Thanksgiving Table 2010
My son asked me the other day if it was in the constitution to have turkey on Thanksgiving. They are learning about the constitution in class and he wondered what else it said. I explained that although turkey is the traditional dinner for that day, that no in fact there is no law telling you what to have for dinner on any particular day. Then he told me he does not really like turkey or ham. Come to find out none of us really like turkey that much. So, instead of cooking a big bird that will eventually go to the dumps after the leftovers mold in the fridge for a few weeks, we are doing something different. This year instead of making the traditional dinner, we are going to slow cook a pork loin and have enchiladas on Thursday.
Oh, I cannot wait. The whole house will smell just like my grandmacita’s kitchen on Sundays. I miss her so much sometimes, but she lives on through her cooking. My grandma and my aunts taught me how to cook. They would include me in the tamale or enchilada assembly line. My Grandma would add the cooked beans to the hot oil and let me mash them up adding broth from the beans and salt, and always tasting. She taught me how to make tortillas from scratch and the trick to having them come out pliant instead of like a cracker. There are three Mexican restaurants in town but only one of them smells like I just walked into my grandma’s kitchen when I go there. Joel’s is THE best place to get some Mexican food in this diversity-deprived burb. No matter what you order vegan or meat it is good. They make tofu wanna-be-chicken tacos taste just like chicken. If you closed your eyes and did a taste test, it would be hard to tell the difference between the tacos.
Thanksgiving has always been an off holiday for the family. By off I mean that my mom used to always end up working the holiday to get Christmas eve and Christmas day off, my brothers go to their in-laws for dinner and since my in-laws are a few states and a country away, we ended up going to my Auntie Mimi’s or friends for Thanksgiving. Friday we shop. Then on Saturday, we would have a turkey dinner with my brothers and their families. This year, since no one had to work the holiday we were going to have my parents over for dinner, but then we told them we were not going to have turkey. My mom acted like I said I was going to eat the dog for dinner. So they had an early Thanksgiving last week with my brother and his family and they are going to cook a turkey breast for the two of them instead of eat a non-traditional dinner. Ya know, some people are just set in their ways. I like to switch it up every now and then in ALL areas of my life, so things stay fresh. Besides, if you stop experiencing new things what do you have to get excited about? Yeah that’s right I am switching out Perry Como Christmas music for Justin Beiber this year. Well it is a six CD player, so maybe Perry could stay in the mix.
raisingnikolasnjoe 