The 20 lbs of bird and homemade stuffing pictured above (looks yummier when it’s not in the cooking bag) was all my own doing using my mother’s recipe the she got from her mother. This was my first Thanksgiving Dinner without help from mom. And guess what, the food was delicious! (The stuffing did need a wee bit more seasoning to be perfect… Hope to nail it next year.)

This TG Day my ma had to work so I took charge of my family’s house old gas oven. (Never learned to cook with an electric one.) In the kitchen I stayed where it was just me and a mountain of ingredients. By the time she came home from the hospital everything was under control.

“DANG, that is some back-breaking work,” I said to her. “Let’s have margaritas too.”