Ungrateful

It's not that I don't have anything to be thankful for.  On the contrary, I have many, many things to count among my blessings.  It's just that...how do I put it lightly?  I hate Thanksgiving.

I know, I know.  I am an abomination to everything that is American and everyone who is a foodie...but I just can't help it. To me, Thanksgiving is a meal made up of all of my least favorite food items.  Turkey?  It's roast chicken's larger, drier cousin (and I only eat roast chicken for the skin anyway.  Have you ever tried turkey skin? Yuck.).  Stuffing in the bird?  Even the thought of moist bread turns my stomach.  Despite my mother's infamous challah stuffing with a total prep period of three days (I kid you not-- recipe not included to save your sanity), I like my stuffing Stovetop in both brand and preparation style.  Mashed potatoes?  Eh.  I don't dislike it as much as the other main players, but I would say it's the last way I ever prefer to make a potato.  And pumpkin pie?  When it comes to after-dinner indulgence, I subscribe to the motto of "If It's Not Chocolate, It's Not Dessert".

But, *sigh*, while I dislike Thanksgiving I do love the days leading up to it.  Some of my fondest memories of home are all of the little details that go into bringing us together around the table from cities near and far.  When I was little my mom would let me experiment with cookie cutters and bake sugar cookies out of the leftover pie crust she had made.  Now my cousins come over the day before to help with the cooking.  When I was younger, my grandmother taught me the correct way to peel a potato.  Now this simple chore is a way for me to connect with her even though she no long graces our table.  Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while eating breakfast is something I'll never tire of, the smell of my mother's cauliflower soup is synonymous with autumn, and the weeks she spends collecting perfectly colored leaves to decorate her dining room for this one evening is a tradition.  So while the Thanksgiving feast itself doesn't do much for me, the silver lining to that parade float-shaped cloud is all the love that goes into making it.  And hey, eating leftover pizza after everyone leaves is kind of my own Thanksgiving tradition. 


*this is taken from a piece I wrote for eatingeverywhere.com :)