The VERY Best Thanksgiving...Ever!!

                                                                   
It was a Thanksgiving I could never forget!

Two days before Thanksgiving 1965 I had gone to the obstetrician for my ninth month exam.  All was well.  I was given a booklet on what to look for when labor began and I left knowing that in one month I would have my first baby.  This was way before we knew what sex child we were having. I planned on going to Saks with my mother the following week to select a layette. We would choose pink and blue and call when the baby was born for them to complete the order and deliver it. A crib, armoire and changing table had been ordered, to be delivered while I was in the hospital.  A huge, navy English pram was waiting at my parent's house, still wrapped in the shipping crate.  I thought I had everything under control.  I had even engaged a baby nurse, one in much demand, who had put the time away for our baby's arrival. Everything was planned out perfectly.  I took the little booklet to bed that night and read it cover to cover.  I would know just what to do next month when I went into labor.
Planning!!!
We had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's home, the first one I can ever remember not sharing with my parents and family. I do not know whatever made me accept that invitation...maybe that I was married now, and expecting our first baby on Christmas day, and looking to assert independence...I'll just never know!  I had baked a cake and some brownies and had them packed and ready to go to the festivities. Always be prepared! 

I awakened at about 5:00am the day before Thanksgiving with  pressure in my back.  Try as I might to return to sleep I could not.  I looked at my husband asleep beside me...exhaustion showed on his face even in sleep.  He was an executive in the toy industry and this was his SEASON...  but the back pressure became more intense and reluctantly I shook him awake.  I told him that this was a symptom of labor that I had just read about, he turned toward me and "lovingly" said..."El, you are such a hypochondriac...you read about it last night so you have the symptoms today?  Go back to sleep..."   Try as I might to sleep, I just knew something was going on.  At 7:00 am I called the doctor.  He told me to be at his office at 8:00 am.

                                                                             
 Once there it was determined that I was indeed in labor!  Wait!...this was not in the perfectly planned scenario!  I was told to go home and call when contractions began.  My poor husband was beside himself...It was THE SEASON!  He had to be at his office...but the baby was about to arrive...so, naturally, I called my mother.  The first "babysitting shift" to arrive was my sister. We laughed and talked, she polished my toenails, (body parts unseen in the past few months) and helped me pack a bag for  the hospital.

                                                                         
 Back in those days we stayed in the hospital eight days for a boy if he was to be circumcised and six days for a girl.  I had not purchased nightgowns, bed jackets or a robe yet...my to-do list was incomplete!!!  In those days, after giving birth we "received" visitors in our flower and balloon filled rooms and showed off the babies lined up in the nursery, it was a week of socializing under medical supervision! And I had no new nightgowns!!! 

When my sister had to leave my parents arrived.  My mother was calm and busy, readying the apartment for my husband, who would be alone there for a week.  My dad kept my hand in his as he stared lovingly and helplessly at me through tear-filled eyes. Their love and care warmed me and I felt safe and protected with them...  and then the contractions began.  I thought it would be bad, but it was not...certainly no worse than the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had previously had.  My dad took my bag down to the car, my mom embraced me and then called my husband.  The contractions were closer now and we called the doctor who advised us to come over to the hospital.  We met my husband downstairs and of the four of us I was the only one who seemed calm!
                                                                 
                                                                     

   Once there, my parents and husband were ushered into a waiting area and I was examined, placed in a "labor room" and left alone.  This was long before the days of Labor Coaches and husbands being invited to the birth.  Then, you were on your own...just you and the medical team and subsequently, the baby!  Next door a girl was  laboring  ...Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....oooooooooooh...pant pant....Aiiiiiiiiiii...aiiiiiieeeeeeee!!!!     This repeated over and over until I heard them come to transport her to the "delivery room".  I was still feeling contractions but waiting for my turn to make noise...it never came.  Dr. Battaglia entered, examined me and informed me that he could see the baby's head...time to deliver!  What? Was I cheated?  No pain? No screaming? Nope! Off to the delivery room we went...

 I was given a mask to use when I felt pain and it seemed before I had a chance...there he was...My Son!!!  5 pounds, 6 ounces...16 1/2 inches long...and then... Complications!...panic...and off to the NICU he was whisked.  Our chosen pediatrician was from a different hospital and Dr. Battaglia sent in a stern looking man to consult.  Dr. William Lacey Rumsey. I was a bit put off by his brusque manner and I was borderline hysterical at his point.

