Saving Thanksgiving

It was bound to happen sooner or later...though I had hoped it would be much, much, later.

The kids can't come home for Thanksgiving. Their work and class schedules and finances won't allow for it. This is the reality when the kids grow up and move out of state.

Thanksgiving for our family has always been more about the gathering and the food. It's my favorite holiday for that very reason. No need to rush out to buy gifts, wondering if you've made the right choices. The weather is usually decent, and in Texas, if you're lucky, the leaves will be golden, orange, and red. There might be a fire in the fireplace if it's cool enough. Maybe the sky will be a beautiful blue and the clouds will be wispy white. And hopefully the temperature will be cool enough to don a sweater or jacket if you step outside.

And then there is the cooking. The Hubs will probably opine that the other reason that I love Thanksgiving is that he does the majority of the cooking. He's not wrong. I do the shopping and the cleaning for the day, and bake the desserts, usually pumpkin pie and pecan pie or tarts, and pumpkin bread for the kids. But he takes over the main event: the turkey, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole, complete with rolls and butter. The house smells absolutely heavenly throughout the day, and I'm grateful I am not responsible for the circus that is figuring out which dish has to go in at what time to all be done in time to be hot and ready for the table. 

So, the kids will not be home. The dinner will be less extravagant, and the guest list will be short, just the Father-in-Law.

What to do to feel close to the kids, besides call them that day?

Our son mentioned that he might make a smallish dinner for himself and his girlfriend and might need some recipes from us. That's the ticket: a recipe book!

I already had a head start from the menu that the Hubs typed up in 2003, which is spattered and stained, but still does the trick listing all the dishes. There have been minor deviations over time on desserts—turkey cupcakes anyone?—but it's mostly the same meal we eat each year. 

We made these cupcakes one year when the kids—not pie fans—were little.

 

I assembled all the recipes from the various cookbooks and scanned them. I added photographs of some fun drawings that the kids have done over the years, a poem our daughter wrote, hand-drawn place cards, and several "What I'm grateful for" notes that I saved from many years back. I used a Microsoft Publisher template and artwork from its "Online Picture" feature to create the document. I added memories and spaces for "Dad's Advice," since he knows all the recipe tweaks, such as this tidbit on the stuffing recipe: "I also add pecans to this. There’s no such thing as too many pecans at Thanksgiving."

Recipe booklet cover. "Mamoushka" is our son's nickname for me.

I mailed the booklets off this week. I know the kids won't make the entire meal, but maybe they will pick one or two recipes to try this year. At the very least, I hope the booklet, filled with family recipes and memories, will help them feel that those miles between us this year are not so long after all.

Until next time...

P.S. Pleased as punch to announce that Leaves on the Tree was awarded 1st place in the Texas State Genealogical Society's 2024 Writing Awards - Blog category, for the second year in a row. What a privilege it is to write about family history, memories, research, and more. Thank you to everyone who reads!

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