Miss Manhattan Hangs Out...On Thanksgiving (Almost)

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and at my house that means there are piles of ingredients waiting to be morphed into delicious treats on every surface of the kitchen. My mother has already had her annual phone call to yell at Publix and tell them yes, they do have her stuffing base and don’t tell her the company stopped manufacturing it five years ago because she’s been cooking with it for 30 years. As ever, she is right, and as I sit at the dining room table writing this bags of it are resting inside the giant turkey roasting pan on the chair next to me. Tonight we will snap the pointed ends off green beans and slice mushrooms and grate carrots and chop celery for tomorrow. We will spend the majority of the day cooking after watching The National Dog Show on television and eating muffins and coffee for breakfast. Sometimes I remember to play The 5th Dimension’s 1971 live double album on vinyl as we cook--the “Laura Nyro Medley” is my favorite because I love the way they sing “Wedding Bell Blues.” My dad will exit to the other end of the house so he doesn’t have to hear my mother and I shout benignly at each other about the best way to measure sugar or oats or to mash the butter for the apple crisp.

The day before Thanksgiving I think for everyone is one where a last gasp of work energy disappears into the long weekend, myself included. So for this week’s Miss Manhattan Hang Out, I offer just this shortened slice of life with a simple photo below. I wish you a day off or a day on or a day filled with family or friends or both or whatever you need to feel good, from my refrigerator to yours.

All my love,
Miss Manhattan