Stuff It!
A Nexus to Change is Not the End All, Be All This Holiday
Thanksgiving is different this year, with less friends and family gathering around the table, but familiar smells and taste add a welcomed comfort as cooking permeates kitchens across the country. Do something besides the anchor dish - Turkey! That’s for the birds, as they say, if one thinks that’s their ‘fave’ for the Thanksgiving meal. It's the popular extras that rule the roost! Make a dish that shares an essential flavor and ingredient beloved by your family - it will bring solace and reassurance that this year’s Thanksgiving is not out with the trash!
For me it is all about the “dressing” - specific to my New Orleans roots - we respectfully “dress” the bird rather than “stuff” it. You want to treat the “pardoned” fowl with the dignity they deserve and serve a dish alongside it that can compliment the flavor. Actually, a dish you don’t mind ‘stuffing’ yourself with second and third helpings!
Cornbread stuffing is not that interesting enough to be the prize winning dish, in my book. Cornbread should only be in our bread basket, accompanied by room temperature butter with chunks of Kosher salt. Oysters rule! Those tender mollusks get mixed in with the day-old French bread, bits of cranberry, and secrets from the pantry that “Granny” tucks away on the shelf. How does oyster dressing taste so damn good? Nobody knows, but her! It’s the gift that keeps on giving - she makes more than enough, sneaking a pint or two in the freezer for us, the hosts, to savor after the guests are long gone!
Lucky for us, the immediate family has been isolated before gathering together. Each member is doing their part to be safe, as we needed this connection with each other after a long 8 months endured without seeing one another. I could have taken a “gap year” from oyster dressing, cornbread, and turkey - but I am grateful for the loving hands that will prepare these dishes this Thanksgiving, and the family who comes along with those impeccable hands. Love is what I am gobbling up this year - and, I am incredibly blessed for all of us being in good health.
Thanksgiving is a day of different likes, tastes, and personalities - as diverse as the nation itself. It is important to reflect on this holiday as a time for all to share and to love. This is essential and bigger than any dish served at the table!
