Happy thanksgiving: Death to Turkeys!!!

Pre-Game

I love turkey.  living without it in Korea almost drove me mad.  The only time you could get it was at Christmas time or during American Thanksgiving.  It was one of the things I missed, like Salt n Vinegar chips, certain chocolate bars, and slurpees.  There’s no bigger tease in the world than to go into a 7-11 and for there not to be a slurpee machine.  I mean, what’s the point of having a 7-11 without a slurpee machine? 

Today I am writing about my first Canadian Thanksgiving in 3 years, so I guess I should talk a little about what I am thankful about. 

I am very thankful to be back in my home city, even if I enjoy complaining about every little thing too much.

I am thankful to be living in a country that is not currently at war with another country that borders it to the north, and has nuclear weapons aimed at its capital.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to a family dinner with my mom.  A lot of the kids I remember are now all grown up (I think).  Some of my cousins even have kids of their own. (Don’t think I’ve met any of them)

I think the last time I went to a family thanksgiving with my mom my brother still had hair (or was he going with the come over then?) and I still had a crooked nose and a big gap between my front two teeth.

Post Game

The turkey dinner I had today was excellent and cooked to perfection, reminding me of why I used to like thanksgiving so much.  30 years ago, when I was growing up, there were only 2 days out of the year where I got to eat turkey.  They were at Christmas and at thanksgiving. 

The other day I was reminded of one of those Christmas dinners that we spent out in Altona with my grandparents, who were both Mennonites.  There was not enough room at the dinner table, so the women had to wait in the other room as the men (including young boys like me at the time) got to eat first, even though the women had done all of the cooking and had set the table. 

I did try something I’ve never tried before today and it was cranberry sauce, in honour of the occasion.   

Apparently, some people like to eat it with their turkey.  Now that I have tried cranberry sauce I can safely say that I am not one of these people.  It was way too tangy and sweet.  It was so bad that I started to make that same face that I made last week when I tried the pie, but I was able to restrain myself.  I had to explain it to the chef once again that it was not their cooking that was the problem but that it was me. (it’s not you, it’s me)

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.  Death to turkeys!!!