Our plans to travel for Thanksgiving have changed, so it’s just going to be us here. Probably for the best (she says, kicking at the ground sullenly). Anyhow, turkey is not my favorite and although I could have bought a smallish turkey, I still doubt our family would eat it all and then I’d have all this turkey on my hands that we would have to eat for days. So I am throwing tradition aside and making a standing rib roast instead, because that is yummier and I am 42 and I do what I want. I’m gathering up the recipes and preparing my spreadsheet of cooking times and temps. People tease me for the spreadsheet but when you’ve got one oven and lots of different things to go in and out of it, precision is key.
Tangent – recipe websites are just getting absolutely awful. They’ve always been bad but holy cow, it’s like a video game where you have to chase the pop-up boxes as they travel across your screen in all different directions, and sometimes they mislead you by putting something that looks like an “x” to close the screen but is actually a link to some spammy external site. I know these bloggers gotta make their money somehow and I don’t begrudge them the dollar bills but good grief. If they had an option to, like, pay 5 cents for each click and avoid the ads, I’d do it. Wonder how that would compare, revenue-wise?
OK, back to the matter at hand. The boys were disappointed about our change in plans, so I pulled out all of the emotional manipulation that a mother can engage. At different times I drew each boy aside and explained that I was relying on him to bring up the family’s spirits and make this a special week full of special memories. “Your brothers need you to be happy and come up with great ideas for special things to do.” And dang it, each one did it. It’s the kind of little moments that break a mother’s heart in all the best ways – seeing Jack make the visible effort to overcome his natural tween distance and skepticism and lead his little brothers on fun adventures, making sure to tell me multiple times that he was “too old for this” but he’d “do it for the little boys.” Liam planning a Harry Potter marathon ordering each of us to set out candles, get the sleeping bags, fetch the pillows etc., occasionally pulling me aside with a conspiratorial whisper about how we were a good team planning this special night. Craig fishing through old coloring and activity books to pull out some fun stuff to do, nattering endlessly about chipper nonsense. Coronavirus is absolute balls and all of us are weary of finding silver linings, but I have pretty great sons.
So here’s our dinner menu. Happy turkey day to all! May you enjoy your celebration, however it looks this year, and stay healthy and safe for just a few more months til this got-dang vaccine comes out and saves us all.
Baked Brie with orange liqueur – I’ll change out the raisins for other dried fruits, and serve with pear slices and crostini.
Standing Rib Roast, Au Jus, and Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Spoonbread – but made with grits instead of cornmeal.
The “Jess Hammond” salad (I call it this after my sorority sister who first served it to me) – lettuce of choice, small cubed granny apple, candied pecans, and goat cheese.
Brown n’ serve rolls and store bought apple pie with whipped cream for dessert, and Bloody Marys, pointsettias, mimosas, red wine, and/or sparkling water to drink. (I do not plan to drink each and every one of these alcoholic beverages, but this is the menu from which we will choose.)