ABSTRACT
I think I’ve fi nally fi gured out why I like Thanksgiving dinner so much, why I enjoy having it at my house, cooking all the food myself, and eating it-sometimes for days afterward. It’s because I never wonder what to fi x. I prepare virtually the same meal every year. It’s a ritual for me; turkey, stuffi ng, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, and pumpkin and mince pie appear every year. I like it this way. It’s comfortable. It’s delicious. I do it only once a year. And my mom does it that way. And there, perhaps, lies the crux of the matter. I have been eating this meal one day a year for my entire life, and over the years, it has come to be virtually the only full meal that my mother and I cook in common.
