Day two - Thanksgiving prep and a little reminiscing

So day two of my Thanksgiving prep is pretty simple. Really all I have to do is check on the turkey and "massage" it through the plastic bag.

I also need to check on the progress of my sourdough bread for the stuffing. The recipe calls for stale sourdough bread and though the bread I bought has been sitting in an open bag for two days, as of this morning it was still pretty soft. Today might be the day to pull it out of the bag to speed up the process.

For anyone who is a little bit OCD like me, this is the time where I start to panic a little bit about how difficult the recipes I've chosen to make might actually be. Will the green bean casserole take more time to prepare than I've set aside on Thursday morning? Will the stuffing dry out too much if I cook it Wednesday night? And what if I used too much salt to dry brine my turkey. Russ Parsons said to use only a tablespoon per five pounds, but Martha Stewart said to use 2/3 c. for a 22 lb. turkey for the dry brine. I'm really bad at math and measuring so maybe I calculated wrong and the turkey will turn out too salty.

But really I guess the meal is secondary to spending time with the people I care about. I have only been away from home for one Thanksgiving. I went to college and graduate school a five-hour drive from home and had benevolent professors who who always gave us Wednesday off. And I have always been fortunate for find employment close to home that offers paid holidays.

The one Thanksgiving I spent away from home was when I studied abroad in Ireland when I was 20 and though I was a long way from California, I had a makeshift family with whom to celebrate. The Irish guys I know made a little bit of fun of us Americans that year since we all had to throw a Thanksgiving feast far from home. Actually, a couple days ago I was chatting with one of my Irish friends and mentioned Thanksgiving was coming up and he said, "Oh yeah, that's a big deal for you guys."


One of the perks included in the program I selected in Ireland (which was run through Butler University) included a turkey for Thanksgiving. Not per student, but per site. So the dozen or so of us at the University of Ulster at Coleraine coordinated a meal for ourselves and our newly found Irish friends. For some of the natives I knew it was their first Thanksgiving. For many, it may have been the only one. All the Americans picked a traditional dish to bring to the meal and the Irish guys, well, they offered to provide the beer, wine and spirits.


I brought the mashed potatoes and I remember searching all over the Teske's grocery store for a can of cranberry sauce. My mom even offered to send a few cans express mail, but eventually I found a tiny jar of Ocean Spray whole berry sauce on a shelf. It turns out the Brits save cranberry sauce for Christmas. But ever since then, I am been a big fan of whole berry cranberry sauce.

One friend made stuffing with raisins and the idea of something sweet in the mix surprised me since my family's version is savory. Another made candied yams, which I'd never had before, either. And there was a dish of Southern greens cooked with bacon and butter.


But more than the food, I remember the feeling of sharing a tradition with friends. The things I remember are the bear hug from a boy who was more than a foot taller than me, who said he didn't want me to miss my family. And another asking everyone if they included mushrooms in their dishes because he was allergic.

There was something about the meal that made everyone feel a little bit at home even though half of us were thousands of miles from it.