It was six a.m. when Linda and I staggered groggily into the kitchen to get things going for the Thanksgiving meal which we and 25 others would be sitting down to in 6 and a half hours.
First things first; get a strong pot of coffee started while the oven is heating up to 350.
It took a bit of coaxing with a few cold water baths the night before but our big old tom turkey finally thawed out so we could get him seasoned and stuffed (with apples cut in quarters) and ready to roast. The big worry was if five hours would be enough cooking time. I joked about liking my turkey a little on the pink side anyway but Linda wasn’t seeing the humor it..especially before sunrise. Just in case, we sliced up a ham, put it in our big crock pot with two cups of white wine and set ‘er on low. As long as the wine was out anyway, we looked at each other and even though it was early morning we figured, what the heck, and poured ourselves a glass to toast the holiday. I decided to make a double batch of the scalloped corn everybody seems to like and Linda’s delicious long grain and wild rice stuffing was already made up and ready for baking. Our guests were bringing the rest of the food including potatoes and pies so were were set.
Around 9 O’clock, my brother, Tom, called with greetings from South Carolina. We talked about how great it was to see and hear the Lincoln High Marching Band on national TV in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. It certainly was! That wonderful band has always given me chills ever since two of my daughters were part of it back in the mid eighties. Tom then mentioned that, while their turkey was cooking, he and his family, including three little granddaughters, were heading out for a 2 mile hike along a trail in the nearby woods. “That sounds great,” I said sitting there curled up on the couch sipping my second glass of morning wine.
Because they were in Nebraska, we had to be content with a phone conversation from two of our granddaughters. But they both made us laugh when Allison, who’s 18, said her aunt Suzan had her peeling potatoes for the first time in her life and then, with great animation, 7 year old Zoey performed the gobble/gobble song she’d learned in school.
Well, it turns out that five hours is more than enough time to cook a 25 pound turkey and as I was about to start carving into the big bird there was a fear he was going to be dry as Geneses 13. (The chapter with all the begats in it.) But it wasn’t too bad. In fact, thanks in part to an open wine bar, everybody thought everything was delicious.The highlight of this Thanksgiving, though, was when Linda’s mother, Mary, who turns 85 on Friday, led the prayer..giving thanks for lots of things..especially the love of her family..a family that in July of 2007 stood around her hospital death bed praying for a miracle…and received it.
Amen!
