HappyTummy              

This year will have been 15 years since I last spent a Thanksgiving with my family. Which is crazy considering how close my we all are, and how much we all love food. It’s even crazier considering that this holiday, more so than any other, was the one my mother was famous for among our big group of family friends. She would always throw a big Thanksgiving feast, cooking every dish herself, for groups as large as 30. And because we lived overseas, it wasn’t an easy feat–American food, including turkeys, weren’t readily available, but somehow she always managed to find everything she needed make the meal spectacular.

When I left home after high school, I attended a university thousands of miles from where I grew up. Going home for a few days for Thanksgiving, when I knew I’d be home again just a few short weeks later for the winter break, just didn’t make sense. And the same went for the years after I graduated college and started working. And then when I got married, we divided up our holidays so that we’d spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s family and Christmas with mine. So one year stretched into two, two to three, and now, I find that 15 years have passed…wow, time flies.

Today, I’ll be hosting Thanksgiving for my husband’s family. I’ll be getting help from my sister, who’s also flying into town to help celebrate. For the past week, I’ve been prepping a Thanksgiving dinner with all of the favorites I grew up with–the turkey, of course, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, corn, green beans and last but not least, broccoli casserole. These are the foods that graced my mother’s holiday tables over the years, and the ones that bring me such happy memories.

This year, I want to send a very special, a very heartfelt thank you to my mother, who is without a doubt my inspiration. She is the best cook ever–always creating, experimenting with, adjusting and perfecting dishes with such love and passion. I have many a fond memory of baking with her, whether it was her chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins, pies of all kinds, Rice Krispie treats, homemade bagels, cream puffs…the list goes on and on. But not only did she teach me about cooking and baking, she taught me everything I know about entertaining. She always carefully considered little details, like which platters and serveware went best with which dishes, what color runners were the most festive, what table centerpieces would be the most appropriate for the occasion. And last but not least, she taught me about how to be a great host. She threw the best parties, always making everyone feel so welcome, always making the ambiance and atmosphere so warm and festive and always making sure everyone was well fed. And every year, her guests would come back for more.

So, thank you, Mom. I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner myself this year, but I couldn’t have done it without your help. And hopefully my wonderful in-laws will like my dinner…and hopefully I can become as good a cook and host as you are. Love you!