It begins.

We're having Thanksgiving dinner just the four of us this year. A variety of logistical challenges - some related to Katie's dietary restrictions, other merely timing and miscommunications of one kind or another - has us at home. We'll go to Michelle's parents' house this afternoon for dessert. While were at it, we'll take a large portion of fresh homemade cranberry sauce to the Troop A headquarters of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Gotta support the folks who are supporting us...and, well, having two trooper friends helps, too.

We did our meal a little different this year. Since it was just us, we got two turkey tenderloins and one drumstick. This was a natural turkey, not a Butterball or Tyson, and the difference was marked. The meat was darker, for one thing: the drumstick so dark and with an iron-y flavor that bordered on organ meat, rich and firm. (Pensey's Mural of Flavor for the rub.) The white meat was darker than your average commercially available bird, and nearly as flavorful as the dark meat. The juices made wonderful gravy, as you might expect. We'll never buy Butterball again.

I know that the affects of tryptophan are a myth, but the myth is making me awfully sleepy.

So, with the orgy of lip-syncing and commercial sponsorship that is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade done, dinner done, we're off to Blue Springs for pie, thence to MSHP headquarters to spread the cheer. A good night's sleep, then a day of house decorating, and the Christmas season will officially be here.

I haven't done any of the "thankful" stuff that's been going around - mostly on Facebook - because I simply don't feel it day to day. It gets buried under the daily worries and frustrations. So, let me sum up:

I'm grateful I have a job. The pay isn't as high as I'd like - or as high as my family needs, frankly - but our bills are paid, and no one is knocking on the door with foreclosure papers.

I'm grateful Michelle and I can cook. We had to learn how to accommodate our daughter, but damn, we do eat well. I finally grok gravy, can pan sauces be far behind?

I'm grateful I have in-laws that love our children and want to be involved in their lives as much as their advancing years will allow.

I'm grateful for my wife, and our children. The ways you enrich my life are immeasurable and priceless.

It begins.

We're having Thanksgiving dinner just the four of us this year. A variety of logistical challenges - some related to Katie's dietary restrictions, other merely timing and miscommunications of one kind or another - has us at home. We'll go to Michelle's parents' house this afternoon for dessert. While were at it, we'll take a large portion of fresh homemade cranberry sauce to the Troop A headquarters of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Gotta support the folks who are supporting us...and, well, having two trooper friends helps, too.

We did our meal a little different this year. Since it was just us, we got two turkey tenderloins and one drumstick. This was a natural turkey, not a Butterball or Tyson, and the difference was marked. The meat was darker, for one thing: the drumstick so dark and with an iron-y flavor that bordered on organ meat, rich and firm. (Pensey's Mural of Flavor for the rub.) The white meat was darker than your average commercially available bird, and nearly as flavorful as the dark meat. The juices made wonderful gravy, as you might expect. We'll never buy Butterball again.

I know that the affects of tryptophan are a myth, but the myth is making me awfully sleepy.

So, with the orgy of lip-syncing and commercial sponsorship that is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade done, dinner done, we're off to Blue Springs for pie, thence to MSHP headquarters to spread the cheer. A good night's sleep, then a day of house decorating, and the Christmas season will officially be here.

I haven't done any of the "thankful" stuff that's been going around - mostly on Facebook - because I simply don't feel it day to day. It gets buried under the daily worries and frustrations. So, let me sum up:

I'm grateful I have a job. The pay isn't as high as I'd like - or as high as my family needs, frankly - but our bills are paid, and no one is knocking on the door with foreclosure papers.

I'm grateful Michelle and I can cook. We had to learn how to accommodate our daughter, but damn, we do eat well. I finally grok gravy, can pan sauces be far behind?

I'm grateful I have in-laws that love our children and want to be involved in their lives as much as their advancing years will allow.

I'm grateful for my wife, and our children. The ways you enrich my life are immeasurable and priceless.