Eating and visiting were the two things we always remember about the holiday seasons. Thanksgiving was always a favorite. It was the fun of the eating, gathering of family and visiting but without the hassle of gift giving and quite so much decorating. For all these times I'm thoroughly thankful as I remember many, many such wonderful times.
Uncles, Aunts and cousins frequently gathered with us around Mom and Dad's table as we were growing up. Mom was such a wonderful cook and it seemed so effortless for her to have such a bountiful table. Many of her recipes have become necessary regulars for each of our tables as well. Nothing could beat her pumpkin pie, cornbread stuffing or chocolate chip cookies--- naming just a few.
Because Mom was such a good cook and did it with such ease that I didn't learn to cook with her. The first Thanksgiving after we were married and moved to Colorado, I suggested Mom, Dad and sister come out to see us. I really got a feeling of panic when they agreed as I had never cooked a turkey let alone cooked for more than two and was still painfully experimenting. A teacher at school suggested I cook a turkey in a brown paper bag. No problem getting it prepared and in the bag but I was terrified each time I opened the oven but saw only a brown paper bag stapled shut. Was it cooking, what if it caught fire, was it going to be done, what if it doesn't taste good? When the time was up it turned out to be a perfectly browned bird done to a tee. With my folks, we had Bob's brother, wife and son as well. I'm still not sure where we had room for everyone as I recall that tiny, tiny apartment but it was a time to remember.
Another 'remember' was a day when all the family was coming to our house when we lived in Missouri. I had cooked ahead and ready to put the big bird in first thing Thanksgiving morning. Overnight, one of those legendary snow storms hit blocking us in and keeping everyone else from getting in. I'm not sure what the families of brothers, sister and parents did for eats that day as they had to 'defend' for themselves. We had enough food for an army! We lived on campus at that time so Bob went to the dorm to find kids who had planned to leave for a family dinner and invited them over. Not much food was left after they all left but we had a good Thanksgiving feeling.
Later as children grew with activities of their friends and school and dividing time between inlaw families we began to gather on another special day for our family -- Halloween. Mom's birthday was on Oct. 31 so we always tried to get all the family together on a weekend closest to that date. Of course we also gathered on the other two feasting days as often as we could.
Such events and many more have evoked such wonderful and thankful memories.
