Let The Cooking Begin

Is there any holiday besides Thanksgiving that centers on food, and not just food, but a very particular menu? There's an article in the paper today indicating that many families are moving to different menus. Some families may be able to do that, but if I tried to change the courses, there would be such an uprising in my household that there would be little thanks given. Ironic, isn't it, that I am married to a change-agent, but my offspring are inextricably tied to tradition?

This will be the first time ever that we will be without one daughter at the table; our eldest in Seattle will be spending her travel time and money on a trip home for Christmas, and so cooking her own Thanksgiving feast in her apartment with new friends. But we will be linked in spirit, though not in presence, as she emailed me for the recipe for my granny's rolls. My girls have asked me for years to write down all the recipes that for us have become "traditional" and I have laughingly pointed to the spattered, tiny pieces of paper that line my recipe box (why on earth did I write down the ingredients to key recipes on those small scraps of paper, not even as big as a recipe card? I have no idea.). I dug out a little blue slip of paper last night and asked The Mister if I should scan it and send it on to her, but he said it would be mean. So I sat down and wrote an email containing "the most detailed version ever" of the recipe that for years has yielded the slightly sweet, fluffy rolls and evoked many murmurs of satisfaction. May this tradition continue.

And today I will don my chef's pants and top (a much-valued Christmas present from years past; I like to pretend to be a chef, but nobody else is around to pretend to be the sous-chef or the dishwashers, unfortunately - except The Mister, who has gamely taken on several soapy sinks) and make some pies and rolls, and get ready for the Feast. The goal is to intersperse as much football watching with eating as possible, with as little actual cooking on Thursday as possible.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. See you on Monday.