Holiday Traditions - The New Version
So, this is the first year that the family Thanksgiving is away from the old homestead. All during my growing up years, we held the holiday feast at my great-aunt Mabel's house in Painesville. That's where we sat watching the Star Trek marathon that Channel 43 played on Thanksgiving (because none of us cared about football), and it's where I learned to carve a turkey when my great0uncle Sam got grumpy and refused to carve. People said "Sam, just carve the turkey!" and I walked over, picked up the knife and, eventually, got the flesh off the carcass.
When my great-aunt went into assisted living, we held the dinner at he AL home once. It was nothing like the traditional family meal. The kitchen did a nice job, but it was an institutional kitchen and we shared the conference room with another family group, and everybody was sort of subdued. And we couldn't sit around the dinner table for hours drinking coffee and re-telling ancient family anecdotes, because someone else was scheduled to use the room at 6pm.
So the family gathering settled at my parents' house. We held it there the Thanksgiving after they passed away, and then I hosted at my grandmother's house last year. Since my brother moved into that house this fall (and is still unpacking boxes), there was a suggestion that we just hold the dinner at a restaurant somewhere, for simplicity's sake. I have to admit that all of the push-back on that idea came from me. So I volunteered to host. Hey, the house is mostly clean and I like to cook. :)
I'm a traditionalist. Yes, "We've always done it that way!" is a battlecry. And while I know that we won't always do it that way, there's nothing wrong with trying to keep some things similar. Sure, there are differences. First, SarahJo is going to be at my side this year. (And it's a big change for her - it's the first Thanksgiving since her grandmother, who hosted every year - passed away.) Second, it's in my new house. It's a little smaller than Exeter, without the same gracious sweep of windows and with a smaller dining room, but we'll manage.
So tonight I'm peeling carrots and rutabaga, toasting bread for stuffing, roasting chestnuts and parboiling brussel sprouts for the side dishes and getting the last of the drinkables (and some port wine for the gravy). I ahve to get the good dishes out of their travel packings, and all of the silver as well, and doubtless some of it will need to be polished. There are knives to be sharpened and linens to iron. I have to find the candlesticks, and candles to go into them. Family and guests will start to arrive at about 2pm, for a sit-down dinner at about 4pm, so my timetable is being carefully arranged. I want everything to hit the table at about the same time, hot and ready to go. And I think I can pull it off.
So, despite changes to the list of attendees, and a new location, and various new things and recipes, it is still the Pearce Family Thanksgiving. I'll let you know how it went.
I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my job, my future and for everyone who helped me to achieve these things. Have a good holiday, folks.
When my great-aunt went into assisted living, we held the dinner at he AL home once. It was nothing like the traditional family meal. The kitchen did a nice job, but it was an institutional kitchen and we shared the conference room with another family group, and everybody was sort of subdued. And we couldn't sit around the dinner table for hours drinking coffee and re-telling ancient family anecdotes, because someone else was scheduled to use the room at 6pm.
So the family gathering settled at my parents' house. We held it there the Thanksgiving after they passed away, and then I hosted at my grandmother's house last year. Since my brother moved into that house this fall (and is still unpacking boxes), there was a suggestion that we just hold the dinner at a restaurant somewhere, for simplicity's sake. I have to admit that all of the push-back on that idea came from me. So I volunteered to host. Hey, the house is mostly clean and I like to cook. :)
I'm a traditionalist. Yes, "We've always done it that way!" is a battlecry. And while I know that we won't always do it that way, there's nothing wrong with trying to keep some things similar. Sure, there are differences. First, SarahJo is going to be at my side this year. (And it's a big change for her - it's the first Thanksgiving since her grandmother, who hosted every year - passed away.) Second, it's in my new house. It's a little smaller than Exeter, without the same gracious sweep of windows and with a smaller dining room, but we'll manage.
So tonight I'm peeling carrots and rutabaga, toasting bread for stuffing, roasting chestnuts and parboiling brussel sprouts for the side dishes and getting the last of the drinkables (and some port wine for the gravy). I ahve to get the good dishes out of their travel packings, and all of the silver as well, and doubtless some of it will need to be polished. There are knives to be sharpened and linens to iron. I have to find the candlesticks, and candles to go into them. Family and guests will start to arrive at about 2pm, for a sit-down dinner at about 4pm, so my timetable is being carefully arranged. I want everything to hit the table at about the same time, hot and ready to go. And I think I can pull it off.
So, despite changes to the list of attendees, and a new location, and various new things and recipes, it is still the Pearce Family Thanksgiving. I'll let you know how it went.
I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my job, my future and for everyone who helped me to achieve these things. Have a good holiday, folks.