Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It's not a flashy holiday that makes people decorate their homes with elegant displays of lights, glitter, and greenery. It doesn't come with tacky front lawn displays of inflatable reindeer, light-up Santa Clauses, or, I swear I've actually seen this, inflatable Nativities. But I think it's important. And not just because of the food

Sure, I like food. OK, I like food a lot. That's why there are so many cookbooks on my shelf. Food tastes good. But what I like even more is preparing food together with people I love. When I was little, it was often my grandmother and me, with her doing most of the work and me "helping" to the best of my abilities. I was probably more of a hindrance, now that I think of it, but I have very fond memories of grinding nuts or drying the dishes while she stirred the batter and told me stories. It was magical. And at the end of the story, there was often a batter-covered spoon for me to lick -- nobody was concerned about Salmonella back then.

Now, it's Mr. Batty and me standing in the kitchen, preparing enough food to keep us fed for an entire week. It's so much fun, chopping vegetables and talking while the stuffing bakes and the pie crust has yet another accident. It never comes out quite right, but that doesn't matter. Really, none of it has to be perfect. It just has to... feel right.