Thanksgiving

Of the 28 Thanksgivings I've celebrated, this year was the best. First of all, there was no school. I love school, but at the rate we cover material a break every now and then is badly needed (Thanksgiving was the first day-off since Labor Day). Then, I got to go skiing at Alta with dad. The "blizzard" we had on Tuesday was the biggest letdown since the Utah-TCU game but somehow there was still way more snow than I expected. After I got back from skiing I could have called it a day and been perfectly happy--but it got better.

Dinner was so amazing it deserves it's own paragraph. Probably it's own book*, but all I have is a blog. Anyone who knows my mom knows that she loves to throw a party and that, when she does, she pulls out all the stops. This year we didn't have any cousins with us, so she did everything herself. She wrote out a schedule to make sure each dish would be done on time. It started Wednesday night with blanching almonds, putting the turkey in a brine, and doing something in the oven (I'm not really sure what). Then on Thursday, while dad and I were off making tracks in the powder, she and Gracie (my sister) started cooking, making everything from scratch. Stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed onions (a family favorite--trust me, these things are better than they sound), cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls, and four different kinds of pie (banana cream, chocolate cream, pumpkin chiffon, and pumpkin). The banana cream and chocolate cream pies used homemade pudding with real vanilla (from vanilla beans) and chocolate, respectively. Nothing from a box. What kind of mother does all that for her family? Needless to say, she was exhausted, but it was the best food I've ever eaten. Then Christmas music and Beatles Rockband. I dare you to try and have a better day than that.

*When I was a kid I was into the "Redwall" books. They were about mice and rabbits and stuff that could talk and lived in castles and had medieval battles. I remember reading in one of the books about a feast that took half the novel to describe (at least it felt like half the novel). I don't remember too many details, but I'd be willing to bet our Thanksgiving feast was way more epic.