Thanksgiving Fiascoes

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. I will be working Thanksgiving morning, but it won't steal my joy. It will be only the second time in about 25 years that I haven't started the day with Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Although I would rather be off work,
it will be fun to watch the harried shoppers and have the opportunity to wish so many people a blessed Thanksgiving.

I brined our Duck this morning. Giblets are stewing in pot and the house is heady with the aroma of the holiday. I chuckle remembering some of my cooking fiascoes. My very first Thanksgiving turkey turned out beautiful! A few minutes into the meal, my father-in-law tapped me on the leg. I peeked down as he gently dropped the cooked bag of giblets into my hand. What the heck were the giblets doing in the neck? I didn't check that hole.

Then there was the beautiful Chocolate Meringue Pie sitting in front of microwave on counter. "When did pies start requiring batteries?" my ex-son in law asked. He had scooped out a big slice and pulled out a AAA battery. The battery had been sitting on top of microwave ready to re-load camera, rolled off into the pie and submerged itself as the thick meringue re-concealed it.

Then there was last year when a costly pan of oyster dressing in a faulty Pyrex baking dish exploded in my kitchen sending shards of glass into two rooms. It sounded like a shotgun blast! Don came running from bed. His concern was evident upon arrival. Save the stuffing! He pulled the center of the stuffing out claiming it was still good. He lives.

Oh, then there was the year that I decide to change up a bit. I cooked everyone a Cornish hen in place of a turkey. My grandchildren are still scarred. When I took the foil off the pan revealing each of their stuffed hens, they were mortified. I presume they thought grandma had succumbed to killing baby turkeys.
Laughter waves from family and friends still reverberate in the Milky Way. Thankful prayers warm my heart and satisfied belly rubbing and couch stretching are a joyous conclusion to the meals. My family is thankful, my dog stretches out on a cool tile floor, snoring. Her belly is full from the pieces of turkey passed beneath the table. Extra plates are made and wrapped to carry to a convenient store worker working a long day, he is thankful. A drive behind a shopping center reveals some homeless people sitting on crates toothless smiles and tobacco stained teeth say thank you. I am so blessed and so very Thankful!