We're really in the middle of the food holidays right now, aren't we? Unlike most Americans, I don't have a big Thanksgiving, though I do love the idea. The Thanksgivings of my adult life have been spent either working at Disneyland or working the following Friday, which prevents me from traveling to Northern California to spend it with my family. So I'm an expert at the solo Thanksgiving experience!
My first Thanksgiving alone was the hardest. I spent the day working at Disneyland and then went home to an empty house...no turkey, no pie, nobody at all! I felt like I had been gypped out of a national holiday, you know? Like it was every American's responsibility to spend the day eating turkey, watching football, and hanging out with crazy relatives.
The first few years, picking up Del Taco at the end of a long day at work became my holiday tradition. And funny enough, I can't eat Del Taco now without thinking about those early Thanksgivings!
Eventually I realized that having a completely empty day is kind of a gift in itself. No stores are open, so I can't really go anywhere; everybody else in my life has plans, so there's no one to steal me away from a productive day. Thus, my stolen day just for Me.
I always write my Christmas cards on Thanksgiving Day. Wrapping presents is good, too. It's a fine day to clear out something, like a closet or a cabinet; in a holiday centered around overflowing prosperity, it's nice to pare down a bit. I always cook on Thanksgiving (once I gave up the Del Taco tradition), but let's face it, I hate turkey. And yams. And biscuits. And mashed potatoes too, usually. If the day is just for me, why make food I don't like? I tend to put a big pot of homemade marinara sauce on to simmer all day. Sometimes I pull out the pasta maker and spend the afternoon making homemade ravioli or sun-dried tomato pasta or something. It's great fun and always an enjoyable afternoon.
In the evening I usually go for a walk down by the beach. Balboa is my favorite haunt. At Thanksgiving, you can walk along the water and see inside almost every house, and they're all full of people celebrating the holiday. I love to peek inside people's houses at Thanksgiving.
I love to cook, and I can't wait for the day that I can cook a huge dinner for people. I've been saving recipes for years. It will be perfectly splendid, I know it will. But in the meantime, my stolen day is pretty nice, too.
I think I'm spending Thanksgiving this year the same way! No family, no friends, just quiet.
You are so productive on Thanksgiving. I think I would end up just sitting around. Certainly wouldn't be making any pasta from scratch...
Posted by: Ron Rapp at November 26, 2003 05:57 PM