Tammi's World

Just looking back....

I am up this morning pretty early. I peeked out the window only to find that whatever snow fell yesterday is gone. They're calling for a bit more today, but I don't think that'll stick around either.

I went out to the sun porch and curled up in my blanket, sipping my coffee and having the first smoke of the day. As I watched the neighborhood start to wake up I couldn't help but think back to some interesting Thanksgiving's past.

There was MY first Thanksgiving. When I cooked my first turkey. I was sooo young and newly married. My husband had invited the entire family over. No pressure......

I read the instructions on the turkey - because heaven forbid I ask anyone for any help....I prep the bird and put it in the oven. That year was very traditional. Stuffing, (not dressing), green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Oh, and of course the turkey was the center piece.

Everyone told me I'd know the turkey was done when it was golden brown and the leg was separating from the rest of the bird. I kept a watchful eye. Everything was coming together perfect. Well, except I forgot the brown sugar in the sweet potatoes, and when I went to make the mashed potatoes I discovered the milk was bad - so they were truly only mashed. My gravy? Tasted like someone dumped an entire bag of salt in it. But man oh man the turkey sure looked good.

Until we cut it. The damned thing was raw on the inside. My husband looked at me and asked me how long I had it in the oven. I was very insulted. Look at it! It looks perfect!!!

How long Tammi?

1 hr and 45 mins.

I honestly thought I could cook a HUGE turkey in an hour and 45 minutes.

That......was a disaster.

Then there were the years where Thanksgiving was spent on the water. We'd grab a couple boxes of wine, make up some turkey sandwiches and head out onto the Gulf of Mexico for the day. Damn Those were some GREAT T-Days.

Oh, and the year I was literally trapped in my house. I was so busy with work that day I didn't realize it was Thanksgiving until the day before. So I never made plans, and hadn't been to the grocery. I slept late that particular day, and when I woke up my neighbors already had company. They blocked me into my parking spot. It was so crowded and loud they couldn't hear my knocking on the door. Did I mention no grocery store? Yeah, dinner that year was rice. Finally around 8:00 folks started leaving. I jumped in the car and headed to Wal-Mart. Shopped for a few food items and ended up with a cart full of Christmas treasures......AND the damned place was empty. Turned out to be a pretty good Thanksgiving afterall.

There was my attempt at a traditional Thanksgiving my first year back up north. I STILL can't believe I pulled that off in that tiny hell hole I called a home at the time....

This year will be a quiet holiday weekend. I'm just taking the time to putter around the house. No dinner, no company. Seems kind of strange. But ok. I've got food, unlike that one year. And plenty of projects. And lots and LOTS of Thanksgivings to look back on.

Oh, and I just remembered that one time.....

Posted by Tammi at November 22, 2007 06:05 AM | TrackBack