Thursday, November 15, 2007

Thanskgiving plans

A long-ago Thanksgiving weekend at Grandma Rita's

One thing about being last-minute (if that) planners is that you can find yourself a week out from Thanksgiving with no idea yet of what you're going to do.

Michelle and I have had some great Thanksgivings over the years: a nice post-surgery feast last year at Mich and Manuel's; a few memorable trips to Mom's house in Eugene; maybe once with Kaye and Val (every meal there is a feast so it's hard to recall if any of them were Thanksgiving); and a classic M&M 13th-hour drive across the desert for a late-night dinner at the awesome Bellagio buffet. We may even have roasted a turkey breast or a cornish hen here at home once or twice, but I'm not sure.

Last month, the Seattle Times ran a very good story about "heritage turkeys," and it sounded so inviting and homey that I had half a mind to try cooking dinner here myself. The girls have plans to spend the day with Greta and her parents, though, so it's just Michelle and me. Also, if you really want a heritage turkey you've got to plan way ahead, like maybe a year.

So now I'm thinking about a less heritagey, more traditional Butterbally day.

Yesterday the New York Times food section had some good stuff and, even better, links online to the paper's best Thanksgiving coverage going back more than a hundred years, including this cool story from 1895 about how the holiday was celebrated that year.

I'm sure we'll come up with something. If not, there's always our standard fallback plan. Last night Michelle said some people at work asked her what we're doing for Thanksgiving.

"Going to the casino," she said.

I love her.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

:) I love you too, cute stuff.

Janice said...

Turkey, even butterball, is great. You can eat the white meat with gravy then boil the carcass and the dark meat into a great gumbo. You can even make the gumbo for thanksgiving. Also, back to the mirliton conversation, stuff mirliton is traditional New Orleans thanksgiving fare.

freda said...

I missed the mirliton conversation, that's what I get for traveling. Stuffed mirliton is fantastic, I had never heard of mirliton till I moved to New Orleans. The spell checker has never heard of it either, it keeps underlining it.

Kate Cohen said...

Why don't you hop in that Pew Research Center and roll down here, where we will fete you with duck, oyster dressing, parsnip mashed potatoes, gin, etc. -- also available: fresh sheets and local casinos full of degenerates waiting to give you their money. Imagine thanksgiving morning at the casino, thanksgiving evening with Cohens and a duck. Don't you think an evening thanksgiving meal is more civilized?

I wish you would, because very high on my thankful for list this year is M and her M.

I mean it -- come on.

Anonymous said...

How could you not love a picture like that?!! Way to capture the moment. I remember it SO well.

A Butterbally Day is what will be going on here and there's always a way to make room at this inn.

I'm really looking forward to the gathering - with the intoxicating aromas of the Thanksgiving kitchen and Tony's saxaphone serenades.

Wherever you are, you will both be, as Kayes says, on the top of our 'what-to-be-thankful-for-list.

Anonymous said...

Oh Happy Day!

We're having a Butterball Family Reunion.