Since we got married, the wife and I have gone out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. One year we went to a friend’s house, the other times we went to a restaurant. For the last several years we’ve gone out with my stepdaughter, her husband and her daughter. It’s been good and we eat well.
This year, now that we’ve moved, we’re going to change things up. Since we’re in Small Town America, the restaurants are closed and we don’t have a wide enough social circle yet to make it a social occasion.
So, we’ll be making Thanksgiving dinner at home. Or rather, I’ll be making Thanksgiving dinner at home.
I’m not the world’s greatest chef but I’ve managed to feed myself most of my adult life without killing myself yet. The wife likes to say she has taught me how to cook since we got married. To be fair I knew how to cook before we got married but she has greatly expanded my repertoire. There are more things I can cook now, and I find I sort of enjoy the task. I’m not a foodie, or ever likely to become one, but I have found some new dishes that I probably wouldn’t have encountered without the wife presenting them to me.
We have a small turkey breast that will be the centerpiece of the meal. Even though it is small, it will still take two to three (2 – 3) hours to cook. We’ve got some sweet potato, corn, peas, and regular potatoes that could be turned into mashed potatoes. We’ve got bread. I could make some Pillsbury biscuits to go with the meal if I wanted.
None of the above is beyond my cooking expertise. The main concern is being able to get everything done on time and without any dish getting cold or burned as other dishes finish cooking. That would make me the Kumkwat Haagendasz, as described in The Harvard Lampoon’s Doon, their parody of Frank Hebert’s Dune. The Kumkwat Haagendasz is the prophesied chosen chef who can make sure all the dishes get done at the same time.
I’ll have to get started in the morning to make sure there is enough time to get the turkey breast cooked. That way we can have our meal in the early afternoon, as was the tradition in my family when I was growing up. We’ve been doing that over the last few years as well, so that’s good.
I might get a chance to listen to Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant wile making dinner. One of the radio station’s in the area plays it every Thanksgiving, as did one of the stations back in Texas. It’s always fun to listen to and it is sort of a tradition. (I have a similar tradition of listening to Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds and the soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera on Hallowe’en.)
If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to eat myself into a food coma and take a nap.
Anyway, I’m hoping it all turns out well. Who knows? Maybe it will become a new tradition, although as the Texas Aggies say “Do it once, it’s fun. Do it twice, it’s tradition.” So, I’d have to do this again next year. We’ll see.
Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions, my Hordeling? Hit reply and let me know.
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