Moon Mami Writes

Happy Thanksgiving. I work at Northern Virginia Community College and in October, I had assigned my class the assignment of making a commercial or PSA about something they are passionate about. The students were in groups of about five and were to create a video to screen in the class. This group decided to begin a community service at the church across from our campus. None of these students had volunteered before and the community service-- giving food to people who are not homeless, but struggling financially, really touched them. They told the class how the people were just like all of us and were "normal", not the stereotype we have of people who are poor and hungry. Thought I'd share their experience.    

( In photo: Our well-fed family ) ( In photo: The family after some hearty eating on Thanksgiving 2009) Yeay! Thanksgiving dinner was a success! And to think you were worried! Ok, I admit, I was pretty darn scared. I will be honest, too. The pumpkin pies were not that great, but, hey, who is counting when the turkey was divine! (In photo : The little one was in charge of table decor.) ( In photo: The man of the house injects the bird with some taste goods ) ( In photo: The beautiful bird. And, yes, it was slathered in olive-oil based mayo ) ( In photo: Our spread-- green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, turkey, gravy cranberry sauce & mac & cheese with a twis t) So, hopefully you are up to speed on my cooking tribulations. I am not the world's greatest cook. I am not the greatest cook on my block, nor in my house. That award goes to my dear partner who has the cooking skills of any of those on the Food Network. I swear. His skills are that good. But, he only lets those of ...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays... and one of the major reasons is the eating to be done on this day. Yes, the food. The yamming down. The munching and crunching. The eats, the sweets and the drinks. It is this society's only day when it is acceptable to gorge oneself on the best meat, vegetables, starches and desserts you can find. Who doesn't love that? But, most of all, what other day do you get to gorge yourself and tell your family you love them and are grateful for them in a crowded room or on a blog and not be self-conscious or be perceived as just overly geeked and pressed? Valentine's day is mainly for sweethearts and Christmas is mainly about giving big-ups to Jesus Christ. No, Thanksgiving is the only nation-sanctioned, societally-supported day to give the entire family shout-outs (or at least the members you actually want to give shout-outs to. Let's be real, everyone doesn't get props). So, here is my list of Thanksgiving shout-outs (in no p...