So, what are your Thanksgiving traditions?

Opinion

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November 25, 2009

MIKE POUND The Meridian Star Wed Nov 25, 2009, 12:21 PM CST

Last year I set about creating a Thanksgiving dinner tradition.

Technically, you’re not supposed to “set about creating a Thanksgiving dinner tradition.” Holiday traditions, I think, are supposed to just evolve. Like the time when I was a kid and my dad shot my younger brother, Mark. He didn’t really hurt him, he just winged him. But every year after that, my dad would pick out one of us and take a potshot at the lucky tyke.

Good times.

Of course, I am joking about my dad shooting one of his kids on Christmas. My mom and dad had seven kids, so I’m thinking if my dad was going to shoot anybody around Christmas, it would be himself.

Nope, holiday traditions are created because someone did something once, and everyone thought it was sort of cool so they did it again the next year. And the next. And the next.

Last year I decided that I was going to make oyster dressing for Thanksgiving dinner. This despite the fact that I had never made a dressing of any sort until last year. I like to cook, but for some reason I’ve always left things like dressing, pies, salads and cranberry stuff to my wife to handle on Thanksgiving. I tend to stick to wrangling the turkey.

Complicating matters even further was the fact that I had never eaten oyster dressing before last year. But I figured, “Hey, what could go wrong? I like oysters and I like dressing.” Besides, for years I’ve heard other folks going on and on about their oyster dressing. Jimmy Buffett even mentioned it in one of his songs. And, as we all know, if Jimmy mentions something in one of his songs, it’s got to be good. He was right about cheeseburgers, wasn’t he? And margaritas.

So last year, on the day before Thanksgiving, I purchased about a dozen oysters, brought them home, shucked them and whipped up a batch of dressing. And you know what? It was the worst thing I have ever fixed in my life.

Ha, I joke. Actually, my oyster dressing was pretty good. Of course, I did make the mistake of packing the bread crumbs and the rest of the ingredients too tight, so my dressing wasn’t exactly fluffy. It was flat, is what it was.

But I’m proud to say that it was tasty. It even earned my mother-in-law’s seal of approval. So this year, I’m going to whip up another batch of oyster dressing and see what happens. If the stuff turns out all right, I’ve done created another Thanksgiving dinner tradition. If not, I’ve done created something for my wife to tease me about.

Mike Pound writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe. He can be reached at mpound@joplinglobe.com. CNHI News Service distributes his column.

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