Life after Annandale High: T Minus Seven, and Counting

Thursday, November 22, 2012 – T Minus 7, and Counting

One week until Turkey Day (or Turkey-less Day, for some family members). Preparations are well underway to feed the thirteen people, plus one dog, who will share in this holiday celebration. I’ve been making two or three trips daily to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Wegman’s, Mom’s Organic Market, etc. After consultation with Teri and Elisa, our menu is settled. I already have a turkey in the downstairs refrigerator, waiting to be brined. And I have a turkey-less roast in the refrigerator as well.

To go along with the turkey/unturkey, I’m going to try a new stuffing recipe with multi-grain bread cubes, shiitake mushrooms, and kale. Elisa and Christian will contribute an exotically spiced quinoa and sweet potato dish. I’ll mash the regular potatoes with butter and herbed goat cheese, like I did last year. Another repeat from our last holiday feast will be the green beans with miso-mustard sauce and crispy fried shallots on top.

And it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving with the famed Rosenfeld cranberry “salsa.” This is a mixture of raw chopped cranberries, apples, and oranges, with the addition of just enough sweetener (sugar or stevia) so it doesn’t pucker your mouth. It has to be made in the food processor two or three days in advance and then it sits in the refrigerator to attain peak flavor. This is a recipe I originally got from my dear friend Lynda’s late mother, Regina Rosenfeld.

For dessert, Teri has volunteered to make an apple pie, something I wouldn’t even attempt. But I’ll be happy to add the biscottini I picked up at the farmers’ market in Tucson. I got three different varieties, including one with prickly pear bits for a taste of the Southwest.

This is my favorite holiday of the year, and not just because of the food. It seems like the quintessential American holiday. Everyone, from the newest immigrant to a cententarian like Elliott, can easily relate to the meaning of the day. This year, of course, we’ll be delighted to welcome Camilla to our celebration. She’s the high school exchange student from Berlin who is being hosted by the Cheslaks in Yorktown. Perhaps I can convince the younger generation to put on a play to act out the Pilgrims and the Native Americans at the Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth. (Elisa, Matthew, Christian, and Caroline – that means you all!)

When I was teaching, I always looked forward to explaining the history and traditions of Thanksgiving to my students. It was an opportunity to express what they were thankful for, and to explore the ideas of community and gratitude. Many would be celebrating an American Thanksgiving for the first time, but they would be able to share stories of harvest holidays from their own cultures. And from those who had previously celebrated Thanksgiving in the U.S., it was interesting to hear how their families had incorporated their native foods into the American holiday standards.

When we lived in France, there weren’t many Americans in our area, so our Thanksgiving celebration always included several British and French friends. We hosted our first Thanksgiving in France in 1984, exactly one week before Elisa was born. I remember quite well how I had to convince the local butcher that I needed a turkey in November, not for Christmas in December, and how I searched unsuccessfully for corn and cranberries in the market. Loud whoops through the streets of Fayence signaled the arrival of some of the more dramatically-inclined British guests who showed up in their version of Native American attire. Every year at Thanksgiving time, Elliott and I think back to this memorable event. (I wrote about it in greater detail in Portrait of Elliott, my unpublished biography of Elliott.)