Hello again my Foodie Friends! Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without the telling of the Grandma and the Turkey story. It was a long time ago when Johnny was 3 and Aubrey was 5 months old when we made the annual trek to Grandma’s house to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and watch football. To begin; let me explain I am a Giants fan and so is my mother-in-law so watching the Cowboys is not our favorite thing. However, her son is and so is my sister-in-law’s husband. Yep, two Cowboy fans in the same house and they do not like each other! I love football, so I watched but the room was silent because they don’t speak to each other. They were holding their feelings down to make my mother-in-law happy. My mother-in-law was busy making a huge feast for all to enjoy. She was very nervous because she wanted everyone to get along. We always ate after the game and this one was a tight one. Most Cowboy fans may want to stop reading now. With just seconds left in the game, the Miami Dolphins lined up to make a game winning field goal and it was blocked by the Cowboys! The brothers-in-law were silent. I wanted to yell but held back because of the tension. All of a sudden one of the Cowboys (Leon Lett) chased the blocked field goal and touched it. Oh nooo! Well the Dolphins got another chance and won. Not good around Grandma’s house. My mother-in-law was now really nervous that her day could be ruined. Her kitchen was filled with many dishes all cooking at once. There was a shout from the kitchen and Grandma announced that she had lost her glasses and could not see without them. The brothers-in-law were pressed into service to find the glasses. These were not just any glasses; they were big and black and hard to lose but there were no glasses to be found. We looked everywhere, and Grandma was close to tears when she asked me to check on and baste the turkey. This was a big turkey at 28lbs and it smelled great. I grabbed my son Johnny and the baster which he took charge of and opened the oven to show him the turkey. He said look daddy the turkey can see better. Yep he found the glasses neatly melted in perfect harmony with the bird, so it looked like he had eyes! I started laughing and everyone joined in. Needless to say, we had ham and lasagna but no turkey. It didn’t matter because the rest of the day was perfect. Thanksgiving can be a lot of fun but sometimes there are stressful events that can happen that threaten our need for everything to be perfect. Remember, my friends that “Life happens in the Kitchen”. Among our greatest and most treasured memories are the ones that are based in the kitchen or around a meal. As you get ready this season for your festivities and feasts, stop into Compliments to the Chef located at 33 Railroad Place. Pick up roasters, basters, thermometers, and more for your meal.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Take Care,
John and Paula