West Stockbridge — At first, I was very excited. Our children and grandchildren were all spending the Thanksgiving holiday with us. Love would be on its way to West Stockbridge!
Then I started to think about all the work, the chaos and the upheaval. Should I cover the furniture with sheets? In short order,
I created a plan for sleeping arrangements with the precision of a drill sergeant about to set up his troops for battle. That was the easy part. Then I had to plan the meal.
One night, I covered my kitchen table with Thanksgiving recipes, some so old that the edges have curled. I lit candles and turned on some soft music, hoping to channel the spirit of Julia Child.
Generally, I am a creative cook, always adding my own spin on a tried and true recipe. Sometimes, I just wing it. Tossing a can of chopped tomatoes and basil into a watery red pepper soup was a definite hit. Julia would have been proud. But this Thanksgiving, I’m stumped.
My two biological children, my two step-children, their four spouses and my six grandchildren, ranging in age from eight months to eight years, are cumulatively allergic to or do not ingest: gluten, dairy, sugar, chocolate, corn, kiwi, eggs, chickpeas, soy, fish, shellfish, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, cashews, almonds and walnuts. (The nut allergy alone will require that an EpiPen be ever-present during the entire visit.) How did this happen?
I do not think that at the first Thanksgiving, a pilgrim woman turned to the Indian holding a fat turkey and an armload of corn and asked, “Uh, excuse me, sir, is that corn genetically modified?” Or, “That really is a beautiful basket of nuts. But I am afraid we need to leave them outside as a few of the children wheeze or their lips swell up when they eat them.” The world we live in today has definitely spun out of control.
Back at my kitchen table, contemplating my recipes, I hear a very faint voice saying, “Keep it simple.” I leap up, pack the recipes back in the folder where I will keep them for another year, grab a pen and paper and write down my Thanksgiving menu. We will dine on organic turkey, resting on a bed of carrots and celery, rubbed with olive oil, thyme and rosemary, and basted in orange juice; steamed string beans (no almonds, of course); kale chips; baked sweet potatoes (sadly, no sticky sweet marshmallow topping); gluten free stuffing (no matter that it tastes like wood chips); and homemade applesauce with lemon and a drop of cinnamon. For dessert, we will have gluten-free, sugar-free carrot cake made with egg substitute and no icing. We will hold hands around the table and each of us will say what he or she believes is the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
You may have spotted me last week at the grocery store. I was the woman reading the tiny ingredients on the food labels with a magnifying glass. If you happened to glance into my shopping cart, you might have noticed a large container of Ben & Jerry’s mint chocolate chip ice cream hiding beneath the gluten-free stuffing and the big bunches of kale. That was for me, my own little treat, which I’ll be enjoying when Thanksgiving dinner is over, the dishes are washed and put away, the leftovers are stored in the refrigerator, everyone is asleep and I am assured that no one is suffering from hives, rashes or is having trouble breathing.
As I savor my ice cream, I’ll know what makes me truly thankful.
___________
Lorrin Krouss worked in the publishing industry for 15 years and was inspired to write after attending the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Her first essay appears in “An Anthology of Babes —- 36 Women Give Motherhood a Voice.” Another essay, “The Rocky Road to Happiness” was presented at The Mount in 2014 and will be published in the anthology Writing Fire in March 2015. Lorrin, now Director of Business Development for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, lives happily in the Berkshires with her husband, Andrew Krouss.
The weekly EDGE WISE column is curated by Jennifer Browdy, Ph.D., associate professor of comparative literature, gender studies and media studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and the Founding Director of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Women writers interested in publishing in EDGE WISE can find writers’ guidelines on the Festival website, or may submit queries or columns to Jennifer@berkshirewomenwriters.org.
