Recipes for Remembering
Recipes for Remembering As the days grow shorter and the mornings turn crisp, I find myself reaching for my recipe box. It happens every fall. I spread the cards across the counter and start planning what I’ll make for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cooking has always been one of my great joys, but it’s also one of the ways I remember the people I’ve loved and lost. Thanksgiving wasn’t a holiday I enjoyed as a kid. The day felt tense—emotions high, anxiety simmering, everyone a little on edge. So much seemed to ride on the meal and the gathering. But somewhere in college, a few of my classmates and I realized we’d all grown up with similar feelings. Together, we decided it didn’t have to be that way. We chose to reclaim the holiday. Now, thirty years later, Thanksgiving is my very favorite day of the year. It’s low-stakes. There’s good food—traditional food—but I celebrate it the way some people honor saints’ feast days or Burns Night: by remembering the people who are no longer with u...