I swear, this is not becoming a food blog

But, seriously. Thanksgiving. And the meal was amazing! So you'll have to bear with me for another account of a meal.

Originally, we had thought about inviting all of the US students in my department over here (with a few Brits to boot), but Trillian's pneumonia meant we didn't have a chance to get that organized. So it was just going to be the three of us. It was a fairly traditional Thanksgiving for us, a la Trillian's family recipes.

There was, of course, turkey. We roasted just a small turkey breast, basting frequently with butter. It browned up nicely and stayed moist.

But really, for both Trillian and me, the day is about the sides. In the order we prepared them:

1. Dressing. A recipe from one of Trillian's grandmothers. A whole loaf of white bread plus some cornbread, mixed up with broth, celery, onion, and eggs. Enough to fill a 13 x 9 pan. It browns a little bit on top and is absolutely delicious.

2. Green bean casserole. Nothing fancy, but my favorite. Canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, a little milk, and some French's onions--it's pretty much the recipe on the onions can, but I improvise amounts. It's creamy and quite tasty.

3. Sweet potato casserole. This could practically be dessert. Mashed sweet potatoes mixed with sugar, milk, eggs, and some spices. Once this has cooked for a bit, the topping is spread on top: butter, crushed cornflakes, brown sugar, and pecans. Another 10 minutes, the brown sugar melts and the topping gets crunchy. When I ate my dinner, I mixed in a little of my homemade cranberry sauce--perfect contrast of sweet and tart.

I used a powdered gravy, but it was an organic one I got from Whole Foods and lacked any chemical taste.

Dessert, of course, was pumpkin pie with some real whipped cream.

We managed to forget to heat up the brown-and-serve rolls, but those can be for tomorrow since we have plenty of leftovers.

* * * * * * *

Now, we didn't do the traditional saying of what we're thankful for at the dinner table, but it's something that has been on our minds lately. Not too long ago, Trillian and I found out about a site through the Daily Dose at Club Mom. Amalah linked to Atomictumor. Usually a husband and wife (and some other friends, I think) contributed to the site, but it had become a bit of a virtual vigil. The wife had mysteriously fallen ill and her husband was using the site to deal with his emotions.

I use the past tense, because things took a sudden and unexpected turn on November 17th. The husband is now a single father of 2 boys.

My wife has been following the site more closely than I and also has conversed with him via email. Today, we bought some Leafs gear to send down to the family (he has family from the Toronto area, so it's appropriate). It's a small gesture, reaching out to someone in such a bad place right now.

And so I am thankful for my wife. That she is recovering from pneumonia; as slowly as it's happening, it is happening. That she and I have been able to enjoy time together the past couple days; we did our food shopping together yesterday and went out again today. I am aware of how thankful I am to have these moments.