Turkey Countdown

Today Carter and I were shopping and as she was trying on shoes “White Christmas” came on over the store’s Muzak system.  Carter went into full on revolt.  “Why are they playing that already?” she demanded.  “It isn’t even close to Thanksgiving yet.”

But it is.  Less than three weeks to Thanksgiving and it is a late Turkey Holiday this year falling on the twenty-eighth.

I was less disturbed by the Christmas music since I am a major Christmas lover.  I was much more confused by the follow-up song of “Afternoon Delight.”  I wondered what drugs that music programmer was on since I don’t find shopping delightful and it was not even afternoon.

To help calm Carter’s mood over the obvious Christmas push put on by all things retail I asked her what foods she wanted to have for Thanksgiving while we were at lunch.  Discussing future meals while enjoying a current one is a favorite topic in our family.  It is one that drives my mother crazy.

Carter started to list all the fattening southern foods my father is famous for making on Thanksgiving; stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, creamed onions.  Carter then jumped to my pecan pie.  I asked her if she wanted ice cream or whipped cream and she replied the only answer a Carter of any kind might give, “Both of course.”

My mouth was salivating thinking about the normally forbidden foods that show up at Thanksgiving.  It is normally about this week of the year that I start to crave a really good turkey sandwich.  Not that thin cut deli turkey, which my father hates because he says it’s slimy, but a slab of home roasted turkey with a big scoop of homemade cranberry sauce and mayonnaise on old fashioned southern white bread like Mrs. Dingle used to make at the Tip Top Inn on Pawley’s Island back in the seventies.

The worst part about craving turkey is that the real Thanksgiving bird has a hard time living up to the hype my mind has built up.  I would be much better off if I would just go on and cook a turkey now and enjoy a little two weeks before the real deal so that I don’t create such huge expectations.  Turkey, unto itself is a fairly healthy food, but not the accompanying items on the big day.

So now I’ve done it.  Got my mouth in a turkey way with Salmon on the menu for dinner.  Nothing is going to make me happy until I take care of this desire.  I guess I know what tomorrows “afternoon delight” is going to be.