(thanks)
Jaime roasted her first turkey. Jaime roasted turkey and Joshua made stuffing and Jane made one of those greenbean casseroles with little dried onions on top. Alex was hung over, even still at noon, so she boiled frozen pierogies. They were delicious though.I made cranberry relish, because I like the taste of tart and I like an excuse to use citrus zest and I like cooking things that leave brilliantly colored stains. And because one of the students in the class I taught last winter was from a cranberry farming family. You wouldn’t believe how bizarre cranberry farming is. I’ve seen pictures.
When you cook cranberries – the fresh kind, grown right here on the Oregon coast and never frozen – they make gentle satisfying Pop sounds, pop pop pop as they turn from firm round berries into relish. The little slivers of lemon and orange rind hang suspended like a party.
There are few things I love more than a slow meal with friends, overflowing plates and drifting conversations and candles. I grew up in a house of three. My mom usually cooked but my dad didn’t always make it home in time for dinner, and we often sat a small TV right there on the table like a centerpiece. I love a meal that lasts so long you go back for thirds, a crowd so big you switch seats twice and still don’t talk to everyone. I love the way you can call across the room to clarify a story. I love how you feel a hand on your shoulder as someone goes to find the corkscrew.
Dessert was a Pie Off and Operaman judged, blindfolded and tin-foil-crowned at the head of the table. Apple, pear, pumpkin, pecan, and ice cream. Afterwards he played piano. I wanted to sing Christmas carols but the crowd said Too Soon so we ate more instead. And I love this part of being an adult, the part where you get to make new and bigger family, family that reaches out in all directions, that once in a while coils up and crams in a room, laughs and drinks wine and eats five kinds of pie.
posted by tortaluga @ 4:42 PM
1 Comments:
I love these moments too. every time this happens to me (which is not that frequently, these days)I think: 'Wow. So that's what happiness is.'
And then, I'm content for a very long time and revisit the moment whenever I want to, because I record it on my Brain-O-Tape.
Post a Comment
<< Home