Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving Day was a wonderful day for us, surrounded by relatives and friends.

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Niece Julie, daughter Lise, John, grandson Nathaniel, neighbors Marla and Connie

We knew there would be lots of laughs when turkey-head Marla came in with her mother.

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For the foodies, here is our menu:

Turkey, dressing, gravy, frozen cranberry salad, spicy cranberries from a 100-year old recipe, rolls that looked like biscuits, lemon-lime Jell-o salad, creamed butternut squash, green bean casserole, and green pea-cashew salad. Desserts were something else! Neighbor Connie baked a blackberry cake, and we all tasted that one first. It got a solid round of applause. Luscious! Grandson Nathaniel created a chocolate cake with crème de menthe chips and a mirror glaze. It was superb. I said to forget the pumpkin cheesecake I baked. We have it every year, and they could take some home. That met with approval, and they did take slices with them.

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Marla’s dog Albert needed to be fed, so we persuaded her to bring him back with her. We loved his Christmas tie.

 

For 25 years I never missed going to church on Thanksgiving Day. I played the organ for the service and went to our big family dinner free as a bird. I had baked the pies for the dinner the day before, so it was an easy day for me. I didn’t think I could manage everything today until Nathaniel said he would watch the turkey. I said I had time to take a shower and go with John to Asheville.

Nathaniel asked, “What about breakfast?”

I said with surprise, “I forgot about that.”112218 1 Teddy bear on the altar

We all had cereal together before John and I rushed off. Before the service, I stepped into the aisle to take a photo of the altar. The decorations of pumpkins and gourds made me giggle, because it looked like a brown teddy bear was sitting there in the middle. Can you see that illusion?

Back at home, everything was under control. Nathaniel said the turkey was done long before the time I estimated. The reason our dinner went so smoothly was that Nathaniel helped with everything. He set the table while we were at church, having polished several silver serving pieces and trivets. As I put food in bowls, he ferried them to the table, adding serving pieces on the way. At the end of the meal, we passed dirty dishes to him, and he organized them. The company did as I requested and visited in the living room while I put food away and John loaded the dishwasher and washed the pots and pans. As we gathered at the table for dessert, Nathaniel cut the cakes and served them. He was at my side every single time I needed him. He knew exactly what needed to be done and did it without fanfare. Oh! If only everyone had a chef in the family to make everything appear effortless!

 

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

29 thoughts on “Thanksgiving”

  8. Nathaniel is a gem – sounds like a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends. You are blessed indeed Anne. The picture of Nathaniel and John is very nice – love those smiles!

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      1. I know and I am envious because my grandfather was an old coot and never met my paternal grandparents – they were killed in WWII. That is why I thought so highly of Erdie, my boss at the diner – he was not just a boss, but the grandfather I never had.

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      1. The company was good…our Thanksgiving buffet delicious until the end…but that’s a whole other story and maybe a blog post.

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          1. It was a small disaster…the bill was written up wrong and…well…it took near a half hour to figure out and then it turned out the next day it was still wrong…one of the party had their credit card charged three times. That will give you a small glimpse into the dilemma. I still don’t know if it is completely straightened out. Yikes!

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