Thanksgiving Lessons

I learned a lot this year about what it takes before you sit down to the meal. Jake and I did Thankful day by ourselves this year. Before yesterday I didn't have any grasp on what truly goes into that dinner. The stuffing being made the day before so it has time to soak up the juices, how much brine you really need for a 12 pound bird, the art of gravy making. This year I had my Mom's help the day before, showing me the stuffing recipe that is my grandfathers, passing it down. It felt oddly formal, I have it now, I am also the keeper of this recipe. The big day arrived, I had myself and Jacob, only two to dance around the kitchen and make the meal. Jacob was telling me he enjoyed watching Mom and I on Thanksgiving's past, how we seem to intuitively know where the other person is, a well choreographed dance. I had to learn to tell Jacob where I needed him, he is not as comfortable in the kitchen as I am, however, he is my dishwasher extraordinaire. We pulled it off beautifully. The bird cooked in 2.5 hours about 2.5 hours faster than I thought it would. Nothing was ready because.... um I am pretty sure I have 2 more hours. Apparently brining a bird makes it cook faster? The 20 minutes before we pulled the bird out of the oven was a scramble. I didn't stuff the bird so I had to cook the stuffing on the side which has to cook for 40 minutes, just enough time to let the bird sit and cool. Never cut into the bird right out of the oven, it will dry out. I needed to cook sweet potatoes, and I was planning on roasting some root veggies and squash to go with the meal, that didn't happen. I did roast the veggies but they were eaten as leftovers since they didn't make it to the table. I forgot about the cranberry sauce that I had made the day before. So this is what we ate: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes (one was able to cook in time), dinner rolls, water and wine. Since the bird cooked much quicker than anticipated we ate "dinner" at Noon. So later in the day when it was dinner time we had Thanksgiving Supper. Which managed to have everything on the plate the first meal intended to have. All in all a fairly successful day. We were lucky enough to give thanks to the farmer who raised this bird. Gary and So at Rocky Ridge Ranch taught this bird to drink (which turkeys aren't born knowing how to do) they raised, fed, watered and sheltered this animal. When it's time was up the death was done humanely. I said thank you to Gary personally for raising this bird, and sent a silent thank you on Thankful day. Knowing where your food comes from gives it more meaning, a relationship. Everything accept for the sweet potatoes and cranberries was grown by someone local or made by me. Putting the time into this meal makes me appreciate past Thanksgivings even more. I would come over and help on "the day" assisting in gravy making, mashing potatoes, or setting the table. But none of that adds up to choreographing the meal yourself. I realize now what my Mom does days in advance, even what she must do to get the bird in the oven before we arrive. I look at this traditional meal with new eyes and I am Thankful for that.