For Thanksgiving, I was able to get the dreaded Black Friday off from work. Of course, this is no longer a concern for Meg, who as a teacher, had the day off anyway. Meg, Danny and Liam were driving to Buffalo along with Meg's cousin Hope, and I was able to hitch a ride to Albany.
The entire week before Thanksgiving I announced my plan to everyone: sit on my sister's couch for two days and have my family bring me cocktails and food. I was not going to lift a finger. This did not happen, but honestly I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love to cook, but ther than a pot of lentils or stew I haven't cooked much since moving to Brooklyn. My diet consists of cheese sticks and frozen things, or stuff Liam buys me when he goes to the corner store.
When I got to Albany my sister, my mother, and I discussed the menu. The groceries were all taken care of; Steph made the list and Mom took my cousin with her to the store. All we had to do was create the ultimate vegetarian-gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner. We've done vegetarian for many years now, with the occasional turkey thrown in, but this year we weren't even going to have stuffing or crescent rolls. It was up to Steph and I to make this dinner happen, and we were up for the challenge.
As I sat at my sister's kitchen table sorting the cranberries, I realized I never ate a raw cranberry before. I asked Steph if she ever did, and she scrunched up her face and said, "No." I thought I should eat one. Suddenly this uneaten cranberry symbolized all the untapped potential in my entire life. All the things I haven't done because I either assumed I already knew the outcome, or was simply too lazy to try.
The cranberry became a topic of conversation between my sister and I for several minutes. What would it be like? Images of thousands of cranberries floating in water danced in my head, followed by gallons upon gallons of cranberry juice. I knew how much sugar I add to the cranberry sauce each year, and I've had unsweetened cranberry juice before, so I declared to my sister that I thought I knew what to expect. The cranberry would be crunchy, it would burst between my teeth sending such bitter juice into my mouth that my face would involuntarily spasm. Then I showed Steph what my face would look like, smashing my eyes shut, and sucking in my cheeks until she started laughing.
So great was my imagination that I got myself a glass of water before commencing the experiment. My sister asked, "Are you ready?" With a drum roll I began, and was... surprised. The cranberry was dry, very dry. In fact, I would say there was no juice at all. It was bitter, but not at all with the intensity I was expecting. Steph read the disappointment in my reaction and suggested I try another one. Perhaps I got a bad one? Alas, the second berry was just as dry and unexciting as the first.
Didn't stop me from making some kick-ass cranberry sauce though. Along with: herb & garlic marinated tofu, mashed potatoes, miso-mushroom gravy, "dirty" sweet potatoes, corn, and our newest creation, wild-rice dressing. I plan on perfecting the dressing, and freeing our dessert course from gluten as well. No more belly aches for this family.
Can't wait for Christmas.
photo by Muffet / liz west
