Happy Thanksgiving...

I hope your day is full of fun and food!

My mother was regaling the horrors of Thanksgiving past, not too long ago (of which there were not many...but, anyone who entertains on the holidays or cooks usually has a few fun stories to share...) My mother was never too afraid to try a new recipe or something that might make us all a little fuller and happier...but, true to her advice, it was always better to try these recipes before you had a fancy dinner or guests...advice that I wish I would follow closer...but, I'm usually trying it on the day with my fingers crossed (which sometimes results in crunchy cookies and cooking things twice as long because I can't figure out if it is quite done yet...?? But, it's also kind of fun too, because it usually results in any one of the women in my family all bent over the oven with me poking and prodding and asking about what I used for ingredients and a lot of, "I don't understand" or "it will be fine" and then they start to laugh and share their cooking stories...)

Her favorite story of Thanksgiving Past, and the one that made us laugh the most was one about her hosting Thanksgiving at the very first house her and my father had bought...She, when retelling it, was not sure if my father had bought an unusually large bird that year, or that we had an unusually small stove (since we were looking at her vintage stove last night and realized she could not only cook 2 normal sized birds and all the sides at the same time) Anyway...that year, after she realized she could not cook the bird with the oven door closed...she drug her tired self out of bed at 1 AM, where she started cooking...until we ate...all day. She wired the door sort of open/closed...and my mother NEVER cooked a bird in a bag all the years she cooked it...she always basted (I've done this and I basted every 15-30 minutes, it's really time consuming...but worth it) So...even though I can't remember it, she was up at least every half hour, basting and turning the bird in the oven so it could get done on all sides...Poor mom, I can't imagine how stressed out she must have been after agreeing to host the big dinner...

And it was fine...we had a great Thanksgiving with a perfectly moist and perfectly cooked turkey...with all our traditional family sides...I would imagine that she bought the birds after this year...although, we moved before the next Thanksgiving...hopefully to a house with a larger stove...

Today I am Thankful For:

The women in my family cooking and encouraging cooking and experimentation in the kitchen...resulting in wonderful and memorable family recipes and crazy funny stories, and the confidence that I can (mostly) cook anything...

How much easier it is to cook around food allergies so that it is possible to still enjoy the same foods that actually taste just as good or better...(yeah, that was my little prayer thrown out to the Thanksgiving food gods as I am attempting vegan potato au gratin...and NO, I did not try it out before today...I meant to, but...um, I just ran out of time)