We are traveling to Roanoke to see Jamie’s family for Thanksgiving. It’s interesting that we have a holiday that is essentially about food. I am all for a holiday about food, I think we should have more of them.
Jamie’s family does a good meal for Thanksgiving, but for me Thanksgiving just isn’t the same without my family and our food. Food is central to my family. We cook to show people that we love them. We cook to comfort people. I learned my family history through the recipes that have been passed down, and I learned to cook by simply being in the kitchen with my mom. Everything we eat is made from scratch. I didn’t know that dinner could come from a box until my second year of college. I certainly didn’t know that you could buy pie crust at the store. I’m not a snob about it or anything, I just didn’t know because we always made everything in the house. Prepared foods were a complete novelty to me and my brothers.
There are several dishes that we don’t get at any other time of the year but Thanksgiving. A sampling:
Bourbon Sweet Potato Souffle with Brown Sugar and Pecan Topping-it is as amazing as it sounds. The brown sugar gets all crusty and the pecans all toasty. And I come from the Deep South (Clarkesdale, MS) where you have to have at least one dish that contains bourbon.
Asparagus Casserole-Asparagus in a bechamel cream sauce with boiled eggs and cheddar cheese. It’s only good if you like asparagus and me? I love asparagus.
Dressing-We call it dressing, not stuffing. We eat it on the side. We make it with cornbread and sage and onions and celery and chicken stock. I don’t know what this chewy white bread with raisins stuff is, but it’s not dressing.
Dessert varies in our family. We don’t really go in for pumpkin pie, we just don’t like it too much. Mom usually makes a chocolate meringue pie, from scratch, naturally. And we might have Chery O’Cream Cheese pie, which is a sort of bakeless cheesecake with cherry topping that my dad goes crazy over.
I am missing my family a lot this year. They’re in Alabama, a 14 hour drive, and I probably won’t get to see them for Thanksgiving or Christmas (the Christmas menu is completely different from the Thanksgiving menu, I’ll tell you about it closer to Christmas), and I am really sad about that. We’re a little bit dysfunctional, but we love to be around each other.
I love Jamie’s family, and they love me, and have done nothing but welcome me into their brood. Still, Thanksgiving just isn’t the same with them. I will enjoy my Thanksgiving, we’ll have fun and laugh and eat too much. But secretly, deep inside, I’ll be wishing I was in Alabama, with cornbread dressing, my brother kicking me under the table, and my mom making us take turns saying what we’re thankful for.
This year, I’m thankful for Jamie, my cats and my dog. I’m thankful for Jamie’s family, who loves me. And I’m thankful for my family, who just might set a place for me at the table, just in case.
