Bakersfield Life

Thanksgiving in America typically means a lazy day of turkey, football and slumber. Some might venture out for a round of golf before the big meal while others head to a movie after dinner when they are tired of spending time with family. And, of course, most prepare for a busy Friday braving the crowds at the mall when the holiday shopping season officially begins.

But for me, at least over the past two years, Thanksgiving has meant something entirely different. It has been a whirlwind of cooking, travel and anything that could be described as antonyms for the words rest and relaxation.

It’s amazing to look back at how things change from just two years ago. I wasn’t married at the time but I did have a girlfriend, and when she decided to host her family for Thanksgiving dinner, for some strange reason I offered to cook the meal. I prepared everything from the turkey and stuffing to the gravy and everything went fine until it was nearly time for the meal to be served.

Family started arriving and everyone gravitated toward the kitchen. My gravy wasn’t quite right. The greetings and holiday cheer were reaching a decibel level typically only heard on an airport runway. Kids were running wild. My cooking was being taste-tested as bodies filled the otherwise roomy kitchen area.

In short, it was chaos.

I learned what Thanksgiving chefs across the country deal with every year in a quick 15-minute span. But the satisfaction of a well-prepared Thanksgiving meal – something I had never attempted before – made the day-long cooking procedure worthwhile along with the realization that cooking a turkey is something that I wouldn't mind bypassing for a long time.

I was able to accomplish that last Thanksgiving. After that successful turkey dinner, I proposed to that girlfriend of mine just before Christmas and we were married the following November – one Saturday before Thanksgiving. It was a perfect time to get married; the weather was perfect, out-of-town guests were able to take the following week off of work to visit in-town friends and family, and best of all, my new wife Monique and I were able to honeymoon the week of Thanksgiving.

Bypassing a huge trip to a tropical island, we decided to keep the honeymoon local and spend the first half of the week in Santa Barbara, then fly to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving without a worry of restaurants and entertainment being closed for the holiday. It truly was a magical week of food (Monique seemed to ask at every restaurant, “Do you have a cheese plate?”), fun (I played golf on Thanksgiving day with literally one other group on the course) and festivities (we saw the Cirque du Soleil show “Ka”).

Make no mistake about it, the trip was as exhausting as it was enjoyable and it was extremely difficult going back to work the following week. We wished that we had another week off to recover from the week away.

This year, the return to normalcy hits the Eubanks household. Our one year anniversary has just past and we’re looking forward to a relaxing Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. If I were cooking this year, I’d certainly use the recipes that the Bakersfield Fire Department shared with us in this month's Bakersfield Life magazine. Maybe that’s something you can use in your kitchen to make the holiday cooking chore just a little bit easier.

Just remember to finish dinner before the rest of the family shows up. The firemens' tips will come in handy when the Thanksgiving craziness in your home begins, helping to create that relaxing holiday that I’ve missed out on for the past two years.