Thursday Thirteen for Thanksgiving

Since this Thursday Thirteen falls on Thanksgiving, I expect most people will be spending time with their families and football instead of reading blog posts!

So here are 13 things I think of about Thanksgivings past...

1. Table - Thanksgiving was always one of those rare occasions when we went all out with setting the table with cloths, centerpieces, crystal, and china.

2. Handwashing - Alas, after dinner, I always had to handwash all that crystal and china! And I wouldn't let anyone else do it - better I be the one to break something!

3. Ambrosia salad - Any salad that includes whipped cream and marshmallows works for me!

4. Native Americans - Those people we invited over for dinner before taking all of their land in exchange for small pox and alcoholism.

5. Kick - The wide-left field goal kick that allowed the Saints to beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving day 2010.

6. Sauce - Cranberry. I always want to get creative with the cranberry sauce, trying out different recipes using fresh cranberries. My family wants no part of it. They all want that canned, jellied tube of cranberry sauce with the ridges. One year we picked up my, shall we say, befuddled grandmother from the nursing home to spend Thanksgiving with us. All she ate was the cranberry sauce. I think she had 2 cans of it.

7. Giblets - Yeah...Don't forget to take the giblets out of the turkey before roasting. Trust me on this.

8. Indicator - OK, so that might be something of a stretch, but I have to say it: That little pop-up indicator that's supposed to tell you when the turkey is ready? Useless. I'll have a turkey that should take 4 or 5 hours to cook. 90 minutes in - POP! That little red stick comes out to taunt me.

9. Vacations - Because my husband and kids had time off, we sometimes used Thanksgiving week for a family vacation. The first time we went to Disney World was on Thanksgiving, so we had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner in the Most Magical Place On Earth.

10. Italy - See #9 above. One year, my daughter and I toured Italy for 2 weeks, and we were in Florence on Thanksgiving day. I think we ate dinner at a favourite trattoria of mine. I had gnocchi with ham and peas in a cream sauce.

11. November - It seems like as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has fallen on a Thursday in November... (OK, OK, that's a cheap one; but I am having a lot of trouble coming up with something for another "N.")

12. Games - Yes, Thanksgiving is a day for being thankful that we can stuff ourselves silly, but it is also a day for football!  When not traveling on Thanksgiving, after the ten minutes it usually takes to gobble down a dinner it took hours to prepare, we want to spend the rest of the day feeling full and miserable in front of the TV watching football.

13. Snow - The SECOND greatest Thanksgiving day game (see #5 for the greatest): The 1993 Cowboys vs. Dolphins in this freak snowstorm. It was not only hilarious to watch, but to top it off, the Cowboys lost!

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