The Voice of Treason

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity…

And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

– George Washington’s Farewell Address, September 1796

Ask someone to define morality and you’re bound to get a variety of answers. Most people would agree that it is linked to a specific code of conduct or ethical behavior based on some concept of what is right and what is wrong. Sure, a lot of this varies according to society and the different cultures and religions with a society. And that can create some issues because what I consider moral conduct might not be what you consider moral conduct. That’s why on the “big issues,” many people like to find common ground based on religious principles. Most religions seem to be on the same page on a lot of this, but then problems can arise when guidelines are interpreted one way and not the other. For instance, one group of individuals might feel mass genocide is acceptable, yet consider naming a stuffed toy “Mohammed” an offense punishable by death. And why would this not make sense? After the slaughter of half a million people, what’s so absurd about executing a clueless, foreign, middle-aged schoolteacher? Just a drop in the bucket. Yet there are those who feel this type of disregard for life is immoral. One can be offended, yet spare the life of the offender. Different people, different philosophies, different governments. But I digress.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with the Father of Our Country who believed there was a link between freedom and a moral government. That sounds good, doesn’t it? A moral government. But what precisely is that?

There are those who want a clear separation of Church and State and interpret this as the establishment of a government that is free of any particular religious leanings. Others believe that our political system is based on particular religious teachings and that our nation was founded on a deep-seated belief in a higher power.

There are those, too, that seem to believe that morality has no place in government. Generally we refer to these individuals as politicians. But then there are those in politics that believe there should be a stronger influence from religion… and that seems to be acceptable depending, of course, on the religion. So where is this going? I have no idea, actually. I just started thinking about the role of religion in government because I saw that David Frum had written about Michael Gerson’s book in National Review. I’d just posted something on Gerson recently, so I was interested in what Frum had to say.

In a nutshell, Frum thinks Gerson has some issues. One could say Frum has some of his own, but on this matter I tend to side with Frum. Especially since it sounds like Gerson lifted a bit from Frum for his book. Odd, coming from someone who’s criticizing others for their lack of integrity. I’d heard once that “integrity is what you do when no one is watching,” and if that’s the case, Gerson might just be a tad integrity-challenged.

Plagiarism aside, my beef with Gerson is that he holds himself above others because he is a Christian and believes that Christian principles should be more generously applied to conservative policies. Not just compassionate conservatism, but heroic conservatism. And he himself is quite generous with criticism and that strikes me as a bit ungracious. It’s no coincidence that his political hero is Jimmy Carter, an overtly religious, pious figure. But, like Carter, Gerson’s vanity seems to get in the way. And it’s that vanity, that self-importance, and that self-righteousness that weakens Gerson’s position.

There are particular behaviors that some generally regard as “Christian,” yet those are really just behaviors that aren’t necessarily attributed to any specific religion, but rather to a belief in doing the right thing for the right reason. Of being decent and fair. Of being careful and caring. Of balancing idealism and realism, and bringing fine ideas to realization. One can apply common decency to his work and accomplish great things, and do much of it without requiring fanfare or credit. Or even perfection. One such person was Henry Hyde.

NRO published a tribute to Hyde, who was, by all accounts, heroic. R.I.P.

There’s been quite a bit of buzz over the lunch between President Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, and George Soros. No doubt they were discussing the United Nations’ list of the best places in the world to live.

A sample:

1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Japan
9. Netherlands
10. France

I imagine the ambassador and Mr. Soros were simply comparing their new vacation home plans in Reykjavík. Yet another helpful report from the U.N. A pity we can’t convince the organization to relocate from the Number 12 spot to one in the more inviting top ten.

Duncan Hunter suggested that we should make it a point to buy American when we’re out there consuming. Why, what a concept! There’s one small problem, however. A lot of us have been trying to do just that, but it’s easier said than done, Congressman. I always look at the labels and I base many of my purchases on where an item comes from. I conjure boycotts in my head and often put things back on the shelf when I discover it’s manufactured in a country or sometimes even a state that I don’t particularly want to support. The problem is that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find items made in the U.S.A.

