Lewis
I’m just not fancy.
When everyone seems to get all worked up about the amount of preparation and cooking that will be necessary for Thanksgiving, I shrug. Sure, there are recipes that require a whole lot more finesse than I or my kitchen promise, but the ones I am excited to follow are remarkably easy.
Here’s my menu (and I’ve accomplished the grocery shopping for only $40 in past years, but naturally that has crept upward with inflation):
*Turkey (To tell the truth, for many years I left that out, but this year it’s in!)
*Ham
*Dressing (Why do I never know whether to call it stuffing, instead?)
*Green Bean Casserole
*Sweet Potato Casserole
*Mashed potatoes (This year, it’s Hash Brown Casserole, instead.)
*Corn
*Fruit salad
*Cranberry sauce
*Pumpkin pie and whipped topping
*Coconut cake (Hey, this is a first, but I was hungry when I was shopping and there she was! I confess that two slices seem to be missing already.)
A while back, I wrote a column about Eddie Robertson, who does an amazing amount of community good through his Lebanon grocery business, CashSaver, and I decided then I’d support his noble efforts by shopping there more often.
Last week, he posted on social media about side dishes they’d have ready for customers to slide into the oven and I was intrigued. Seriously? Cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole and hash brown casserole and all I’d have to do is contribute a little oven time and voila, I’d be ready to serve?
Sign me up!
Last week, I planned an early Thanksgiving evening with my son, his girlfriend and my husband since we’d all be traveling to other destinations afterward. Sure enough, I made my necessary shopping trip and scooped up all I needed. To tell the truth, it was so nice to not be battling traffic or other shoppers for groceries bump up against the actual Thanksgiving Day.
Because I even decorated early for Christmas this year and am still smitten with the stunning live 9½-foot-tall Fraser Fir we bought from Puckett’s Supply Co. on Highway 109, our house felt especially cozy and infused with holiday cheer as I began to get the meal ready.
Years ago, I remember what may actually be the only other time I’ve prepared a turkey in my life. I was in college, sick, and trying to host my boyfriend’s parents for Thanksgiving.
I’ll never forget crawling off the couch every two hours to peer into the oven to see if the bird was cooperating. I was clueless, terrified and pretty darn ill. (I have no idea why the event wasn’t cancelled since it would be awful to get anyone else sick, but hey, when you’re just 20, you keep secrets and life goes on.)
It seemed to be an arduous process and all these years since, I’ve either omitted the turkey completely or let the man of our house be in charge of its demise.
This year, the turkey preparation somehow lost its daunting fuss and I simply rubbed seasoning all over its skin, stuffed cooked cornbread dressing (yep, half my batch from CashSaver) into the cavity and slid it into the oven for a few hours. How is it that I wasn’t intimidated one little bit?
All I can say is that getting older definitely brings a beautiful level of chill factor to life.
The already cooked ham needed only slicing, the green bean casserole is ridiculously simple to prepare (toss cans of green beans, French fried onions and cream of mushroom soup together and stir then bake), thunk a can of chilled cranberry sauce onto a saucer, then mix up some fruit salad (yep, more drained cans … peaches, mandarin oranges, chunk pineapple, maraschino cherries, a bit of sour cream and half a bag of coconut shavings) to chill and serve.
It’s all so easy!
Play your favorite soothing music, stoke up a fire in the fireplace, make sure your Christmas tree lights are twinkling (if you’re crazy like me and get a jump on holiday decorating extremely early) and enjoy the aroma from the oven saturating the entire house.
While the turkey for our early holiday was baking, I went outside and stacked the firewood just right in my new favorite thing, our firepit that I use nearly nightly. It would be just a few hours before my husband and son arrived for a relaxing dinner together.
Know what?
I may not be fancy, but I am extremely, absolutely thankful. I hope your Thanksgiving will be awesome and carefree, too!
Cheryl Lewis is a writer in Tennessee and can be reached at TNandBeyond@yahoo.com.