Oh, the cooking. Oh, the humanity.
Today I cooked all day. ALL DAY. I also washed dishes all day. And I was standing up at my kitchen counter all day. And I chopped and peeled so many things that I think I have a blister on my finger. BUT, I have a fridge full of scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner components, all packaged and ready to make their way to my parents’ house tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder why the hell I volunteer to cook these big holiday meals for my entire family, but when it’s all said and done, I’m glad I did it. Cooking for people you care about is a tangible give of love. It’s also a gift of calories, but we’ll worry about that on Friday. : )
I’ll resist the urge to get into all the details of everything I cooked today, but I absolutely *must* recommend the recipe for whipped sweet potatoes with bananas and honey from the Food Network website. It came out FANTASTIC. Do yourself a favor and whip some up tomorrow, or next year, or whenever you’re in the mood for something indulgent and delicious. I can’t WAIT to dive into this dish tomorrow night. I’m drooling already.
Getting back to the reasons why I put myself through this cooking ordeal every year: A few weeks ago I visited my family for my mom’s birthday. It was a pretty low-key thing, just dinner at my parents’ house with the rents, my brother and his family, and my grandmother. While we’re eating dinner, my nephew looks up at me with the most adorable wide-eyed expression on his face and asks me if I made an apple pie for dessert (as I always do for holiday dinners). I hadn’t made one, and the little guy was visibly disappointed. Granted, he forgot about the whole thing five minutes later, but I remember that sad little face, and god damn it, I’ll be bringing him some homemade pie tomorrow. Aunt DD knows how to deliver. And I *do* bake a pretty mean pie. : )
Aaaaaaaanyway, clearly Thanksgiving is all about the food. I have officially thrown Weight Watchers out the window until all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been consumed. I fully expect to gain at least five pounds, but I know how to shave it back off afterward. No big deal. Let the holiday celebrations begin!
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all – may you all be blessed with yummy food, good company, and enough wine to blur out any annoying relatives. : )
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!
November 25th, 2009 at 9:44 pmhubman´s last blog ..Tricky Balls
Love it.. cooking is always so rewarding, especially when you have little nephews with big eyes..
I’m slightly suspicious of a sweet potato and banana recipe, but I’m checking it out. I will give it a chance since it comes with such a strong recommendation.
Tomorrow morning I take on the challenge of finding pumpkin pie ingredients in an Argentine supermarket. That’s if I wake up in time.. otherwise my friends will be eating my homemade whipped cream with lots of fruits. I suppose not such a bad thing, but not Thanksgiving-y enough, either.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:51 pmM.S.´s last blog ..A Midnight Thanksgiving
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
November 25th, 2009 at 9:57 pmM.S.´s last blog ..A Midnight Thanksgiving
hubman – Thanks!
M.S. – Hope your Argentine Thanksgiving was a success! And trust me, that sweet potato and banana thing was awesome.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:04 pmThe Dateable Dork´s last blog ..The dreaded photo holiday card is dreaded no more
Thanks, DD. My Thanksgiving was a success but I gave up on a pumpkin pie partly because boiling and mashing a pumpkin would have been in order and partly because the guy in the supermarket wouldn’t stop hitting on me. I think there’s a picture of my Thanksgiving dessert choices on the site.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:20 pmM.S.´s last blog ..Meow
M.S. – No canned pumpkin? I shudder at the thought! Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving despite the lack of pumpkin pie. Maybe next year. : )
December 1st, 2009 at 9:08 pmThe Dateable Dork´s last blog ..The dreaded photo holiday card is dreaded no more