Dinner: perfect. This year I had the butcher cut up the turkey. From the scraps, I made stock a day in advance. The breast, legs, thighs, I brined overnight in salt and citrus and bay leaf.
I roasted it Thanksgiving morning with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper, with veggies in the pan. I made gravy with pan drippings and stock. The result — succulent, with a wild gaminess.
I selected a luxury of mushrooms at Whole Foods, roasted them, added them to toasted cubes of artisan bread, onions, sage, celery. More stock, turkey fat, fresh herbs. Beaten egg. Wrapped tightly in foil and baked until soft and buttery and rich.
Fluffy russet potatoes pressed through the ricer, butter, cream. Butternut squash with maple and salt and pepper. Green beans, crisp piles of them with garlic and salt and pepper and lemon.
Cranberry sauce that Sunbeam says tastes like Thanksgiving all by itself: rosemary, ginger, carmelized onion.
Set out on the table on the fine china. Light from Ducky’s mother’s candle sticks. Purple, cream and crimson blossoms in silver cups.
Shining faces at my table: my daughters, my husband, Aunt Emily and her beautiful boys. It was the best Thanksgiving meal ever, they said, and I grinned, pleased.
We ate and drank cider and wine and told the old stories and some new ones.
Bounty.
###
A Karoke machine, a belated joint birthday gift to Mare and Ren from Luke and Matt. It came with two microphones.
They spent the day after Thanksgiving lying around in pajamas eating pie and singing Hannah Montana duets. I know there are great places to go in the world, and some day would like my girls to see them. But I don’t know that there’s any greater happiness than that.
###
Cousin Emma has come for Thanksgiving Sunday. She is six months older than Ren. I set out some Foam Crap They Can Glue Together For a Good Solid 20 Minutes.
“I don’t mind if anyone wants to copy me,” Mare says. Emma nods in happy older-cousin adoration. They settle in with glue sticks for a good long chat.
“… Snow Queens are better than princesses,” we overhear Mare saying later, “not like the Fairies of Spring. Emma, you can be the Starlight Fairy, if you want. And help us bring back the Happiness of Blossoms.”
“Okay!!” says Emma.
“Holy shit,” says Cute Husband.
###
This was supposed to be an awesome Christmas card shot
###
A new routine: at night, before bed, I check in with my middle girl. The one with the fierce nature and gentle heart who sometimes gets lost between her sisters The Star and The Baby.
“How are you, Ren?” I ask. “How are you feeling? Anything you want to talk to me about?”
“Well, Momma,” she begins, and I know it’s going to be a long one. “I was sad today because Mare and Emma didn’t do what I wanted.”
“Yes,” I say. “I noticed that. It was hard because Emma is your age, but a guest, and Mare was paying her lots of attention.”
“Yeah,” Ren said. “And then? When I cried and ran away? They didn’t even follow me!”
“Oh,” I say, “no one follows you when you run away crying. That’s just the rule.”
“Seriously?” Shock.
“Yeah.”
“For real?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. Maybe I better stay and talk to them, then.”
“Yeah, that might be better,” I say. “And you can always ask me to help if you are having trouble understanding each other.”
“Wow. Okay, yeah, let’s try that.”
###
“Momma, I know I am a good puncher,” Ren says in our nightly chat.
“You are,” I agree.
“And if a bad guy came near Eden I would kill him,” she continues matter-of-factly. “I would punch him until he was dead.”
“Right,” I say.
“But that’s not a good thing for me to do at school, right?”
“Right,” I agree.
“Seamus was annoying me today and I knew I could not punch him, but he wouldn’t stop. He got up near me and I said, ‘STOP!’ and he wouldn’t so you know what I did?”
“Um. What?”
“I said:” she takes a deep breath, puts her face close to mine, and screams.
Then she settles back against the pillows.
“How did that work?” I ask, catching my breath.
“Oh, it was awesome, he totally went away.”
###
I ate pie. I tackled it with a fork. At night, it called to me and I wandered down and had at, ending with a glass of cold milk before padding back to bed and tucking in beside Eden. She nursed hungily and I stroked her back and marveled at full bellies and the scent of baby shampoo.
###
I started to ask if you would share recipes, except — duh! — you do. Any chance you would share the cranberry recipe that tastes like Thanksgiving? Lots of tastes that I love, yet I have a hard time imagining how they all blend. Most curious.
And I think the Christmas card shot is perfectly awesome. It captures them so well: Mare’s caring nature, Ren’s growing self-control (and sadly getting lost behind the bookends), and Eden’s beautiful chubby thighs that are the best gift of all.
Agreed. That is the definitely a keeper for the Christmas card
I think it is an awesome Christmas picture. Your food and children are all awesome.
The picture is awesome to see Eden’s fatty legs!!! What a lovely view. I can’t believe how much weight she is gaining. Well done, momma!
Is it wrong that I want to nibble on Eden’s chubby little legs? Don’t hold it against me, maybe it is just the description of all that delicious sounding food.
And I would like to know how to bring back the Happiness of Blossoms. Sounds like a skill that would come in handy kind of a lot.
You know what’s important. Nothing is better than this adventure.
You know, whenever you write about one of your girls, I like her best. Then you write about another one and I like her best. That must happen to you, too.
I had four kids and the same experience with them. It’s a perk for us Mothers.
Jenny
I love Ren! I know that you have to teach her not to punch people, to use her words and all that. But I love that if a bad guy touched Eden she would punch them till they were dead. She is so fierce and loving. I love that combo. She is going to be one heck of a woman.
Your stories are awesome—your words are wonderful
I think that IS an awesome Christmas card shot.
lovely.
Mmmm, after reading this, I think I’ll become a dual-citizen just to get two Thanksgivings. And that IS an awesome shot!
Huzzah! Fat baby thighs!
Nothing better in the whole wide world, especially knowing from whence they came!
I love, love, love the new website design!
Love the new winter graphic at the top! Whoever you use is so talented!
Lovin’ the new look!
Perfect Christmas card shot. Perfect.
Ren – she’s got her own Force Field. Definitely. That (ok, and the scream) is what scared the mean kid away. Gotta love that Ren spirit – it will serve her well.