So, yup. It’s home alone for the Faria’s this year. Jim and I just might make mac and cheese out of the blue box (a rare treat) and eat the frozen cookie dough we bought from the neighborhood kid for dessert this Thursday.
See, the two people that I sincerely enjoy going the extra mile for and who truly appreciate my Martha Stewart-like, semi-OCD efforts with food and decorations, are holed up in their private care home here in Reno. I wouldn’t put it past the sisters to break out with their wheelchairs if they could.
Thanksgiving takes a second compared to Christmas for me. In our family, this meal and the several that follow that week, take on somewhat larger than life culinary importance and protocol that adds to Hallmark-like expectations. Thirty-one years ago, I served homemade cranberry sauce to my future in-laws and even after I found out they preferred canned, I still have not yielded to their pagan preferences. Evil, I know. I can just imagine a Far Side comic with a gal in an apron holding a shotgun, everyone, including a dog, looking at a body with the caption, “We warned Aunt Edith time and again not to smuggle in a can.”
Since I’m not spending the time putting the extension in the table, battling getting the neck out of the too-frozen turkey, or ironing napkins (go ahead, say it, I’m sick), I’ve come up with some new projects. I’m asking (annoying) other family members and some friends to send holiday cards or have their kids create drawings for our two inmates. I thought it would be nice if from Thanksgiving to Christmas they got daily reminders of how we miss them and our hours-long UNO games. I’ve sent two sets so far (have you really written something lately, as in with a pen? Talk about hand cramps!).
I also decorated our vintage trailer for the first time (watch this video to take a peek inside). It’s Santa’s little house when he get’s tired of the hustle and bustle of the North Pole. I’m hoping my neighbor friends will enjoy taking a peek when they’re on their evening walks.
These things have helped me get outside of my head and do something other than think about the gravity in our world right now and the loss many of us are feeling and experiencing. Our very own Gency Warren offered to make pumpkin pies for anyone who would enjoy a homemade treat this holiday. She”ll be baking and delivering 15 pies to friends and family this week!
I’m waiting for a ruling from the old people’s care home if I can drop off deviled eggs and sticks of stuffed celery with peanut butter, both Jim’s aunt’s and mom’s all-time favorite appetizers. Right now even our standard visits, us on the porch, them in the doorway, is prohibited due to the spike of Covid cases here in Northern Nevada.
Raving friends, I’ve had the pleasure of emailing holiday greetings to many of you for the last 19 years. Thank you to all of you who are out there serving your guests, to those who are volunteering your time, and a super big thank you to those in your family that are taking care of our sick. When you think about it, there are so many folks “on the frontline” – providing food, giving us distraction and conversation, restocking shelves, giving smiles from behind the masks. Our world wouldn’t go round without you.
On behalf of the entire Raving team and our partners, take care and stay safe and hang in there. Drop me a line at [email protected] — your personal emails really are the best gift and I love hearing about how you’re spending your holidays and getting through these times.
Most sincerely,
Chris Faria
VP Marketing, Raving
Editor, TG&H Magazine
PS: “Phooey” was a favorite word of my mom Maggie, who would have been 96 this year. As long as I made green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, no skimping on the fried onions, I was in good standing!
