A drink for the Memories

While I was hard at work prepping food for our annual Thanksgiving dinner, I briefly heard the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in the background among the noise of the blender or the repetitive clanking of dishes being washed again and again. It made me think back to growing up and what life was like on Thanksgiving as a kid. I got to lay on the couch watching the parade while my Mom had gotten up before daylight to put the turkey in the oven and start on an assortment of side dishes. There were no shortcuts or store bought dishes to help lighten the load, Mom would be working tediously for hours. She would have me throw out scraps or peel the boiled eggs that were awaiting to be deliciously deviled, but otherwise, she would be handling it all by herself.

My older sisters would roll in along with my Aunt Mollie, she was a 6th grade school teacher from Somerset shortly before dinner. She would arrive hungry and dressed immaculately in a fancy sweater the way teachers used to dress in the 80s and 90s adorned with expensive jewelry and Virginia Slim cigarettes in a leather pouch. My oldest sister Jean who was healthier and could walk then without her cane would trot around like a Tennessee Walker carefree with their gait and my middle sister Kim would always bring little gifts for my niece and me that usually were similar or the same, but always manged to erupt into an argument. My Aunt Billie and her husband Harold who were like a cartoon version of a married couple came in from Ohio. She was a cat loving 6ft tall woman who brought her 20lb shorthair Tabby named Cupcake who did not like children or being petted. This was a bummer because I wanted that fat, hateful cat to like me. Harold was a shorter man who had a miniature collie always by his side, he told corny icebreakers to a rough crowd that he probably read from a Jokes from the John book that we forced a fake laugh to and later he would fall asleep like a narocleptic after getting into Mom’s peanut butter fudge while struggling with diabetes. My Dad was the entertainer and he would dominate the conversation among the adults while remaining nervously on edge smelling the wonderful aroma of Thanksgiving dinner Mom was tirelessly working on. It’s funny the things you remember-how strange and dysfunctional everyone was in their own way but how I would give anything to experience it one last time, especially with those who have since passed.

When people say the good old days, I think they mean when you are younger. It’s a time where you don’t understand or know the family drama, it didn’t matter to you if you ate on the good dishes or paper plates, you didn’t really know if the turkey was dry, or that Aunt Mollie only knew how to fix a greenbean casserole and that’s why she brought it to every holiday meal. Most importantly, you still had a family, grandparents, and parents, healthy and strong as a tall Oak tree. Cousins and extended family who still traveled just to spend perhaps the evening before moving on to the next household, a time before so much drugs, drama, or resentments seemed to become so common nowadays. No It was an idyllic Appalachian Norman Rockwell painting that I was blessed to have been a part of, just simple brush strokes of a time when life was good. Yes...those were the good old days.

If you love celebrating the holiday season and entertaining, I would like to share a recipe that is great to make for loved ones sitting around the table or piled up in the living room enjoying themselves with good conversation or some holiday cheer. If you have a favorite holiday appetizer or dessert recipe, I would love to hear about it, just email kdcole1120@gmail.com

Holiday Russian Tea
Ingredients

■ 2 c. Tang drink mix
■ 1 pkg Kool Aid Lemonade, unsweetened
■ 3/4 c. unsweetened instant tea
■ 2 c. sugar
■ 1 tsp. ground cloves
■ 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Mix all ingredients well and place in an air tight container. Add mix by tsp to 8oz hot water, add tsp to taste as desired. Garnish with orange slice or cinnamon stick. *Also, this makes a great diy gift, put dry drink mix in Mason jar, add ribbon around seal, and it’s ready to give.