usually right before we were all ready to sit down to dinner. I credit this whole type of thing for my ability to eat through any and all crises. I am able to have a total brawl going on right beside me as I reach for more gravy. I don�t know if this is a good trait or a bad one, but it got me through many a Thanksgiving/Easter/Christmas dinner. One especially memorable Thanksgiving when I was a teenager was hosted at my brother�s house. He lived in Northern California, while my parents and I lived in Southern California. So not only was it the drama of Thanksgiving, it was also the trauma-drama of taking a trip in the car with my whacked out parents. Perhaps I will share the pleasure of the drive, some other entry. Perhaps I will just shove this along with all my other traumas into the dark recesses of my hypothalamus or cerebral cortex, or some other part of my brain I don�t use much so I won�t have to confront the damn things on a daily basis. Well, anyway, we are in Northern California and it is colder than a bitch outside and we are all stuck in the house and my dad has been drinking all morning and so has my sister-in-law and my mother and my other brother and no one can go outside because it is colder than a bitch and my dad can�t leave cause he is not in his neighborhood and does not like unfamiliar bars so we are all cooped up together, and ain�t it grand? My sister-in-law is in the kitchen getting dinner ready. My brother is teasing her relentlessly and she is not taking it well. All of a sudden a very loud scream ricochets off every wall in the house (it was a pretty big house). I ran in the kitchen just in time to see my brother snatch my sister-in-law�s wig off her head and stuff it in the garbage disposal and flip the switch. Lucky I ran in when I did, too, �cause when I opened the swinging door, everyone else in the dining room had a great view of the kitchen debacle as well. Nobody really felt like eating after that cause my mom went to comfort my sister-in-law who had retreated to the bedroom. My brother went to his den, my dad went back in the living room to watch TV and drink and 2 of their kids were too upset to eat. The other kid, my nephew, and I were the only ones sitting at the table, having Thanksgiving dinner. Heh Pass the gravy. 10:33 a.m. - 2003-12-02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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