Thanksgiving Reflections

As we approach what is going to be an unusual Thanksgiving, my wife and I have been reflecting on a number of past Turkey Days. Our most vivid memories often include Main Line Kitchen Design, cooking, home repair, and Thanksgiving destinations.

First to give readers a little background, both our marriage and Main Line Kitchen Design began the same year. My wife and I took on the challenge of integrating me as a new stepdad to her teenagers and starting a business at the same time. Both took lots of work and love. Now, ten plus years later, we reflect almost every day on how lucky we are.

One of our first Thanksgivings together was actually before we were married. I was to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for my future wife and her children in their home. While my wife ran holiday errands, I prepared an elaborate meal. In between my cooking duties, I did some minor home repair assuming that my home repair skills would be as appreciated as my cooking prowess.

During my repairs, I needed to turn off the main circuit breaker to her home. Calamitously, the breaker broke, and replacing it required opening the electric meter and a licensed electrician.

Without the repair we would be without heat, electric, and a stove on Thanksgiving! My wife returned home from her errands to find her daughter, Riesling, waiting by the front door to report that “Paul broke the house!”

Everything worked out in the end. We found an electrician willing to come on a Thanksgiving morning and make the repair. He left with our thanks, a huge tip, and an apple pie. “Paul broke the house” is now a family inside joke and we keep that circuit breaker along with other “less formal” tangible mementoes in my great-grandmother’s crystal bowl.

Another Thanksgiving soon after we were married pitted myself against the rest of the family when my wife and Riesling picked up a special turkey from a farmers’ market.

Due to extended shopping after the turkey pick up, there was a debate on how long a fresh turkey could sit in a car on top of an ice pack and remain safe to eat. The argument was settled when I threw the 23-pound turkey in the trash. No holiday meal now goes by without referencing that famous turkey and contrasting how delicious it was sure to have been, with whatever’s on this year’s menu.

On two other Thanksgivings, my wife and I devoted the extended holiday weekend to setting up new offices for Main Line Kitchen Design. We built displays, hooked up electronics, and installed flooring and countertops. Sore and famished, we particularly enjoyed our holiday meals at outstanding local restaurants.

Now that the “kids” are grown, their Thanksgivings are sometimes spent with significant others and their families.

We use these “two of us” Thanksgivings to travel. One year we played Duplicate Bridge in broken French followed by a Thanksgiving dinner in Quebec City. We’ve hiked glaciers, explored caves, and sat in thermal baths in Iceland before enjoying a Thanksgiving gourmet chef’s tasting and wine pairing in Reykjavik.

This Thanksgiving will be memorable too. We will stay at home, and I’ll cook just for two. We will see our family on Zoom and play our weekly game of Quiplash. Knowing that we are all being safe will help us persevere to better times.

Wishing all our customers and readers the happiest of Thanksgivings. Please stay safe. Don’t “break the house! “.. and of course . . .

Bon Appetit!

Paul and Julie

Travel Note: 11-23-21 We are back to traveling on Thanksgiving and this year are enjoying Bermuda and our tiny electric car.

If you enjoyed this Thanksgiving blog here are two other similar ones:

https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/whos-the-best-kitchen-designer-in-philadelphia/

https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/kitchens-familys-best-memories-made/