With Thanksgiving only days away I wanted to
post about this very special meal.
Last year Our State Magazine was looking to
hire bloggers and writers for their new Our State Eats blog section of the
magazine so they created a contest for the public to enter. I had not heard of this contest until I came home
from school one weekend and my mother had dog-eared the article and told me all
about it and announced, “YOU MUST do this!” In order to enter the contest you
were to write a piece about your absolute favorite meal. So we quickly began
brainstorming favorite meals of mine.
Although Mother and I were proud and satisfied
with my final writing, Our State decided to go with a different meal and writer
(their loss, right?). Regardless of the contest, Thanksgiving is still my
favorite meal, but the food is not the only factor contributing to that title.
Below I’ve shared with y’all my entry on why Thanksgiving is not only my
all-time favorite meal but the favorite meal of our nation!
As a senior at the University of Georgia, and
at the ripe old age of 21, I am probably a little younger than the average Our
State reader. But for many years now, I have become accustomed to receiving the
monthly issues from my mother, all of them with dog-eared articles and recipes
that she deemed important. Pennsylvanian-born, but North Carolina bred, I come
from a mixed breed of native Southerners and what everyone here would call
Yankees. This mixture has thankfully given me the opportunity to have unique
culinary experiences across North Carolina, the United States, and around the
world.
Because so much of the food experience is where
you are and with whom you are dining, it is hard to pinpoint one specific meal
and label it as the best meal I have ever had. I’ve been so fortunate to travel
a vast amount in my life and, because of that, I have tasted and savored some
of the most exquisite flavors: shrimp scampi served on paper plates out of a
roadside trailer in Oahu, Hawaii; dinner at B.E.D. in Miami, Florida; black
truffle pizza on the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo in Sienna, Italy; coq au vin
at Le Coq in the Trocadero neighborhood in Paris, overlooking the Eiffel Tower;
the proper English tea at The Connaught Hotel in London. All of these experiences
were amazing, mostly because of the people that were there to share them with
me. But when I think about the best MEALS I’ve ever had, I would have to say
that the simplest meals with my family have been the best.
When most Americans think of their favorite
meal Thanksgiving is what tops the list. Each year I’m blessed to have two
different Thanksgiving meals: one that incorporates my Jewish heritage, with
dishes like Grandma’s beef brisket and kugel; and one that brings to life my
true Southern heritage with good ole fried turkey, collard greens, dressing
with gravy, and candied yams. Growing up as an only child, most of my meals
were for an intimate party of one or two (either myself or a parent or two),
which is why it is always a treat for me to get to spend Thanksgiving with my
very extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Sharing that
food experience with so many people only increases the flavors of the food we
eat and the essence of family life.
Though the focus of my personal blog is
desserts, I embrace the opportunities I have each day to experience all
different cultures and their distinct foods especially those from the South and
my North Carolina home. Because I’m so young, I look forward to the many more
years I have to continue the never-ending quest to find my best meal ever.
That was my submission…can you believe they
didn’t choose it!?
I’m blessed to say that my family's
Thanksgiving tables are always quite full and at times we may even have to sit
elbow to elbow (or place me at the “children’s table”). I’m looking forward to
this year’s feast as new and old recipes are created, old memories are
reminisced and new memories are cherished.
Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!
