Change of Plans

Y’all, I’d originally intended to give a whole rant about how my folks tended to treat me at Thanksgiving. As mentioned in the post before, I also intended to write said rant on Wednesday.

Yeah. Not so much.

Why not? Truthfully, I’m tired of giving my family the reins to my enjoyable turkey day. I’m tired of dwelling on how I felt cornered during holiday gatherings because it felt like EVERYONE was eyeballin’ my plate. My mother fell victim to this too. So, every Christmas and Thanksgiving, moms would cook a meal at home. This way, she and I would be able to eat without being scrutinized.

But I don’t feel like ranting (ahem, anymore) because I won’t be around the, um, “concerned” part of my family this year. ‘Cause it’s just me, moms, and little bro, with visits to the always awesome Godmama, g-bro, and g-sis. And this part of my family is more concerned with if they cooked all the things we kids love to eat and the always popular “Well, didja get enough?” as opposed to “Ain’t that enough yet?” Since I won’t be going there physically, I sure ain’t bout to go there mentally.

So, instead, I’m gonna talk about the dinner I’m helping to cook. As I’ve mention before, I love to cook. In another life, I was gonna be a gourmet chef. Actually…I might try out for The Next Food Network Star. But we’ll have to see. Anyhow, since all us kids are home, I get to help with the meal. Part of this is because I have certain foods I don’t eat (no beef nor pork, or as I put it , “all things that go oink or moo”) which pretty much takes down half the treats included in a traditional southern feast. For those of y’all not familiar, southern folks have a tendency to put pork fat, pork parts, cow parts…and so on in their meal. It’s not just the ham and roast. These meats get cooked in the veggies, too. Let’s just say any kind of meat in general ain’t got a chance in hell around these parts. Especially in Texas, where I am now.

So, since I do enjoy poultry every now and again, I’m baking up some lil’ chickensCornish game hens, making some wild rice with portobello mushrooms, curried butternut squash soup, and my first pumpkin pie from scratch. Mmmm. I feel the need to indicate that the soup is mine. Nobody else eats squash but me. Heh. I’m okay with that. The pie? Well, lil’ bro may give it a taste, but he has let me know in no uncertain terms he’s pissed I opted not to make sweet potato pie. Eh. I make it every year. He’ll get it for Christmas.

I also get to try my hand at the greens this year. For my non-southern (and international readers), greens is not a reference to salad greens. Greens are big bunches of leafy veggies that I DO NOT recommend eating raw. I learned this the hard way, folks. You boil them up in a broth (veggie, chicken, beef, or hell, just plain water, if you want) and a meat (smoked turkey since I don’t eat hamhocks) until deliciously tender. It’s simple enough, but I’m a woman who CAN’T make something as simple as a gravy to save my life. So, I get a cooking lesson from the master cook in the house: mama.

So, this Thanksgiving will be awesome. Because I’ll be around family I love and that loves me, and because I get to experiment with food. Now, before I leave y’all to finish watchin’ Paula Deen fry her entire Thanksgiving supper (seriously, folks. She’s fryin’ layer cake, for goodness’ sake!) I figure I’d share another gem from Blogthings. I’ve now learned what kind of pie I am. I’m excited because it’s my second favorite pie (behind sweet potato) and the pie I always ask BuddingStarlet to make, ’cause she can make the hell out of some pie.

You Are Apple Pie

You’re the perfect combo of comforting and traditional.You prefer things the way you’ve always known them.You’ll admit that you’re old fashioned, and you don’t see anything wrong with that.Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style.Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself – and true to them. You’re loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you’ve definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Well, this will most likely be it until Friday (I gotta prep the lil’ chickensCornish game hens, roast my squash…yeah. Y’all know what I mean.) So, till I post again, y’all have a wonderful, delicious, stress-free Thanksgiving!