What I'm thankful for, A Tribute and semi pictorial essay.

1. Chocolate Pie Crust. I need to know who had the innovative vision. I need to send her a thank you card.

2. No Frills Turkey Dinner, $29.99, clearly this is a frill. Sigh. I love to cook, but there's a few rules I adhere to when cooking:
Rule one, bulk meat, I'm no good at. Side dishes, I kick tail. Gigantore birds, not so much. Rule two, is there any other stuffing other than Stove Top? Don't answer that. Yes, I'm aware there is, but I don't like stuffing much, so I don't make it. Not even that nasty oyster stuffing Paula Deen came up with.
Rule three, I don't cook fish.
Rule Four, and very important, I don't, okay fine, I cannot make gravy. I've tried, just can't do it.

So, when I run across an ad that says, Turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and cranberry relish, I'm on it!

I called a pal today who had her inlaws in town. I could hear the sweat dripping from her head and her trying so hard to be patient with instructions with a hint of, "That's fine fat ass, get out of my kitchen" in her voice. When I told her what I was up to and I'd sort of cheated and bought the turkey dinner precooked and just had to heat it up her response was a shriek, "YOU CAN DO THAT!?" Yes, you can. Liberate.

As someone who loves to cook, let me take this opportunity to explain. The purchase of a premade turkey dinner allowed me to enjoy my family, watch some parade (Because Dora The Explorer was in it, don't you know?) and enjoy making a few side items without stressing out. We also have only one oven;this too can trigger emotional instability in the tightest of families. However, our option to buy simply guaranteed a nice, relaxing, fun family dinner that was stress free and financially realistic. We'll be doing this again next year.
3. A beautiful kitchen!
4. Rolipa, who has now infected my home with the notion to stock up on tortillas as a vehicle for leftovers.
5. Parades, they are just fun! Look at how much fun this guy is having:

6. Immaterial matters of the heart like my kids, Ricardo, my family, his family, our family, and an online mom's "dating" service.
7. Balls- Paula Deen's Sweet Potatoe Balls, for God's sake, and I mean that, it's the sake of GOD that there is a gigantic marshmallow in the middle of this pallatable creation of all things good and pure.
8. Time to heal wounds and friends who forgive. I'm guessing she's forgiven me for the ass I was (I'm a whole different, more improved ass now), as she surrendered her recipe for the greatest Green beans EVER in the history of all the world. Ya'll: Green Beans wrapped in bacon + garlic + brown sugar + butta = "I bet no Indian NOR Pilgrim thought that divine creation up." It's worthy of sainthood. Seriously.
9. Special friends and family I talked to today, most of which were scurrying to get the frikkin beautiful bounty they were so thankful for on the table and still managed to send out a HOLLA!
10. The one day out of the year when too much food is a necessity because, "Honey, we HAVE to have Thanksgiving dinner at home, we NEED leftovers." It's a sweet sentiment, even if its a lot of work. It's work to cherish with the ones we love.

I love Thanksgiving because it means time spent in the kitchen, and that's where all the fun happens. It's making the meal together that makes the difference. Eating it is just bonus.