Some people hate cooking for Thanksgiving

[slightlv]

14. I used to love cooking Thanksgiving dinner...

besides being good eating, the chaos from everyone in the house was fun for once. It also was a chance to reach back and connect with my ancestors through the dishes that had been served generation after generation. As I turn 70 now, I don't have the strength or the stamina to do it these days. Plus, there's no huge family anymore. Makes a big difference. I did some price shopping last week and decided there's no way to buy the foods we need to prepare a trad dinner, and for once, ordering from the store to have it catered for two made economical sense. Plus, very little cooking on my part (some dishes I want for that ancestral connection, and I'll cook those myself... but they're cheap).

Still, I miss the chaos and magic of Thanksgiving when I was a kid. My dad would get up early in the morning to get the turkey started, and I was official helper with the dressing. We always at at my grandma's house... in the same little city, but clear on the other side from us. Dad prepared most of the dinner, so getting it from our house to grandma's was a real trip and a half. By the time the food got safely on boarded, there wasn't much room for us three kids! And each of us was responsible for the safety of certain dishes... and cleaning up the car afterwards! (LOL)