The Best Tastes of Thanksgiving

I’ve had lists on my mind lately, so I thought I’d post a little report on Thanksgiving in list form. My favorite part about this holiday, which I’ve appreciated more and more through the years, is the food, so here’s a short list of the food I was the most grateful for this weekend:

1. Sweet potatoes. Oh man. I remember trying a bite years ago at a friend’s house one Thanksgiving and spitting it right back out, but sometime between then and now I’ve developed a taste for that squash-like sweetness. Or maybe it was just something special about this batch, which is apparently Uncle Keith’s specialty: sweet potatoes with a lovely brown sugar sauce and, the clincher, pecans!

2. Green beans amandine, meaning with yummy seasonings and sliced almonds. Grandma B brought these to the feast, and there were no leftovers. I would like to kiss whoever thought of putting nuts in the veggies.

3. A salad bar for Thanksgiving? We should do this every year! There were about a dozen types of lettuce, spinach, loads of great toppings, and a great bacony/sweet homemade dressing. The salad got its own plate this year, and deserved it.

4. So it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the turkey. Dark meat rocks. My personal favorite version of this main dish, though, is the next day’s turkey sandwich.

5. Before (and after) Thanksgiving Day, Grandma B made really, really good popcorn. It’s microwave popcorn, popped with the butter and all as usual, then covered in a light layer of white chocolate. I don’t like white chocolate in larger doses, but this was just a taste, and this stuff melts in your mouth. The butter flavor strangely enhances it. I can’t explain it, I just like it.

6. Last but not least is the delicious corn chowder Grandma B made, an experimental variation on a soup she liked at a Church cafeteria. There was something special about the flavor. What was it? Rosemary? Thyme? (Parsley? Sage?)

I plan to gather most of these recipes for future feasts. Pardon my extreme dorkiness, but cooking good stuff (and then eating it) is fast becoming one of my favorite things. Someday I’ll have my own fridge, my own pantry, nice dishes, and a kitchen that doesn’t depress me, and when that happens, look out! All your kids will want to eat at Aunt Sarah’s.

Hope you enjoyed this gastronomical journey, and that you all had a happy Thanksgiving!