By Sue Murphy
Supermarket magazine displays create a gauntlet of anxiety. I’m not talking about dodging the gory details of the Branjelina breakup. I mean negotiating the dueling covers of Harmonious Household and Perfect Life Monthly that showcase the picture-perfect Thanksgiving. You know what I’m talking about. The table is set with quaintly mismatched china and stunning place cards fashioned from free-range pinecones. You can almost hear the heartwarming hush as the stylish guests set aside their goat cheese appetizers to await the blessing that will be offered by James Earl Jones.
It’s all wonderful, of course, but just once, I’d like a magazine to show the scene backstage in the kitchen where, at that very same moment, the person in charge of preparing the feast is sweating in her cranberry-stained oven mitts, holding her breath as she prepares to raise the curtain on her umpteenth holiday production. If there is a hush in the air, it is only because said cook is using her inhaler.
For every picture-perfect moment at the table, there are a hundred moments of strained preparation. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without Aunt Mae’s pecan pie and Grandma’s chestnut stuffing, and woe be unto the person who cannot reproduce these wonders and the expected accompanying holiday happiness to the satisfaction of those assembled.
This is not easy. You’ll make lists on top of lists, schedules on top of schedules. You’ll spend two weeks locating a wine glass to replace the one broken last Thanksgiving when it collided mid-air during an unauthorized gravy transfer. After a week of pre-treating and post-treating, you’ll simply give up and add extra-long greenery to the centerpiece to camouflage the damage inflicted on the family heirloom tablecloth the day your nephew flung strained peas from his high chair.
Then there is the puzzle of where to position all that made-ahead food in your refrigerator. Chopped celery takes up less space than celery still in stalk. Diced onions can be bagged and shoved in the crisper if you double up on the baking soda deodorizers. The thawed turkey will emerge and give its space to the 13-by-9 pan of candied yams. The ambrosia salad will remain in Tupperware until show time because the butter dish and cranberry sauce are balancing on the lid. Sadly, if Cousin Clara surprises you with a gallon of her homemade ice cream, it will have to be eaten on the spot.
Your stove has only four burners and, no matter how you look at it, this will be a five-burner affair. The mashed potatoes (the most forgiving of your vegetables) will have to vacate early and wait on a trivet. The turkey has a three-hour reservation in the oven at 350, but it must share space with the yams for the last 45 minutes. At that point, you will wave the oven door wildly until it cools down to 325 for the brown and serve rolls.
The last 15 minutes will be a frenzy of mashing and slurrying and gathering up sufficient serving spoons. Finally, you and the feast will come to the table (perhaps not simultaneously), and there will be a great clanking of silverware and raucous laughter and more than one, “That’s OK. It will come out in the wash,” even if it won’t.
The hush won’t come until later, when you’re back in the kitchen, dishes done, the refrigerator filled with leftovers. Then, and only then, will you close your eyes, listening to your guests who have carried their laughter into the living room, and realize how truly blessed you are.
New MB Mayor to Deliver State of the City Address Nov. 18
Mountain Brook’s new mayor, Stewart Welch III, will lay out his view of the city in his first State of the City address during a leadership forum hosted by the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 18.
The event, which also will include members of the City Council, will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
Welch was unopposed in the race to replace Terry Oden, who retired after serving as Mountain Brook’s mayor for 20 years. Welch has praised the previous administration and said he intends to continue the work begun under Oden.
“The city is hitting on all cylinders,” Welch said during a campaign interview. “Mountain Brook is debt free, which is remarkable. Education, police and fire, libraries – everything is running smoothly. My job will be not to mess it up.”
Welch, who was reared in Mountain Brook, said he remembered living in the “country,” where his family rode horses through the woods for miles without running across another development.
Since then, a lot has changed – for Welch and for Mountain Brook. Welch has founded two Mountain Brook businesses, including The Welch Group – a fee-only wealth management service. And Mountain Brook is not so much in the country anymore.
Welch said he believes his finance management and entrepreneurial background are things that make him well suited for the mayor’s position.
“I’m most excited to interact with the business community. I love meeting people who want to start something new, create jobs and grow the area,” Welch said.
The chamber’s event also will be the Birmingham kickoff of the Shop Alabama for the Holidays campaign. The Alabama Retail Association will have a press conference about the shopping initiative before the chamber meeting.
