Two Ingrediants for Geat Thanksgiving

For me, Thanksgiving was family, food and football in that order. ( I saw the Flutie to Phalen miracle pass on instant replay. I was in the kitchen when it happened.)

But things have changed over the years. It isn't a matter of what we do now is so much different as much as the emphasis and practice. When you commit to a blended family you have to be open to new traditions. We now go to a movie instead of watching football all day. The football we do watch is decidedly professional instead of BC versus the Caine's or Cornhusker's versus Sooner's. Somehow this seems more Rockwellian than The Boys versus The Lions.

And the food has changed a little. I have to make my dressing without meat. We cook more recipes with sweet potato's. I cook the turkey upside down for the first two thirds of the cycle. Brad and I found out that this makes the breast meat more moist and tender.

The things that never seem to change are we never have enough leftovers to satisfy everyone and the green beans in mushroom soup with canned french onion topping has been there forever. Talk about tradition, I slipped some toasted almonds in one year and I will never hear the end of it.

Two things you must have for Thanksgiving are family and food. You can even serve bad food, lumpy potato's, dry turkey and soupy pumpkin pie and get by, but you have to have family. There are so many jokes and horror stories about family holiday gatherings that you might think that I am wrong about that, but you have to have one holiday without your family to know how important it is.