What's on Your Thanksgiving Table?

Having recently moved to NH from FL, I called my sister the other day to go over the "what's on your menu?" conversation. It's kind of silly, because my sister can actually cook. Anyhow, she listed all the stuff she was preparing and then we hung up. I thought, "Hey, what about dessert?" and called back. 

"Oh."
"Apple pie."

I said, "Isn't that kind of boring?" and she replied, "Yeah, but that's all these people will eat." She paused and said, "I might just pick up a frozen pumpkin pie. For me."

  We spend so much time planning and shopping and cleaning and eating! What would happen if we did not get anything that we wanted to eat on Thanksgiving Day? That is the premise of this great book by Eileen Spinelli called Thanksgiving at the Tappleton's.

In this story, each member of the family is responsible for one of the critical parts of the dinner: the turkey, the mashed potatoes, the salad, and the pie. Due to a series of mishaps, starting with the frozen turkey sliding off the slippery back porch and into the pond, the dinner kind of falls apart before our eyes. However, those responsible do not want to admit to the rest of the family that there is a problem, and figure they will just "make do" with the rest of the menu and maybe nobody will notice, right?

Unfortunately, all of the critical items have been pilfered, lost, or destroyed. Then the very, very, hungry grandparents arrive!

Kind of like Cyndi Loo Who wondering if Christmas can come without the presents, can Thanksgiving come without the special food? What a great topic of discussion for your family or classroom! It does make you think about what we are truly thankful for.

Many, many of the children at the school I tutor at are considered
"Food Insecure." That is just a nice way of saying that they do not know where their next meal is coming from. Literally.

It might be interesting to talk about this book over a meal and come up with what each person would not mind eating if they had to miss their turkey and gravy. Although I am extremely fond of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce, I think if I had to pick a substitute from the pantry I would go for peanut butter and jelly, with a chaser of milk. With my family sitting across the table from me.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Relaxing!
Happy Eating!
Nancy