It’s 4:09 am, and I can’t sleep, so I’m thinking about Thanksgiving. This is normally my favorite day of the year. I make the biggest meal of the year. I invited everyone to my house. That sounds like an exaggeration, but last year, we had our immediate family with me, my husband and our three girls. We had my husband’s ex wife. We had my ex-husband, his girlfriend and his new-found adult daughter. We had my daughter’s boyfriend. We added three of my 22-year-old’s friends last minute. It was a lot of folks in our little apartment, but I loved it. I cooked a huge brunch, and people were eating and chatting and just hanging out in every room. As my ex-husband put it, I always make way too much food, so it doesn’t really matter how many people show up.
This year is going to be different. Our city has a positivity rate over 12%. I won’t even dive into my rant on how selfish people are continuing to cause this heartache. I have several friends who have or have had Covid. I have one family member in the hospital with a pretty bad case. She is far away. I have been fortunate that no one in my immediate family is suffering as of today. I don’t take that for granted. My husband and I have been super vigilant and in quarantine since March. He’s asthmatic and has high blood pressure. I have suffered from high blood pressure since I was in my 20s. I also suffer from agoraphobia. If you want to really enjoy that disorder, add a global pandemic.
So, I’m trying to decide how to enjoy Thanksgiving a little, but without a house full of people. I am thinking I’ll make a vegan thanksgiving meal in a box and drop it on my oldest’s doorstep. I kind of want to try out making my own tofurkey roast this year. I’ve done the Trader Joe’s boxed type in years past. Trader Joe’s doesn’t do curbside pick up, so that is not really an option for us this year. I can also make her this weird sweet potato mash recipe she likes. It has bananas. I don’t think anyone else has ever liked it, but she did. She’s a weird little banana freak. I just need to figure out what else goes in that box.
My middle daughter will likely celebrate at her boyfriend’s parents. They are far less locked down, which scares me, especially because they live in an area that has even worse numbers. I worry, but isn’t that the case with every parent of a young “adult?” It’s too far for me to take her food, so I’ll probably have to try to take her something in the days before or after. It might just be a giant bowl of mashed potatoes, as that is her favorite dish every year. Well, it’s one of her favorite dishes anytime.
As for my household, it’ll just be me, the husband and the 10-year-old. We only have the kid until noon, so it’ll likely be a brunch or lunch type Thanksgiving meal. I haven’t decided which yet. The husband and I don’t like turkey, so just to be somewhat traditional, I’ll likely do something with chicken. Obviously, the little vegetarian won’t be having the chicken, so I’ll probably get some portabella mushrooms and do something. She loves them, and we don’t have them often. Most years I’m not huge on pie. We usually just buy one. But this year, I’ve discovered a great pie crust recipe, so maybe I’ll make a pie. I love pumpkin or pecan, but my husband loves blueberry, so there’s another debate. With three of us, we can’t really eat multiple pies.
This year is different. But we’ll power through it. We’ll have a meal. We’ll talk about for what we are thankful. We’ll probably have a discussion on the true origins of this holiday and this country because we are nerds. I will hope for a big, multi-family Thanksgiving next year.
Foodie's Delimma 