An Odd Little Thanksgiving

Lovely Thanksgiving picture, huh? Well, that was LAST year.

This year? Not so much.

I should have known there was something wrong when I didn't want leftover meat pie (tourtiere) for breakfast. That's what I ALWAYS eat for breakfast on Thanksgiving. I didn't feel great but pushed on. I had my list of things to do. We had declared the cranberry-orange relish a fail the night before so I quickly made a batch of my standard cranberry sauce (with just a bit of clove and cinnamon in it), set Owen to trimming Brussels sprouts and fussed about how messy the house was. The turkey went on the grill only about a half hour late and things seemed good....except that I was feeling worse and worse. Finally I decided to lay down on the couch. I covered myself up with Rascal's favorite blanket and felt like I couldn't move. I eventually texted folks to tell them to come an hour later than I'd said, and then laid there feeling worse. I couldn't decide what to do....I felt horrible canceling and yet I felt so lousy that even if Ernie and the boys had done all the work I just couldn't imagine talking to people. We finally called it and Ernie and Owen called and texted everybody. I was really sad but felt relieved and just laid under my blanket listening to the guys doing everything.

If you're going to be sick and cancel Thanksgiving you really should do it before you've made a mountain of food. Oh well. Owen insisted we still sit at the table and use my mother's Spode and sterling. I ate a tiny bit...the grilled turkey was great....my gluten free stuffing was pretty good and mashed potatoes...well, they're mashed potatoes. I couldn't handle the vegetables and cranberry sauce, or dessert, but we did, thanks to Owen, still manage a semblance of Thanksgiving. After dinner I curled up under my blanket again while they put everything away and Ernie cleaned up. Later Ernie joined me and we watched some mindless tv (finished the last season of Longmire, sniff, sniff) before I tumbled off to bed. Not the Thanksgiving I had hoped for and I feel a bit sad that, poof, it's gone, but thankful I am, and there's a refrigerator full of leftovers so I am pretty lucky. 

Cranberry 2.0

They forgot to take a picture of the grilled turkey before they started carving it, but it was indeed a thing of beauty...and Owen did a hell of a job carving the turkey.

And here is our quiet little Thanksgiving. Yes, those are french fries on Leo's plate because that's what he wanted and I am incredibly thankful for him. I'm also thankful for my friends who assured me it was fine to call things off, and were kind and understanding. Most of all, I am incredibly grateful for my family---Ernie, the boys, and my sister Debbie. We are small but mighty, and fierce in our loving. I could not ask for more.

And my gluten-free, low fodmap tourtiere wasn't half bad. I had some for breakfast today.

Onward.