A dash of ambition...

I prepared the entire Thanksgiving feast this year for my family. I know what you're thinking. Isn't this the Erin that subsisted solely off of mac n' cheese, special k, and takeout during college? The same Erin that was terrified at the sight of uncooked chicken until a few short years ago? And yes, you are correct. My mother (who, by they way, is the oldest of seven children and has always held a not so secret grudge against me for my lack of cooking, sewing, and other domestic skills) has been threatening me for years with the prospect of taking the lead on this most important culinary day. And this year, I was ready.

I am, by no means, an excellent cook. But I began preparing for the big day weeks in advance, planning my menu, scheduling dishes that could be made in advance. The preparing began on Monday last week with the baking of pumpkin bread and continued through Thursday, the day when roasting, mashing, stuffing, peeling, chopping, and simmering took up a solid 8 hours(!) of my day. And by 5:00, the 26 pounder came out of the oven, and dinner was served.



I didn't get pictures of all my tasty sides (like this butternut squash soup- SO delicious), and they didn't stick around for long after we sat down, but I did snag a look at my maple sweet potatoes and green bean casserole. The meal was lovely, and I was asleep by 9 pm, full, exhausted and a little bit proud that a frozen pizza kind of girl can evolve so much in just one short year.

Important lessons my mother wanted me to learn from this experience: that she is a saint for having made Thanksgiving dinner for our family for over 25 years; that we all owe her for the rest of our lives; and that her methods of cooking are the best ever employed.

Lessons I learned all on my own: I will never marry a man/have children that don't help me cook (they don't peel potatoes, they don't eat potatoes); cooking is WORK and you shouldn't have to clean up (luckily my lovely father already knows this); spending all day working with your hands, not listening to tv or answering your phone, and actually having a real conversation with your extremely wise mother is a beautiful way to spend the holiday.