My Mother’s Thanksgiving Dinner

I would be lying if I said the best thing I ate this week was anything other than my mother’s Thanksgiving dinner.

My mom can truly cook anything from Italian, to Polish, to American, to Chinese cuisine that beats any restaurant. And she pulls out all the stops when it comes to Thanksgiving.

We usually have 20 people over and she cooks pasta, kielbasa, roast beef and a 24-pound turkey (and all the traditional sides and desserts). But this year it was just six of us, a 14-pound turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and gravy.

We decided to keep it simple this year.

The turkey was juicy on the inside, but the skin was nice and golden brown. The mashed potatoes were buttery and smooth. The gravy was thick, rich and hearty.

The green bean casserole, which was made by one of my sisters, was covered with crunchy onions, flavored with cream of mushroom soup and soy sauce and was a creamy delight.

The cranberry sauce added just the right sweetness to each forkful.

For dessert my sister made a blueberry pie with a crumb topping and I made a pumpkin pie. Both were sweet, delicious and packed with down-home flavor.

Afterwards, I hit the couch, passed out (dreaming of boats of gravy navigating through mountains of mashed potatoes) and woke up the next morning.