Been through the produce section lately? You may think the garlic you’ve put in your cart was grown in Gilroy, California, but think again. The garlic you’re buying was probably brought here from China. I like to think I’m buying apples from Washington, but no… they’re usually from New Zealand. Oranges from California or Florida? I rarely find those in the supermarket.

Let me relay a typical shopping experience. I’m standing in an aisle at Sunflower Market and some signage catches my eye. “Ooh. Sun dried tomatoes!” I reach for a jar with a $3.99 price tag, but then I notice there’s another jar on the shelf below at $2.99. And it’s a larger jar. More sun dried tomatoes for a more reasonable price. My resources are limited and these tasty little devils are not inexpensive. Truth be told, they’re sort of a luxury item, but I keep them around because I can’t afford pizza anymore. I’ve found that we can produce one at home on the cheap that tastes even better than what we can get delivered or at a favorite pizzeria. In fact, it’s less expensive for me to stock a particular brand of frozen cheese pizza than to create my own dough and supply the cheese and sauce. Because the foundation is affordable I can splurge a bit on special ingredients to make a pizza taste like I spent a small fortune. And let’s be honest – a little sun dried tomato can go an awfully long way.

So… I really want the big jar that costs a dollar less than the 8.5 ounce jar. Okay, I ask myself, what’s the catch? I look at the label on the more expensive jar. Bella Sun Luci! A product of Mooney Farms, Chico, California. In large letters under the website: PRODUCT OF USA. A million voices in my head – your mother’s name is Lucia and her family called her Luci, your high school friend Linda went to Chico State, there’s a tiny recipe book stuck to the lid of the jar, the tomatoes are packed in olive oil…

I picked up the bigger jar. The tomatoes were packed in a different oil, but there sure were a lot of them. And they were produced in Turkey. Quick check: Do I hate Turkey this week? What are my political feelings towards the Turks at this moment? Do I want to support their economy or ours?

That dollar would buy something else at the market, but I put the smaller jar in the cart. I bought the American product, then wondered who picked the tomatoes.

But that’s not the end of the story (it never is). Later that day I ran into one of our many dollar stores and found the same jar of sun dried tomatoes I’d seen for $2.99 at Sunflower. A slightly different label, but still a product of Turkey. And the price? Well, it’s a dollar store, so you do the math. For the price of the U.S. product, I could have purchased four larger jars of Turkish tomatoes. Like I said, a little sun dried tomato goes a long way so I may have been looking at a one or two year supply of the things. Sad but true, having principles isn’t cheap.

It’s easier to buy American when cost is no object, but what will the average person do when faced with such a substantial price difference? And for those who don’t bother to look at labels, the obvious choice is the bigger jar at the lower price.

The CNN debate shouldn’t have surprised anyone, but it should be noted that a highlight was the thirty-second campaign video produced by Giuliani’s people. The one which ended on the suggestion that when “Hillary” and “plant” are in the same sentence no one’s talking about a Philodendron. Ironic, considering that only minutes after the conclusion of the debate, Bill Bennett announced that he’d received information that the gay Brigadier General was a Clinton plant. The questions and questioners are a minor detail; what’s more interesting to me is how the media is portraying Huckabee as the winner.

This relates to yesterday’s post which suggests that there is an assumption that intelligence is tied to one’s verbal skills. The Left hears Bush talk and they conclude that he is moronic and unqualified to sit in the Oval Office. What they don’t understand is that some people, after eight years of a smooth-talker, feel more comfortable with a president who struggles to get a sentence out of his mouth. Hence, another assumption: slickness can’t be trusted, therefore Bush – who cannot be thought of as slick – can be trusted. It sounds nuts, but there are a few who bristle when Huckabee glides, stumble-free, through one of these debates. He’s articulate, glib, charming, and well… a little too Clintonian for comfort. Is it something in the water in Arkansas? But this might help to explain why Giuliani’s doing well compared to some of the other candidates. His speech sounds natural and unpretentious, yet he’s articulate enough for the job. He’s sort of in the middle of the elocution scale, let’s say.

The Left can afford to be kind to Huckabee because he won’t win. And there’s no way such an overtly religious candidate will appeal to them. Those on the Right who are impressed need to take a moment to examine his record more closely. There are many things I like about Mike Huckabee but I do not allow myself to be charmed by his easy manner and sense of humor. My theory: A silver tongue easily tarnishes.

