The holidays always make for a good story in my family as I’m sure they do for most people, but my family never fails to screw up a good tradition. I don’t mean that in a negative way in the slightest. Some of my best stories come from holiday mishaps with the family. One of the most memorable Thanksgiving’s I’ve had was the year my Mother accidentally cooked the turkey upside down. Once cooked, the bird was no longer in need of carving after shedding the meat off the bones during the cooking process. As a result, my Mom is no longer allowed to cook the turkey.
Papa Lottridge and I have acquired several memorable moments over the years. We don’t even bother hanging Christmas lights on our house anymore because the last year we tried only half lit up and we received a complaint from the homeowner’s association informing us that our half-lit lights weren’t aesthetically pleasing enough for neighborhood standards and we should take them down. Due to a similar complaint we have stopped decorating for Halloween because the year we placed headstones in our grass they kept falling over and had a much too disheveled look even by Halloween standards.
This year has been a little more tame so far. My Dad came up to San Francisco to visit me for Thanksgiving. We decided to cook for the two of us, which turned out to be quite the adorable endeavor. After walking around Safeway trying to find the smallest turkey possible we decided to go with a chicken because there was no way we would be able to finish a 17 pound turkey between the two of us. We cooked dinner while drinking champagne and listening to the Temptations. Overall, a super successful Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to head back home to Jackson Hole for Christmas!
