Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Probably because it centers around food. As a child, I loved watching my mother prepare for the day's feast while happily watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Christmas Parade on T.V. My mom worked for days to make that one meal special.

One tradition that she passed down to me is Chestnut Stuffing. I can't imagine Thanksgiving without it. Something about those sweet tender morsels of nutty goodness peeking out from the bready mass makes you forget how much work goes into preparing them for turkey day.

The way to properly prepare them is to: 1) Buy far too many for your recipe, so you'll have plenty of extras to snack on, and to allow for any spoiled nuts.

2) Take a paring knife and cut "X's" into the skin of each chestnut, so they will cook faster (they don't), and will be easier to peel, once roasted (they aren't). Actually, I believe this is a tradition of torture passed down from my grandmother to my mother to me as payback for having to work so frigging hard on a holiday.

3) Place the chestnuts on a large backing sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until your smoke alarm goes off. This is also a good time to bandage all those cuts inflicted by the paring knife.

4) Cool the chestnuts -- but not for too long, or they'll turn to stone and you'll NEVER get them peeled. While still warm, however the peel can easily be removed to reveal: a) one of God's most sublime creations, or b) a wormy, rotten mess. Hopefully the former, not the latter.

Now comes the really hard part: resisting the urge to devour the batch before they're used in the stuffing.


You think I'm joking, don't you?

But, take heart, for you will soon be munching that manna from the Man Above, along with all those other delights that are so intrinsic to this one day; this special day, this Thanksgiving Day.

Now that is something to be thankful for!




Happy Thanksgiving.