Dana Treat – Treat Yourself

Thanksgiving 2010

Posted November 25, 2010

Like many families, we have a Thanksgiving story.  You know, the story of the one year that things were out of the ordinary and it comes up forever after.

Our story is the Year of the Wind.  My parents, who up until four years ago hosted Thanksgiving dinner, lived in a part of town where the power went out frequently.  A gust of wind was all it took and out went the lights.  November is by far our windiest month and so, my mom would start to obsess about the power going out every year on November 1st.  For the entire month, worries about wind would rob her of sleep (mom is an anxious person).  Every year, we would all get the weather report from her on the phone each day during Thanksgiving week.  Then miraculously each year, no wind.

Except for the Year of the Wind.  That year, just as we were sitting down at the table – all the food on platters, everything off the stove and out of the (electric) oven – poof! the power went out.  I thought it was wonderful.  We ate by candlelight and there was no football game to distract us from the food, family, and friends.  The only tricky part came when it was time for pumpkin pie – how to whip cream without the Kitchen Aid?  So my brother Michael and my parents’ friend Tom got out a big bowl, a whisk, and did it the old fashioned way.  To this day, Tom and Michael whip the cream by hand in honor of the Year of the Wind.

Randy’s and my first year hosting was the Year We Undercooked the Turkey but I’m hoping that memory will be surpassed by this one.  The Year of the Snow.  It is done for now and the temperature seems to be on the rise.  The roads are certainly passable and as of this writing, 1pm Thanksgiving afternoon, none of our guests has called to cancel.  The tables are set for 17.  I planned ahead and had all the food I needed to cook the feast in the house before the first flake fell, so I had no grocery stress.  My boys have been out sledding and there has been a lot of hot chocolate.

It’s beautiful here and I am very thankful for so many things.  I hope everyone in the States is having a wonderful Thanksgiving and everyone else is enjoying this last Thursday in November.


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