Thanksgiving is a time of tradition. We have many Thanksgiving traditions in the Garrett family. We gather. We expend copious amounts of energy making the house look more organized than it typically is, and then say, "Excuse the mess" when others come over. We feast. We play games, talk, and laugh. We take turns writing in the "Thanksgiving Journal." There are literally dozens of traditions that we observe, consciously or unconsciously, each Thanksgiving. But the most rigid, the most sacred, the most religiously followed tradition is not known to be followed until the day after Thanksgiving.
Every year in preparation for the yearly feast, my family plans on gathering at the Garrett household for Thanksgiving. We contact everyone and count the people who will be attending. We carefully and thoughtfully review (and then reject) the subtle changes suggested for the menu each year. No, the stuffing will not include nuts. No, we will not be deep frying the turkey. No, we will not be making yams simply because they add color to the table. We assign roles, take stock in what we have, what we need, and then go out and purchase enough food to feed the 1st infantry...following three days of starvation training. And yet, even this is not the tradition that is most adhered to.
This tradition has been passed on from generation to generation, family to family, from as long back as I can remember. I remember hearing about observing this tradition the day after eating at my aunt and uncle's house when I was in elementary school. It seems like only thirty years ago (it was more like forty) that we were sitting and watching the Wizard of Oz while waiting for dinner to be set out on the table. There were two families of five so they took it easy on the food. There was a ham, a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams (with mini-marshmallows), gravy, green beans, rolls, jello, ambrosia salad, cream cheese stuffed celery sticks, and black olives for all the kids to stick on their fingers. And every year my aunt would come out, look at the table, straining under the weight of more food than city ordinances would allow, with an appraising eye, and then head back into the kitchen while saying, "Hold on everyone...I'm going to make a green salad." Green salad? If we hadn't eaten in a week and invited everyone we'd ever met we wouldn't have been able to eat all the food on the table...and yet Aunt Pam wanted there to be a cushion of food just in case. And this still isn't the tradition.
No, I discovered that we had honored this tradition this year when I looked in the refrigerator this morning to see if there were any leftovers that might be loosely considered breakfast worthy. I looked past the gravy and the stuffing. I considered the deviled eggs briefly. I decided there was too much infrastructure that needed to be moved to get to the leftover turkey and then I saw them. The artichoke jalapeno dip and several Pillsbury ready-to-bake crescent roll packages sat exactly where we placed them in preparation for last night's meal. It seems that the tradition on our family is to plan to serve something, either as an appetizer or side dish,...and then don't.
In no particular order, according to year, I have heard, "I hope everyone enjoyed the, rolls, jello salad, shrimp, oysters, fresh fruit, stuffed peppers, crackers and cheese, or pickled herring." At some point in the planning, one of us (probably shopping while hungry) said, "Oh, that would be good. Let's get that for Thanksgiving." Only to have it sit 'snug as a crescent roll in a pressurized tube' well after the meal. (I've always wanted to coin a phrase so if you will start using that crescent roll one, and give me credit, I would appreciate it.
As delicious as warmed artichoke and jalapeno dip is or fresh, hot crescent rolls are, I'm certain that we sent no people away feeling unfulfilled. More likely we sent away people with that feeling of regret over having taken one too many helpings of whatever...only to "find room" for "just a taste" of two different kinds of pies as dessert. I'm certain my great-great-great-great grandmother would be proud to know that the tradition of leaving something prepared and uneaten is still going strong. Of course the times have changed and we no longer, like her, leave the squirrel casserole in the oven until long after the meal was finished...that was last year.
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