I love being ‘that’ grandma! You know...the one who brings favorite treats to family events. And makes awesome rolls. And has lots of hugs and encouragement to share. Yeah, THAT Grandma.
And I had that plan for Thanksgiving. Yes I did. I even bought the amazing rolls (haha, you thought I baked, didn’t you?)! And all the stuff to make these very fun and popular mini s’mores bites. They are so yummy! So the pie-hating kiddos could still have something cool to eat.
But then.....well...for the first time in nearly 60 years, I set something on fire in my kitchen!
Those yummy little marshmallow tops caught on fire under the broiler (never multi-task with marshmallows at stake). I smelled them before I saw them. I opened the oven a crack and the flames leapt higher. Oh no! I closed the oven and let the fire burn itself out. After about 15 minutes I thought it was safe enough to open without re-kindling the flame. And there it was....a huge pile of smoking, carbonized sugar on top of the pan with delicious melted, er, ultra-melted chocolate and graham cracker crust buried underneath. Yeah, buried is a good word.
Sadly, I realized that my ‘THAT Grandma’ dreams had just crashed and burned in a most spectacular way. No gooey treats! I was suddenly glad I hadn’t planned on baking rolls!!
I pushed my disappointment aside and moved on to the sweet potatoes. But..uh oh. The oven won’t start. Error codes on the screen indicate ‘excessive heat inside and possible damage to controls. Please call a technician’. Hmmm...guess a fire is a little too much for an oven.
More disappointment, but this is Thanksgiving and while food is the point, it's not really the point. Time to reboot.
While searching online for stovetop (read: non-oven) sweet potato recipes, a memory returned. I was about 6 years old and we were having Thanksgiving at my Grandma Fisher’s. It was possibly the first Thanksgiving after Grandpa Fisher passed away, and the Fisher clan plus a few others had gathered for the feast. I remember the conversation between my Uncle Ed and Grandma. “Did you pull the giblets out before you stuffed that thing?”
“Yes, of course I did!” Grandma huffed as she slid the pan into the oven.
And all during the time that the turkey was roasting, Ed would ask her again and Grandma would respond that she removed the bag of giblets. I remember this because I think giblets taste like dirt and I shuddered every time I heard them talk about it. Yuk!
At last it was time to carve the bird and Uncle Ed had the honors. Once again he asked. Once again she affirmed the giblets were not inside the bird. But then..... As he carved away and removed the stuffing, a strange thing emerged from the cavity of that turkey. Yep! Those giblets were inside the turkey all along!
“Look at that!” Grandma exclaimed, her face turning read and her eyes filling with tears. “Those giblets were in there after all! I swear I took those out of there!” And then she laughed. And the room erupted in laughter. In fact, throughout the meal, either Ed or Grandma would chuckle and say, “Those giblets!” while the rest of us giggled. It was comic relief in our sadness over a missing family member.
For years afterward, the same conversation occurred between my beloved Uncle Ed and Grandma. With a twinkle in his eye he would ask, “Are you sure you got the giblets out of that thing?” And Grandma would point to the ugly, smelly things (at least, I think they smell) cooking in a pan. Ultimately, I learned that things can not go as planned and often it’s just something to look back on and laugh about.
Now both Grandma and Uncle Ed have passed through the veil. They are watching their families gather for Thanksgiving dinners. Sometimes (like this year), we tell the story of Grandma and the Giblets. Sometimes (like this year), the best laid plans burst into flames.
But always (also like this year), we give thanks for each other. We give thanks for turkeys and that we can afford to have such bounty. We give thanks for grandchildren and being able to give hugs and encouragement. And that we can buy rolls rather than slaving over ovens. Most especially we give thanks for examples from generations past that prove that plans go awry but because we have each other and love each other, we can still give thanks.
And isn’t life like a fire in the oven and turkeys baked with giblets inside? Tragedy will strike all of us from time to time. We can’t predict it. The 'THAT Grandma' plans might not be how I think they should be. But we can remember that other also suffer and with a twinkle in our eye we can continue through the meal and give thanks for what we do have.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
May you enjoy your turkey with no giblets, because those things taste like dirt!!
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