Yup, This is How Thanksgiving's Gonna Be Around Here This Year

      The turkey's all slathered in olive oil, salted & peppered and in the oven (the crispy skin is dad's favorite part of the bird.  Many many moons ago he worked in an old country inn, where he'd deep fry chicken skins, smother them with salt and not share them with co-workers), potatoes are boiling, stuffing's seasoned just right, and the cranberry sauce is chilling.
     There's rich, moist, cream cheese icing-robed carrot cake, bourbon chocolate pecan pie, snickerdoodles, gingersnaps, still-warm pumpkin pie, piled high with towering swirls of fresh whipped, heavenly sweetened cream. 
     The rolls are just about ready for butter-brushing,  and dad's drooling, near-erotic images of an overflowing gravy boat tilting and twirling through his slumbering brain.

     Damn, mom sure has her work cut out for her.  She's toughed it out for years, reforming this aging foodaholic we know and love, trying to change his ways to keep him around as long as she can. 

     Dad grew up in a large family, the above-mentioned a regular part of all the family gatherings.  Seems everything always revolved around food.  Deep down mom knows she's got an uphill battle, even though dad insists he's over his previous eating habits, habits formed over too many years.

     She's worked so hard to get him to change his ways, and though he's much better with her in control she still worries.
     Today we're going to be having non-GMO roasted turkey breast, fresh green beans, juicy corn on the cob, champagne mimosas throughout the day and- the best part- mom's mouthwatering homemade peanut butter cookies topped with Hershey's kisses.  In moderation, of course (riiight, that explains the two bottles of champagne and half gallon of orange juice in the fridge, right dad?).  
     Mom made the cookies yesterday, filling the apartment with the delightful aroma of her homemade, fresh-ground peanut butter (no salt, no sugar, of course).  She gave dad the unused kisses to bring to work to share, with strict instructions not to eat any (he ate only one, really). 
     As with almost every Thanksgiving since mom and dad met we'll be watching It's a Wonderful Life, catching some of the parade, and just chilling. There's enough stress out there. Mom and dad try to keep things simple. It's one thing we can control.   

     So to everyone, in spite of all the crazy shit in the news these days, in spite of the divisive, sickening, appalling headlines almost daily now, try to have a most awesome and happy Thanksgiving Day.