Tired Potato

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. No gifts, just really great food and all the mashed potatoes and leftovers I could handle. Not to mention the excitement of looking over the ads with my family and listening to Christmas music. I love the atmosphere of a Thanksgiving celebration. I love the joy that comes with it and mostly, I just really love being with my loved ones on Thanksgiving. 

    It has never been lost on me- the amount of effort my parents (or anyone who hosts a holiday) put into organizing and executing a family gathering like Thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where I was woken up by the smell of turkey cooking on Thanksgiving, never really knowing what time my mom had actually started cooking the dang thing. Never knowing the days of prep leading up to it (defrost it, dry it out, brine it??); the menus, the timing, the decorations. I always thought this knowledge was something a person acquired as they got older. Well, here I am, 40 years old and I just bought my first turkey... after calling my parents last night and asking, "how do I buy a turkey? Do I just walk in and pick one out? How big of a turkey? Am I supposed to stuff the turkey? How many days does it need to defrost??" This phone call came after 3 phone calls that preceded it asking for my mom's stuffing recipe and my dad's gravy recipe and what is a cheesecloth for exactly??

    I guess what I am trying to say is that I have been very lucky and very spoiled over the years to have not just one Thanksgiving dinner cooked for me, but after I met Jeff, TWO Thanksgiving dinners in one day. Double the turkey. Double the mashed potatoes (!!). Double the pie. See? Lucky. No matter the exhaustion that comes along with holidays; the car traveling and rushing and little sleep, how lucky are we that we have so many loved ones to share it with?

    Much like the rest of this year has been, this holiday is going to prove to be different than all others. I implore you to make it special. Do what you can to be SAFE and keep your loved ones safe but also try to make it a happy one. 

    All this to say that I am very grateful for my parents and my in-laws as I embark on my own journey of trying to organize and cook a 16 pound turkey (it's the smallest one they had LOL) for just the 3 of us.

    Feel free to wish me some luck on cooking my first turkey and to drop me some tips, hints and suggestions along the way.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Be safe.