Divine Food

Thanksgiving means food to me.

Yes, it includes gathering with family and friend, around a table loaded with fabulous smelling vitals.

Yes, it includes speaking of gratitude, while filling your plate with sweet potatoes covered with gooey marshmallows, juicy baked turkey, green beans, and cornbread dressing.

Yes, it includes watching football games, while munching on turkey sandwiches.

Yes, it is taking a nap and waking to a third helping of turkey and dressing, or gobbling another piece of pumpkin pie.

This day is about food. Those other things come with the day, but food usually dominates the scene. Seems the first Thanksgiving was about cooking, sharing a meal, and trying to understand the languages of the two cultures uniting for the day. That sounds like my family’s celebration also. We had those cultural differences, some from Oklahoma, some from Texas, some from who knows where.

But we laughed, ate, played sports in the front yard (if you‘re one of the guys), ate more, cleaned up the kitchen (if you’re one of the gals), told stories, shouted at the television for your favorite team (if you were not napping), drifted off to the kitchen for more of something to munch on, and ended the day with a full tummy, smiling, and sleeping like a log.

That ‘smiling’ part sometimes got misplaced if differences of opinion became hotly argued. But one of the grandparents would give the ‘look’ and the disagreements were set aside quickly.

And today, I want to eat. Gravy over cornbread dressing and soaked up by homemade rolls is about as good as it gets, especially if my plate includes cranberry sauce, a sizeable amount of green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and no Brussel sprouts.

The sprouts thing was never on our menu for Thanksgiving, and never appeared on any of the spreads I remember. Apparently, Okies didn’t know much about Brussel sprouts. Maybe we did the green bean, mushroom soup and fried onions as our version of the green vegetable.

I can tell you, food was abundant and the meal was the centerpiece of the day. Thanksgiving became a day for family, friends, strangers to gather and eat, gorge, snack, munch, overindulge, and create gastric issues for several days afterward.

The challenge is can I find that menu in or around San Miguel de Allende, Mexico? I’m on a quest to find that traditional Thanksgiving fare, if possible.

So I wish all of you a wonderful holiday, filled with the people you love, the memories you share, and the divine food you devour. And lots of gratitude for enjoying it all.