This is an idiom that many believe to mean that one should be on his best behavior or be careful of his language. That could be interpreted as being careful to choose the right word, being careful not to use an offensive word, or being careful to simply use one’s language properly. But that requires some knowledge and practice of the rules of grammar and pronunciation.

When it comes to idioms, there are often several ways to explain expressions we use but rarely understand. One explanation is “mind your pints and quarts,” something that may have been generated in an English pub. It’s possible. Another could be the advice given to children learning to write to be careful not to mix up the lower case letters “p” and “q.” How quaint, since they don’t teach penmanship in government schools anymore. (T mentioned he saw the handwriting of an adolescent recently and was appalled that there was such a liberal mixing of upper and lower case letters within words – a standard error of our times.)

I mention this because I watched the President at the podium with Abbas and Olmert and I did cringe a little when he butchered the pronunciation of their names. It was unfortunate because I know that he knows how to say their names without stumbling over them – although I admit he’s had trouble with “Olmert” before – but it always looks bad when he chokes like that.

Keith Olbermann, of course, devoted quite a bit of time to this and maintained that disgusted look throughout his “report.” He, like others of his political persuasion, interprets the President’s verbal stumbles as evidence of a dull mind. Fact: Because George Bush can’t consistently communicate clearly he must be stupid. Let’s, for a moment, accept that as a truth and say, transversely… uh, conversely, that if someone can communicate clearly he must be smart.

I’m reminded of one of my high school theater teachers. She had just assigned parts to students in class and one girl protested. “I don’t think I can do this. I just don’t speak very well.” It was true, the girl did struggle with proper usage and the character she would be playing did not have the same issues. I was impressed that she voiced her opinion and I interpreted it as an admission of a problem she thought should be overcome. But then the teacher told us that how a person speaks has nothing to do with intelligence. To illustrate her point she recalled a college classmate who spoke extremely well and was always grammatically correct, but she was one of the dumbest people my instructor had ever met.

So the production went forward and most people agreed the girl had been terribly miscast. Frankly, I failed to see how the experience helped her.

I’m old enough (hear that creaking? that’s me) to be one of those kids who survived elementary school teachers who had no problem smashing a youngster’s self-esteem. If a student mispronounced a word or misspelled a word, our teachers made sure it wouldn’t happen again. Why? Because, as they would explain, others will think you are uneducated. Stupid. And nothing was worse than that.

I was one of those kids who was speaking as an infant (my baby book says my first word was “tea”) and I never had issues with dialect. My sister complained that I sounded weird and couldn’t understand why I didn’t sound like a Chicagoan. She would correct me in her slightly hard Chicago dialect: “It’s ‘hot,’ not ‘haht.’ Talk right, will you?”

And I would find myself correcting my playmates. “Do not say ‘ain’t’!” and “It isn’t ‘them’ shoes, it’s those shoes! And it isn’t “don’t” – it’s doesn’t. As in, it doesn’t matter to me.” And, as I soon realized, it really didn’t matter to them. It wasn’t a priority. I even corrected my own mother when she’d start speaking what we used to call “Erie-ese.” And that went over like a lead balloon. No one enjoys being corrected – it’s embarrassing, insulting, rude. But those who feel they must point out others’ language transgressions feel that saying something wrong is more embarrassing than being berated for it.

It makes a person feel bad about himself, educators say, so teachers aren’t correcting students anymore. If they were we’d see evidence of it. Parents don’t seem to be doing their part, either, so kids are growing up sounding like idiots. My crusty old English teachers – the ones I adored and who influenced me to grow up to become a crusty old English major – explained that a person could learn to perfect their speech if they read well-written books. One would see how sentences were put together and how words were used. It would seep in and affect speech patterns positively. This is partly true, I think. How often do you hear someone mangle a common expression? I believe it’s because the person has never actually seen it in print. They’ve heard it, they repeat it, but they aren’t aware that they’re saying something that doesn’t make any sense and bears little resemblance to the actual expression.

