A Zoom Thanksgiving

 

Plenty of people are griping about the pandemic ruining their holiday plans.  I'm not one of them.  I've really missed having Thanksgiving at home.  I did not realize how much until I was sitting down to dinner -  on my parents' wedding china - facing my laptop.

Techie Smurf and his family were on the other end, roughly where the pie is in the photo.  They had positioned their computer in a way that made it look like I was at a normal distance for the 4th chair.  Zoom video and sound quality are actually very good when there are only two devices at the meeting.  It felt like "the future" we had been shown in the 80s of what life would be like around now.  Minus the pandemic.

What helped to make the meal intimate and "real" was that we had almost identical menus.  We had not discussed what to have; families generally do have the same things out of habit.  I had skipped stuffing, and their pumpkin pie had a gingersnap crust.  They had braised turkey legs, and I had roasted a breast.  My sweet potatoes were still in chunks, and Writer Smurf had done her mashed sweet potato casserole with perfectly aligned marshmallows.  My green bean casserole was from scratch and theirs was the recipe on the can.  All just slight variations on the same meal.

It was also nice to have dinner when I wanted.  I was baking the next day, so sitting down at 3:30pm was about right.  They're still on the East coast, so it was 6:30, a normal dinner time.  I didn't have to drive home 45 minutes afterwards, wary of possible drunk drivers.  And I got to keep all the leftovers!  It has been years since I've had Thanksgiving leftovers.

No offense to the people who generously have me over every year (primarily for the pie), but I'm kind of liking this new tradition.

Menu

Roasted Turkey Breast
Green Bean Casserole
Maple and Spice Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce & Gravy
Butter White Bread
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie