Happy Thanksgiving 🦃

Where we talk about pies and the future

Years ago, my husband and I gave up on turkey. Turkey somehow always had an uncomfortable effect the day after, and frankly we didn’t like the taste of turkey. At least, I didn’t. I grew up with a different kind of palette, wherein on holidays we feasted on dishes like barbecued pig, grilled meats and rich, savory curries and beef stew. This year, at my church they went both directions, serving its congregants the traditional “American thanksgiving” with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. AND the Vietnamese version filled with the aforementioned dishes and more. All made for a very good lunch.

After church, we gathered at my mom’s 500 square foot apartment, all 15 of us. My two older brothers and his family including mine made for a tight squeeze, so most of us sat on fold out chairs or on the ground to eat. It wasn’t exactly our plan but rather my mom plotted to get all of her kids and their respective family members in one spot as if this were her last year on earth or something. Ironically, the conversation somehow turned into us all talking (or rather, joking) about her final days.

“Ma, have you made a will yet?”

“Ma, what do you want your headstone to say?”

“Ma, can you give us more details about your birthplace, parents and what you did when you were young so I can give the priest something to talk about at your funeral?”

“Ma, if I ever live to be as old as you I’m gonna go find myself a nice old people community and just have fun with it.”

And my personal favorite…

“Ma, why don’t you split up the wealth right now? I’ll take the gold bars.” (That was my oldest sister in law, lol. She was joking, of course, because my mom lives on a very limited monthly budget so it’s highly unlikely that she’ll have gold bars hiding somewhere in her apartment).

I had planned on making pie but didn’t have enough time, so we settled on a Marie Callender’s rhubarb pie, which nobody ate but me, my husband and our kids. I suppose I’m not offended as it was a store bought pie but still…I consider pie to be the epitome of a good meal, sitting on the same throne as the illustrious turkey (actually, we had roasted chicken instead; everyone seemed to like that!) carved and displayed in all its glory.

I will rest my case by letting the pies speak for themselves.

What pie(s) do you like?

Personally I’m a blueberry kind of gal. Sometimes I also go for apple but I find that fruit pies make me the most excited. I generally prefer a dichotomy of flavors and textures. Blueberry and apple does that for me. Combined with the buttery crust it’s an explosion of flavor and the more tart the fruit the better.