I’m not saying that theater teacher who told the student that the way she spoke had nothing to do with her intelligence was wrong, but I do think she simplified a not-so-simple issue. Some people are supremely intelligent but verbal skills, for them, are a challenge. I don’t think anyone would support the argument that a person whose math skills are weak is automatically ignorant. (Well, maybe a mathematician would. But let’s see him write a great novel. Okay – some people are good at both, but those people are rare, blessed, and are probably slightly better at one than the other.)

We can take sides on this issue, sure, and argue forever. I just find it disturbing that the Left feels that every gaffe, every verbal blunder from Bush is proof that he’s a moron. Why? Because the same people who nitpick and roll their eyes at Bush have absolutely no issues when they permit the mangling of the language when it’s mangled by one of their own — especially if that individual is black.

I think teachers and parents are doing a disservice when they allow youngsters to abuse and misuse the language. It isn’t cruel to correct a child who makes an error – it’s cruel not to. Poor communication skills might not seem all that important in a world that seems to think it’s appropriate to speak as if you’re thumbing out a quick text message, but one thing has not changed. You may talk like you’ve never cracked open a book and no one around you would think to correct you, but the perception still stands, regardless. You might say “irregardless” and be perfectly smart, true, but it just won’t seem that way to others. So why allow them to assume something that’s false? Respect yourself, respect the language. It might not always come out perfect, but it doesn’t hurt to give it your best shot.

(Here’s a fun page to peruse for common errors we’ve all committed – unless, of course, you’re Bill Buckley.)

“The great people I’ve met always have time for the niceties.”

– Mercedes McCambridge

Today I’d planned to do a faux interview with Buzzo the Wonder Fly, who reportedly had access this week to the Oval Office and was, quite literally, the fly on the wall during that awkward meeting between the President and Algore. I sat for a few minutes formulating questions and answers, then decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble.

“Let Rob Long do it,” I told myself. “After all, he’s the master.”

This meeting was just one more example of Bush outreach, and that’s fine. It’s typical Bush. After all, he had the Kennedys over for movie night, he hands out praise and awards to people who would probably like to see him peeled like a grape (Benjamin Hooks, for instance, is a recent recipient), and he has been nothing but gracious towards the former inhabitants of the White House. His own father has practically adopted the former president.

I understand why Bush does this because he’s the one who has to live with himself. Call it a Christian thing or call it common decency – George Bush is not going to stop being nice to people who despise him. I imagine Barbara Bush might have given her children the same advice my mother gave me when I was a kid. I’d come home from school complaining that someone had made up their mind to find fault with me and she always said the same thing. “Be nice to them.” I thought she said it because she assumed it was the classy thing to do – to rise above any pettiness and not sink to a foe’s level, but later I realized that what she was saying was closer to this: “Be nice. It will annoy them and eventually they’ll leave you alone.”

In many cases that worked pretty well, but in partisan politics I don’t think it does. One never gets credit for being nice… if one is on the right side of the issues. But Bush will continue to be pleasant because that’s his pattern of behavior. He’s not a divider, he’s a uniter, if you recall. The problem is that he’s united with a lot of the wrong people. After his father left office it seemed like everyone and his brother came out to publicly criticize the administration because it was so full of people who didn’t have the best interests of the president in mind. In short, a weak group.

George is his father’s son and has, unfortunately, made some of the same mistakes. It seems to me that he has surrounded himself with a lot of people – Michael Gerson types — who share his Christian beliefs and feel that they are “compassionate conservatives,” but if you examine their personal histories you’ll discover that too many of them “used to be” Democrats. That’s like saying “I used to be a smoker.” Or an alcoholic. Or a heroin addict. Or a child molester. Or an ax murderer. You might have broken a bad habit, but there’s always the chance that you’ll take it up again.

Truth be told, I think Bush is surrounded by – and influenced by – some nice, well-meaning people who haven’t quite broken old habits.

One of the most delightful things about this holiday was the gloomy weather. I stayed inside, brewed big cups of hot tea, and had four solid days of C-SPAN 2 — Book TV. Sam Tanenhaus had been taped at AEI in Washington and I tuned in for his lecture: “George W. Bush and the Future of Conservatism.” One question: Has Tanenhaus read every book ever written? I know that would be impossible, but he does such a good job of convincing us he’s at least leafed through them all.

