As a child, I remember my dear mother preparing a huge feast for lots of cousins, aunts and uncles every Thanksgiving. We would move our pool table over to the side of the glassed-in patio and put a ping pong table on top to make it level, then cover it with a huge table cloth.
By the time everyone had arrived, Mom would fill that surface with assorted dishes, almost all of which she had prepared. My Aunt Irene's delicious cranberry sauce is the only exception that comes to mind as having not been prepared by my mother. I have no idea how she did it --- always sporting a bright smile throughout --- but we all loved it.
Since my mother passed away and our kids left home, our Thanksgivings have unfolded more on a unique year-by-year basis, including one year at sea cruising back from Hawaii. Last year, Gina, Laszlo and Emma hosted us in Merion Station. Darlene and Brooks have hosted us several times.
For 2021, we had about the same people in attendance as three years ago, when we had Thanksgiving in Jersey City, which itself was unique due to our hosting it in a rental house near where Amy lives.
The only difference in celebrants this time from 2018 was the absence of Jay and Sasha, who along with JoJo attended Thanksgiving on Long Island with Sasha's sister's in-laws. En route, they spent a couple of nights in the Big Apple, where Jay and Sasha dined in style at a French vegan eatery with Amy and Lukas.
That 2018 gathering was when we met Lukas's parents, Silke and Winfried. This time, we would have an additional reason to celebrate, the engagement of Amy and Lukas. Winfried's toast made it clear how much they love and admire Amy, who has spent many weekends visiting their rural home in upstate New York where Lukas grew up. We feel the same about Lukas.
They came in Tuesday evening, hoping to avoid bad holiday traffic, but in any case it is a long drive, and we appreciated their efforts. We had the opportunity to enjoy some long walks and a night out at Town Tap before Thanksgiving.
Despite coming from far out of town, as experts in organic farming, Silke and Winfried wanted to contribute some freshly prepared dishes to the dinner menu, and to that end shopped for vegetables and bread which they prepared for the meal. Plus, they added some fresh flowers.
Lukas's parents Z and Ria and his brother Szilard drove down from Nanuet, NY, to join us for the big turkey feast. In the tradition of my Aunt Irene, Ria brought her own delicious cranberry sauce, plus three absolutely huge salads.
Gina prepared large pots of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, while Emma added pumpkin muffins. Laszlo drove it all over at about noon, as Gina had actually embarked early to walk that 4 1/2 miles to arrive in the morning.
Our guests all brought along wines, candy and other treats.
With the abundance of side dishes furnished by our guests to augment what would already be a bountiful feast, I would say we would have filled Mom's pool table, despite the fact that we had probably a half to a third as many gathering as my childhood Thanksgivings.
Multiple dishes being prepared simultaneously, could have caused chaos to reign supreme in the kitchen, but I steered clear of that. As further proof of my wisdom, I had volunteered to make pumpkin pie and opted instead to buy two at Acme Market.
The varied selection of foods sure to please every palate certainly did the trick for me, though quite frankly, I'm good if I just have turkey with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.
Special thanks to Julie for acting as head chef for a joyous meal.
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