My mom's cooking is better than your mom's cooking

I can not believe that Thanksgiving is next week. It has completely taken me by suprise, and I guess since I have no real plans, that I have let the actual holiday sneak up on me.

Since my husband says that I write about food ALOT, I will not dwell on the subject, but I will tell you about the marvelous foods that I WILL NOT be having this Thanksgiving Day. My mom's food.

For starters broccoli, rice and cheese casserole & English pea salad- these are my favorites and have been ever since I was a child. Plus, this is the only time of the year that I get to indulge in such lovely dishes. My mom began feeding me English peas while I was teething. Her English pea salad is perfect- light mayonnaise, egg whites, celery and cheddar cheese in bite sized pieces. I hate it when the cheese pieces are too large. I will also not be having sweet potatoes. In our house we did not eat sweet potato casserole- with all that marmalade and marshmallow mess. My sisters and I like sweet potatoes with a little butter (preferably spray butter which is more like salt than anything else) and that's it. (It took my Nana like three holidays to finally get it. We DON'T WANT all that weird stuff with our yams. Got it? Nothing fancy, just a potato.)

My mom's dressing- which we referred to as dressing, not stuffing- is phenomenal, never dry AND it's sort of odd, but she puts chicken in her dressing. It's still really good though. And, sadly enough, I've never watched her make it or asked how or even know the ingredients. This is sad to me because I feel like I should, and I know my sisters do. I don't know if it's cornbread dressing or Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix or what. And I know my sisters do.

I will also not be having her homemade rolls (sourdough or whole wheat- which she makes both of), or green bean casserole (which she only makes if we ask- not one of her favorites for sure). Her green bean casserole is the kind with cream of mushrooms soup, not the one with French's, fried onion pieces on the top. We discovered that dish later in life, at another family gathering. Mom said she used to eat those fried onion pieces out of the can as a kid, or something like that- Potato Sticks I think, so she pretty much hates them.

I will also not be having her delicious pumpkin pie or pecan pie- both of which she makes from scratch, even the pie crusts which are flaky and picture perfect. I was never much of a pie eater growing up. I'd usually just eat the crusty part of my sisters pecan slice or something like that. Some years mom would make chocolate pie too, with meringue thick and foamy like a dense fog. Mostly, I like to pick at the meringue. But pies, pies never did much for me. I'd rather have a roll for dessert- warm with honey.

I preferred the desserts that she made at Christmas for us to give to our teachers and Sunday School leaders: fudge, puppy chow and this amazing thing with cashews, Ritz crackers and corn syrup that you bake in the oven until it makes a sort-of brittle. Oh, and I guess there was turkey and ham too (but meat, ah, who needs it...?) Anyway...

This Thanksgiving, I'm not sure where I'll be or who I'll be with at this point. But I know I'll be Thankful. And probably full too.