Friday, November 23, 2012

new thanksgiving traditions...probably not

happy thanksgiving, everybody!!

i have such a love/hate relationship with this holiday. the prospect of having fun with family and friends is wonderful. the cooking . . . aaaarrrrggggghhhhh!!! the pressure, the pressure!! even after having done it for years.


this year, i had a few firsts. the first first, was letting my children contribute to the meal. my daughter purchased the groceries, my oldest son made sweet potato casserole and my youngest son provided the beverages. that is a FIRST!!

secondly, i decided to make something new . . . cranberry relish. sounded innocent enough. oranges, apples, cranberries, cinnamon, sugar, brandy. what's not to like? it was on NPR!!!!

the recipe started off by calling for the zest of four oranges. so there's another first . . . i have never zested anything. i've heard about it, probably seen it on the tv, but that's all.

luckily for me, al gore invented the internet and i googled how to zest an orange. and just let me say, knowing how to do it, and doing it are two different things. zesting fruits could be added to anyone's upper arm workout. sheesh. i think i broke into a sweat!!!

next, up is putting the items in a food processor on pulse. well, oops, i . . . kinda don't have a food processor. so, once again, i turn to al gore's internet. the suggestion . . . giant ziploc bag.

so i got a large ziploc bag. i also tried a small blender i have with a pulse feature.

between the two, i got the cranberries squashed and the oranges pureed. not sure that's what the recipe called for, but, oh well. i went with the hand chopping of the apples. it was tasty. there was also enough for a small army!!!

but the test would be when the picky former ankle-biters came over. i finally convinced each of them to try it. and they all liked it...kinda, sorta. we all came to the same conclusion . . . it was good, but what was it for. we figured it would go well with the turkey breast, and it did. it was a little sweet and orangy for my taste but it was still . . . tasty.

the rest of the dinner was pretty traditional . . . turkey, dressing, macaroni & cheese, candied yams, collard greens (courtesy of my daughter), crescent rolls and pumpkin pie. oh, and that delicious sweet potato casserole. :-)

during this whole thing, i also wound up tasting brandy for the first time (drinking liquid fire doesn't appeal to me at all), and drinking dragonberry vodka (extreeeeeeemely tasty). tooooo tasty.

but the best part is the part that will never be something i've never done . . . enjoying the company of my family on this most special of holidays. luckily for us, it's just another chance for us to do what we do every day of the year. appreciate, respect and love each other with a fierce loyalty and dependability that will never diminish over time or space.

in that way, i will NEVER worry about doing something i've never done before...why would i want to?


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