#55 A WOMAN'S BRIEFS -- THANKSGIVING 2024
Happy Thanksgiving, All!
Wait. This particular holiday is not celebrated by all my blog readers, those few who live outside of the United States. This particular American holiday occurs within borders of land north and south, and oceans east and west, and a few islands in those waters.
Hold it. Current data (DĀta or DHAta?) reveals that we in the United States of American account for 4.23% of the world’s population so, really, if we can think at all outside ourselves, this holiday is, quite rightly, called particular.
But then—within that 4.23% of the world’s population celebrating Thanksgiving, within the 346 million of us, are those who have reason not to celebrate the original Meal.
Descendents of Native Americans, for instance. Those 5-10 million people living in the 17th century between all those borders, whose languages didn’t include words like Parliament, Cow, Blonde, or Fence. Those who were not acquainted with measles, mumps, chickenpox, smallpox, diphtheria, influenza, pneumonia, typhoid, and the common cold.
Of course, there are other descendants of immigrants, other than those of English Pilgrims and Puritans who might not care that much about an original Thanksgiving meal and its historic, mythical, meaning. These are those who celebrate the day with Thai food or lasagna. You know the sort.
There are those whose descendants were forced to this glorious land of opportunity. They may pile their tables with traditional foods, but they remember slave ships and namelessness. The myth suffers in some homes, but the idea of being American can be celebrated for new and better reasons. If we try.
And let’s not forget the Goody-Two-Shoes who for reasons of great concern, choose to remember tragedies created by the human tendency always to want more than it has, to always want what you have, and without asking, attempt to take it. These people drive us crazy with their refusal to celebrate at all. Spoil sports. Imagine the impact on Costco, should this attitude prevail!
Forget all that. Here’s what I want to tell you about my Thanksgiving preparation. I was born the year Thanksgiving was celebrated on two Thursdays. I should know about Thanksgiving. It’s Thai food this year, here at the Pine house. Only, not begrudgingly. I cooked a turkey a week ago, salvaged the bones and made the broth I love having on hand. We shared some dark meat with a son who had recent surgery. I’m thankful for that turkey, the aroma, and the traditional pleasure of sharing, We don’t need more turkey today.
What we needed, and what I made, was pie. Traditionally, I make a pecan pie (only light Karon syrup, double the pecans), a pumpkin pie (my own filling), and apple crisp (apples from our son’s tree). Pumpkin isn’t my favorite, but our neighbor, Susan, loves it, so I make it for her.
Fast back to yesterday. I wasn’t feeling well. A touch of food poisoning, I think. I’ll make pumpkin pie first. The crusts had been made a few days earlier so . . .
Wait. Let me spare you details. Here are the pies. Baked. Beautiful.
PUMPKIN PIE
PEACAN PIE
“Any reason I can’t have a piece tonight?” asks my husband, Dave, Wednesday evening.
“No reason. Help yourself.” The apple tart? Perfect. He cut into the pecan. I tasted a bite. Delicious! He cut into the pumpkin pie. It is a beautiful thing. I took a bite, a half teaspoon of creamy gold brought to my mouth. Spit! Ugh! Disgusting!
It’s possible, you know, when you aren’t feeling well, to think not well. I had, as my friend Edith had years ago with her sponge cake recipe, failed to add sugar. It was a beautiful thing to look at. I took a picture before consigning it to compost. Jesus said once to people who wanted to be huffy about religious rules, that a polished appearance isn’t worth much. It’s what’s inside that matters. I get it.
PUMPKIN PIE HEADED TO THE COMPOST PILE
There is much to be thankful for today, not perhaps the complete history of our European forefathers, but so much near to hand. People, ideas, discoveries, hugs, sentences in a TV script without the F-word, good food, good conversations, good people with differing ideas to stretch our minds, books, dogs and cats, music. And pie.
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