Our main course this Thanksgiving is…rest. I have been juggling several big tasks at home, and my husband was just handed a mess at work to untangle. I’m still recovering from last week and hit the wall on Tuesday.
I stopped cooking turkey as Thanksgiving dinner several years ago. We regularly eat turkey (did you know it’s a superfood?) during the year, and while I make a mean roast chicken, turkey is more unwieldy and less forgiving than chicken. My grocery store carries standing rib roasts at Thanksgiving and Christmas and deeply discounts them, so that’s become our standard fare.
I make popovers (I love popovers) and my husband decides on the rest of the menu since I don’t like vegetables. This year I’ve streamlined the process. I bought dessert this year–a cherry pie and some profiteroles—which turns out to be really sweet for me because I love profiteroles but I am not about to make them.
Because we travel to Connecticut at Christmas to see my family, we stay home for Thanksgiving. Our activities consist of watching the parade and the dog show and football (I’m not really interested in non-household favorite teams, but it’s every American’s duty to root against the Cowboys, right?).
And we’ll also be grateful for what we have and for the things 2021 has brought: a vaccine that will allow me to see my mom and dad for the first time in 2 years, my husband’s restored health, a saner government, and renewed hope. I hope you all have a day filled with laughter, love, delicious smells and tastes, and rest, too.
Gustav Mahler is one of my favorite composers, and his 4th Symphony is one of my favorite pieces of music. The text of the last movement is a poem called The Heavenly Life from The Youth’s Magic Horn, a collection of German folk songs and poems. It’s a child’s view of heaven where food is abundant, and I’ll close with this. Here’s a link to the lyrics and an English translation. The recording of this movement was done in 1 take because the conductor, George Szell, thought Judith Raskin’s performance was perfection. It’s my favorite version of it. Joy be with you all.