But I digress. He was making the point that, in many ways, President Bush could easily be compared to LBJ. Picture a rough-around-the-edges Texan assuming office after someone so smooth-talking and glamorous. (Tanenhaus uses the word “élan” and you get the picture.) Sure, Bill Clinton idolized Kennedy and comparisons have been drawn. Tanenhaus, whether you agree with him or not, deserves credit for supporting his case and support it he does.

So if we had Kennedy, then Johnson, and Tanenhaus compares this to Clinton, then Bush, who would be next in line? In other words, who’s the most Nixonian candidate in the race? It starts to make sense, doesn’t it? How often was the Clinton administration compared to Nixon’s? How many parallels were drawn? How many coincidences?

So if Hillary follows Bush… is there another impeachment in our future? A resignation, perhaps? Then who would be the VP assuming the office? If there’s anything to this repeat pattern we’d need a Ford. Mind you, all this was spinning in my head when I walked down to the mailbox and found my new dead-tree issue of National Review. The one with Barack Obama on the cover, described as “The New Jimmy Carter.”

I’ve seen the future… and I’ve already lived it.

“There is a wonderful, wonderful scene at the Battlefield of Yorktown: the moment when everyone would be expected to crow in victory, when the Americans had, in effect, stumbled onto victory and defeated the British, and, needless to say, the Continentals were in a mood to rub it in; and Washington prohibited his men from cheering. As he put it — a wonderful line — he says, ‘Posterity will huzzah for us.’ He was not only playing to the immediate crowd, he was playing to posterity.

– Richard Norton Smith on our first President

“It is said that General Washington cautioned his troops, saying, ‘My boys, let there be no insults over a conquered foe, when they lay down their arms, don’t huzzah, posterity will huzzah for you.’”

– America’s March To Yorktown Daily Log

I think it’s safe to say, then, that George Washington probably did utter those words. Maturity and dignity were two of his attributes, so I do not doubt the authenticity. He was a man who saw the BIG PICTURE, as we like to say.

Yet we live in a world where life moves fast, so we tend to want our huzzahs in the here and now. Waiting, patience – all that is quaint, outdated. Still, there are a few individuals who can see beyond today, next month, and next year. Things might not pan out for them in the here and now but in time… isn’t that what used to be called the fruits of one’s labor? One day a man’s work, his ideas, will bear fruit. And it might just be long after he’s gone.

I think of the remarkable breakthrough in skin cell research. Some are downplaying the significance, but those in the know are calling this HUGE. Credit should be given, then, to our 43rd President for encouraging more research for alternatives to embryonic stem cell use. One wonders what other decisions will pan out long after his administration ends.

Same could be said, I imagine, for Australia’s John Howard. Like Washington, he demonstrated maturity, dignity, and saw the BIG PICTURE. So here’s hoping that, because today’s generations won’t, posterity will huzzah for both Howard and Bush.

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

“With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country…

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

– Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to his daughter, 1784

It’s no secret that Doctor Franklin wanted the turkey, a noble, native bird and an enduring symbol of both courage and sustenance, to represent our nation. One has to wonder, though: If the turkey had become our national symbol, would we be raising it the way we do, then eating it? Don’t misunderstand – I’m not proposing we give up turkey consumption. I did that many years ago and my high school Health Ed instructor, who had grown up on a turkey ranch in California, pulled me aside and said:

“Never feel guilty about eating a turkey. Trust me on this.”

Still, I maintain warm feelings towards this particular bird and would not hesitate to raise a few if I owned a farm. Not to eat, though. The turkey is a magnificent bird and should be revered. I don’t much care for those bowling tournaments that make use of frozen birds; no, the turkey deserves more respect than that. (Let’s not get into a debate about factory farms because it’s one I’ll just forfeit.)

What I like about the turkey, besides its obvious charm and beauty, is what the bird has come to represent. It’s all about tradition and the ritual of thinking about the bird, planning the holiday around it, choosing the right one, stuffing it, roasting it, filling up the house with its glorious aroma, then presenting it to loved ones in its golden grandeur.

