A Thanksgiving Story from not so long ago

 

This photo was taken from a Thanksgiving in Osakis before 2001. Bottom from L to R, Joan, grandma Aasboe, me, Jonathan (in front), and aunt Miriam (next to me). From L to R in back, uncle Ben, Daniel, uncle David, grandma Ramse, grandpa Ramse, Kayla, dad, mom. I don't know where Nathan and Josh are. 

Once upon a Thanksgiving, back in 1998 or 99, my uncle David and aunt Miriam invited my family to join them for Thanksgiving in Dubuque, Iowa. I think my parents and Josh were the only ones who drove to Dubuque. Perhaps Nathan went as well? Daniel and I stayed home. 

Car trips with my parents usually meant listening to a local Christian station (always slightly out of range, so fuzzy), the short times that mom drove, dad would read stories and jokes from either the Readers Digest or Guidepost. For lunch, we had the assortment of bologna and cheese sandwiches, raw carrots (I had a sensory reaction at the time and could not eat raw carrots), apples and bananas, low cost potato chips, and Shasta (Our Family brand from Econo Foods) pop. For a lasting desert, mom and dad would chew on their strong smelling black licorice. When we stopped for gas and a potty break, we would empty out of the van. When it was time to get back in, we were greeted with a mix of bologna & cheese with mayo, Shasta grape pop, banana, and black licorice smells. Then another round of fuzzy Christian station with old men singing gospel songs and my dad reading. 

I decided to forgo the fun family car drive and stay home. Apparantly, so did Daniel. I had been collecting a few gourmet cookbooks. So, decided to try a roast turkey recipe from Jacques Pepin's cookbook. I put on some of my favorite Christmas music from Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and others and had a blast chopping, stuffing, and baking. 

At one point during all of my prepping and cooking, Daniel came into the kitchen and happened to notice and comment on the rather old, peeling wallpaper in our kitchen. He immediately set to work peeling off large pieces of this wallpaper, saying that it needed to come down. Unfortunately, Daniel did not finish the job and the kitchen walls were left half stripped of wallpaper. I felt like this would not be a happy surprise for my parents when they would arrive back home. So, I called them and warned them about their kitchen and also volunteered myself to finish the job. Agreeing that the wallpaper needed to come down so would finish taking down the wallpaper and re-do the walls. I remember painting the walls (creme?) and sponge painting them with a nice green on the upper half of the walls. I believe that lasted until dad re-modeled the living room and the kitchen was re-papered. 

I also remember the roast turkey and mushroom stuffing from Jacque Pepin's recipe was really good! I have no idea if we had anything else with this or if it was just turkey and stuffing. Anyway, we had a sumptious feast! 

I hope you also have some fun, sweet, and zany Thanksgiving stories to remember and share!