I know that there isn’t a whole lot to be happy about in this shit show of a year. With a pandemic wiping out a chunk of our population, shutting businesses down, forcing people to not socialize as much, stay at home more, hone their poster making skills…

Yeah, this year sucks.

But I am seeing positives to Thanksgiving 2020. For one, I’m not working! I have had to work every single Thanksgiving since 2013, which meant one of two things – one, working while my family was having one of my mom’s famous home cooked feasts – or two, being able to come out to the dinner, but have to leave to go work a ghastly “overnight” shift. Both of which…really sucked.

This year? I’M NOT WORKING ON THANKSGIVING! And my “Black Friday” shift doesn’t start until 11 a.m.! No ungodly super early shifts, no overnight shifts. What does this mean?

I can actually have some drinks on Thanksgiving this year for the first time in 10 years! And I don’t have to pretend to care about professional football (grumble grumble having a Packers fan for a brother and watching them beat the Lions every Thanksgiving…except this one), I can serve dinner whenever I damn well please, I can make exactly what me and my beloved spouse want to eat. And wash it down with whatever I damn want to drink!

About that…here’s my Thanksgiving weekend booze stockpile (more to be added on Friday after work):

So what’s on our Thanksgiving menu?

• Smoked slow-cooked turkey legs/marinated sliced boneless turkey breast (the latter is pre-cooked and only needs to be heated)
• Homemade stuffing
• Homemade green bean casserole/plain fresh green beans
• Instant mashed potatoes
• Homemade drop biscuits
• Homemade triple berry cobbler/strawberry ice cream

Yes, you read that correctly. I’m actually making a couple “from scratch” baked items! Not usually my “thing,” but this year is as good as any to “step up to the plate!” My mom was over about a week ago or so to lend me her slow cooker for the turkey legs (oblong shaped), and I briefly told her what I was planning to cook. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say it looked like her feelings were hurt! I can only imagine what went through her mind:

“OMG my little girl is cooking her own Thanksgiving dinner and doesn’t seem to need my help!” I did say I’d be more than happy to take a “doggie bag” of some of her homemade apple pie! That seemed to make her feel better.

She’s a strange creature indeed. And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m pretty strange myself.

Let’s rewind to about 10 years ago when I hosted our own Thanksgiving dinner in our new condo. Unlike my mom, who pretty much runs the whole show when she puts on a Thanksgiving feast, I chose a more “pragmatic” business model. I delegated. My mother-in-law would be in charge of bringing and cooking the bird. She stood the bird up in the pan and we somewhat brutally shoved a beer can up its cloaca. Despite threats that this act would cause us to be brought up on bestiality charges (LOL), our “drunken turkey” was quite tasty and moist!

My mom’s job was to handle baked goodies such as pies/quick breads – and mashed potatoes. I handled all of the other sides and made a homemade chocolate cream pie (mainly because my young niece would be in attendance and I knew she loved chocolate). I had everything set up in the basement – a dining “buffet” complete with chafing dishes, tables/chairs – the whole shebang. I even had the mini fridge hooked up and stocked with drinks. After dinner, I enjoyed some strong Belgian ales along with my sister-in-law (we don’t get many chances to drink together – and when we do – we always have a good time)! Why not marinate ourselves with the same beer we used in the turkey’s turkey hole? 🙂 And as alcohol often does, it loosened my lips enough to confess that a couple of weeks prior I had (gasp) – gotten a speeding ticket for the first time in about three decades!

I remember catching my mom later in the kitchen. She was doing some dishes! Of course I insisted she didn’t need to do that since she was my guest, but yeah – that’s my mom for you! You really can’t say “no” to your mom when she’s on a mission!

Later, she would confess to me that she wanted to go back to hosting her own Thanksgiving dinners. Which worked out from my end, since my work schedule around Thanksgiving started getting shittier…and shittier. Being able to host dinners for others at our house became a virtual impossibility.

Tomorrow I get my own chance to “step up” again. And I don’t just mean stepping up to the fridge to get myself a drink!

I have a virtual trivia game to get ready for, so that’s about it for now! The “theme” is Thanksgiving specials. I know it’s not going to be a great category in terms of us knowing the answers…but it should be fun! If I’m not too busy cooking tomorrow, I should have a recap of this game to post.

Again, happy Thanksgiving even if your situation won’t be exactly ideal…we’ll power through this!