   The baby was wheeled into my room once  in his isolette and then back to the NICU.

  We walked down to the NICU several times a day and saw him, tiny, wrinkled and beautiful.  My Son. As I write this tears are pouring from my eyes as I remember those days.  Remembering going home without him and the daily calls to Dr. Rumsey who never sounded optimistic, never sounded anything but somber. Every day I shook as I dialed his number to get my report. And then after ten days I called and he said, "Ellin, plan your Bris...the baby can go home tomorrow!"  Weak with joy and relief, I called my mother. " The General" went right into action, ordering food, calling relatives and dispatching my father and sister to collect the layette, furniture, pram, etc. and set up for the homecoming and Bris. My father was simply beside himself with joy...a boy in the family, at last...and the bond between them was always tight and special and beautiful.

                                                                  
At the hospital Dr. Rumsey came over to us, and this man who I thought so stiff and humorless bent over and kissed my cheek. "I used all the skill I had, Ellin, and then I asked God to help me help your baby"...together they did a wonderful job.  I later learned that Dr. R. slept beside the isolette for seven nights, never going home until our son was out of danger.  (Of course, he remained our pediatrician.)  He will never, ever be forgotten.

Our son?  Our son is  great blessing in our lives.  We named him for my paternal grandfather. He is a healthy,  brilliant, professional with a gorgeous family. Tall, handsome, fun and funny, serious when he needs to be and devoted to his parents. He is a wonderful husband and father, a great brother and uncle and most of all, he is my first born...who arrived on Thanksgiving Day...my little Thanksgiving Turkey who grew up to be a splendid man.

Every year Thanksgiving comes second to the celebration of his birthday.  Where most families eat pumpkin pie, we serve a chocolate fudge birthday cake.  This holiday is a really big deal for me on so many levels, but the best part is I get to celebrate this wonderful man who is my son.

RECIPES

Ever since they were little, my children have loved Sweet Potato Balls with Rice Krispies and Marshmallows.  The holiday is not complete without it and now my grandchildren love making and eating it too!

2 tall, large cans sweet potatoes
1 egg
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar or to taste
pinch of salt
Rice Krispies
Marshmallows
1- In a large bowl, using a potato masher, mash potatoes, add the egg, sugar and juice and blend well.
2- Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop up sweet potato mixture and press a marshmallow into the center...release the potato into your hand and cover the marshmallow all the way around with the potato mixture.
3-Pour Rice Krispies onto a large plate and roll the potato ball in the cereal. Place on a large cookie sheet covered with a Silpat, parchment paper or Pam-med...dot with butter.
This can be prepare ahead...bake at 350 degrees untill the marshmallow softens  but not completely melts...about 10 minutes

Stuffing Muffins
                   
1 large bag of Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing
2 eggs
chicken stock (I use Wolfgang Puck's)
1 lg onion, sauteed to brown
celery, sauteed with onion (optional)
1diced apple (optional)  
1 bag Craisins (optional)

1- Sautee celery and onions in vegetable oil.
2-Empty package of stuffing into a large bowl. Add the sauteed onion and celery and include the oil they were cooked in. Beat  the eggs and blend into stuffing and veggies...slowly add chicken stok making sure that the mixture is not mushy.  Then you can get creative.  You can add nuts, craisins, apples, chestnuts...whatever your family likes.
3-With an ice cream scoop, scoop into a well greased muffin tin.
4-Dot with butter and bake until golden on top, about 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees.

    
Cranberries and Mandarin oranges       (Just about the easiest recipe ever...and everyone seems to love it!)
3 cans (6 oz.0 mandarin oranges
3 cans Ocean Spray whole cranberry sauce          
Drain 2 cans of the oranges and leave juice in the third and mix with the cranberry sauce...voila! Done!                                                                

                                                                            
...and talking about EASY...Acorn Squash is simply the easiest and most delicious side dish with Thanksgiving dinner...
Just cut several acorn squash in half and clean out the seeds...
Place a tbsp of butter in the seed depression and add 1 tbsp of dark brown sugar and 1 tbsp of sherry.  Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and bake at 375 for about an hour until all squash meat  is soft.  Baste once or twice during baking...you can add more butter and sherry if it cooks out.
Spoon the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture over the squash and serve...

                                                                         
                     Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Count your blessings and give thanks!!!