Ebb and Flow Post

It's funny how at different times of the year, the posts on various blogs, ebb and flow. One time of the year is the start of summer when everyone is getting organized for summer. Camp, vacations and so forth, no one has time to blog. As the winter holidays approach there's another ebb. Even though I'm not employed, have no children and don't get into full holiday celebration mode...it is just me for heaven sake, this trend is still noticeable.

Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away. (We won't even broach the subject of Christmas.) Once again, despite the fact that it is just me, I'm tempted to make a small turkey for the holiday (10 pounds at the very most, smaller if I can find one). I was looking back over my blog and noticed that the first year I was separated, I made an 18 pound turkey. I hadn't gotten into the cooking for one mode yet, obviously.

There's something about Thanksgiving that just makes all the memories of smells and tastes come rushing back and I feel the need to reconnect in some way, even if I'm stuck with a ton of leftover turkey.

Remember the year of the gargantuan failure of the crock pot turkey breast meal? It was the first time I'd ever used a crock pot. If nothing else can be said for me, it's that I don't start small! I leap in with both feet and turkey breasts! It looked so good initially...

Crock pot failure. Thanksgiving 2009.

The following year I skipped cooking altogether. What a bummer, big mistake. There's something very heart-filling about the traditions of Thanksgiving, at least for me. I think it's my favorite holiday of the year! All warm and cuddly. Even more so than Christmas which is surprising!

The magical part of all this is that any and all bad memories vanish and all I remember is the closeness of being with family if only for a day. It's a time when I'm surrounded by visions of all that was wonderful in my childhood. As a kid, we always had Thanksgiving at my great grandma's house. She lived with my aunt and uncle in her old home/boarding house. We'd drive an hour to get there regardless of the weather. Remember, there were no seat-belts back then.  :)

Even after a huge feast where we stuffed ourselves, when the time neared for the trip home, we (my brother and I) insisted my aunt prepare sandwiches for the "journey" back home! I still marvel at how all the adults put up with this silliness. In truth, the "big draw" was that my aunt used Wonder Bread to make the sandwiches. My mom bought bakery bread that was totally different and no fun. WB's fluffy nothingness of doughy goodness could easily be shaped into dense, pretend pancakes, balls, tubes and so on. Ah, the stuff of childhood.... Amazingly, not a sandwich made it home. Lol! We were voracious little critters.

As the holiday approaches this year, I'm fortunate to have, a bag of Pepperidge Farms herb cubes left from last year. (This brand is sooo much better than Mrs. Cubbison's pathetic excuse for dressing.)

"Yech! I used this once about 9 years ago...never again!"

Frankly, I don't think that any loss of taste will be noticeable. Once you make the mixture with butter, stock, fresh diced celery and onions and stuff the turkey, it takes on a whole new delicious life. Mmmm! The funny thing is, I don't need all the other classic accompaniments. Sure they'd be nice, but just turkey and dressing make the day, always have and probably always will!