Ah, and the leftovers! Days of nibbling simple chunks and slices with a tiny sprinkle of salt, or thick sandwiches layered with cranberry sauce and stuffing. A turkey and avocado sandwich is always a good choice, and here in the Great American Southwest a turkey green chile stew or green chile, turkey, sour cream, and cheese enchiladas are always appropriate. Use that carcass and make turkey noodle soup. In the mood for pasta? Throw a quick casserole together – a variation on turkey tetrazzini. But the absolute best way to make the leftover turkey disappear is to whip up an aromatic curry. Why, a turkey curry is just splendid!

I look forward to Thanksgiving all year long because I enjoy the ritual of the turkey. T says I can buy and roast a bird whenever I want – and I know that, of course I do – but waiting for that one special bird each November makes it almost sacrosanct. No doubt about it, I cherish the ritual of the turkey.

However…

If I moved to a country where turkeys were not available or were not consumed as food products or were considered either sacred or even contraband, I would be singing a different tune. And if I found out that turkeys were little disease carriers and their meat could be linked to exotic fevers, Ebola, HIV, SARS, or turkeypox, I would not risk infecting myself or others just to hold on to a ritual. Sure, I would miss turkey but I would adapt, adjust, give up turkey, find an appropriate substitute, or adopt a new tradition or ritual. After all, isn’t a ritual really just a habit? I’ve broken habits before and I wouldn’t hesitate to give up turkey cold turkey.

So to West Africans who can’t get that monkey off their backs over monkey meat: Please — get over it and stop trying to smuggle monkey parts into the United States. And don’t start eating our monkeys here, okay?

Adapt, adjust, adopt a new taste treat and work that into your holiday diet. May I suggest turkey?

This was an unusual holiday in that it was just the three of us: T, me, and the dog. T’s mother stayed in Denver, and my mother stayed in hospice. No guests. The weather was expected to turn cold and there was a possibility of rain and snow – a good thing, considering we’ve had a wildfire burning out of control in the Manzanos since Monday morning.

I wanted to get all my Thanksgiving shopping done on Sunday evening, but I ran into my annual issue with Brussels sprouts. The store I’d chosen to get everything I needed so I wouldn’t have to run out again had only a few Brussels sprouts left. They were $2.49 a pound and looked like they fell off the back of a truck. I was desperate, but not that desperate. Last year when I ran into this problem I went to Sunflower Market and they had an entire section of sprouts; hence, the holiday was saved. On Monday when I drove over there to collect my sprouts ($.99 a pound!) they were completely out.

Just as I started to talk myself into an alternate plan I decided to zip across the street to Albertson’s. Good call. They had fine looking sprouts for twice the price, but they were worth it. I thanked the man in the produce section for saving my Thanksgiving and he looked at me like I was nuts. I’m sorry, but these sprouts are one tradition I can’t let go of. I must have them.

And speaking of tradition, I wanted to keep the day as simple and stress-free as possible, so that meant a simple menu. I usually cook a wildcard dish, but this year I skipped it. Bare bones:

A just under 18 pound Butterball turkey
Cornbread stuffing with apples and cranberries – and, for a little variety, some golden raisins
Mashed potatoes (mashed with roasted garlic, sour cream, butter, and half ‘n’ half)
Giblet gravy (used our friend Bob’s recipe – he called from the Bay Area this morning and suggested it)
Cranberry sauce (my usual mix of berries, pears, peaches, nutmeg, and cinnamon)
Brussels sprouts – the right way

In years past I’ve steamed them, then lightly sautéed them in olive oil, butter, and garlic. That’s fine, but there’s nothing like a sprout that’s still a bright green after a steaming and smothered in butter. That’s it – just steamed. Again, simple. And frankly, I really think Brussels sprouts are best this way.

Had some Guinness in the house and red wine, and picked up a tiramisu from Italy for dessert. That was the one thing that was just a little different. So why go through all the fuss? Well, besides the obvious that we like to cook and we like to eat? Tradition, yes. But there’s another reason.

You hear parents describe the look on their children’s faces on Christmas morning. I know that look. Our dog gets it every time I roast a turkey. She just turned eleven in October and I don’t know if she’ll be with us next Thanksgiving, but what I do know is I had to see that look on her face. I was at the counter, she was in the doorway, and there it was: She was a puppy again.

And for that – and the last eleven years – I give thanks. (Oh – and T just came in to tell me it’s snowing. Gotta take the dog out to play.)