Yesterday, I wrote about one specific item that will be appearing on our Thanksgiving table and the story behind it. We all know that one turkey does not a complete Thanksgiving dinner make. There will be many other things on our table this Thursday, and thanks to my wonderful family not all of them are coming from my own kitchen.
Part of the family dynamic that has been emerging since my husband and I joined forces to start our own little family (and even before that) is a spirit of helping each other out. Whether it is my parents, his parents, or in this case both sets of parents, we all pitch in even without being asked. This year, our Thanksgiving table will be graced with not only my parents (who will drive up from Massachusetts), but also with my mother’s green bean casserole which I love. My mother in law is bringing sweet potatoes, and my father in law is bringing whole wheat cranberry bread. The potatoes that I will boil and whip into a creamy, buttery delight were grown by my father in law. Even better, he harvested them with a little help from his grandson – my two year old son.
Not only did Dylan help Grandpa to harvest the potatoes, he will no doubt be interested in assisting with their preparation. Whenever I am preparing vegetables these days, he insists on having at least one or two of his own down on the floor with a cutting board and a “knife” (a silicone spatula) so that he can “prepare” some too. My brother in law and sister in law will also likely bring a dish. I’ll be roasting turkey and making mashed potatoes, gravy, maple glazed carrots, wilted spinach with garlic, and plenty of “stuffin muffins” – home made stuffing baked in a buttered muffin tin so that everyone can get a piece of the crispy, buttery part.
For dessert, my husband is whipping up a unique item that he created himself a couple of years ago – a pumpkin espresso cheesecake in a graham cracker crust. It is delicious, but of course with that many people we need more pies. I’ll make a maple pecan pie and a crumb – topped Dutch apple pie to round out the selection. There’s ice cream in the freezer and coffee in the cabinet to make our dessert experience complete. Just thinking of everyone getting together at the table to enjoy our group effort makes me happy – and hungry. It is my hope that everyone will remember how we worked together to make a spectacular meal and I am pleased at the message that we are sending to our son : families work together and families play together.
Photo by seemann on morguefile.com.