The Cooks Corner: Thanksgiving week

This is the week we all get ready for a big dinner to celebrate the things we have to be thankful for. We start preparing early in the week, thawing the turkey or prime or ham, whichever our family prefers. Every family has its favorite side dishes, pies, salads and other things that accompany the meal. And each family has its preferred method of cooking said turkey.
Entertainment throughout the day varies from family to family too. Rick and his dad usually went pheasant hunting on Thanksgiving day. When I was a kid, we watched the Macy’s parade and then my brothers went rabbit hunting while I helped mom and dad fix dinner. After dinner it was usually football games on TV, board games, puzzles, a nice walk or most likely a nap.
Traditions are a big part of Thanksgiving. As children grow up and marry, they usually take some traditions from each of their families and then add some of their own to the mix. In this way, new traditions are melded with the old and memories are made each year.
One of my traditions is to start playing Christmas music on Thanksgiving day. I love Christmas music—old traditional, newer synthesized, country, jazz, piano, harp, dulcimer, orchestra, choir. It doesn’t matter to me; I love it all. And I play it nonstop from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. I am getting out the CDs (yes, I am kind of old school), dusting them off and getting ready to roll.
I also start making candy on Thanksgiving. All of the old favorites including fudge, divinity, caramels, peanut brittle, caramel corn and popcorn balls. It is enough to put anyone into a diabetic coma. I used to do cookies too, but I don’t bake much anymore.
But all of this, the traditions, the family, the cooking and eating, don’t make the holiday. What makes the holiday is the people we are with and the attitude of our hearts. We need to be like the settlers who shared the first Thanksgiving and remember why we celebrate.
The settlers had survived a horrible winter the year before. Towards the end of that winter, many of them were reduced to living on five kernels of corn a day. They were sustained throughout that hard time though, and when the next harvest was a really good one, they wanted to celebrate and express to God the gratitude and thankfulness they had in their hearts.
That is what we should also do. In the midst of basting the turkey, watching the football, playing games or putting together puzzles, we need to keep our focus on why we have a Thanksgiving Day and what we are to do with it.
Be thankful, that is the key.
I share this recipe about once a year. It makes the best caramels. It isn’t an easy recipe, but they are so good. My dad always made the caramels, and his were awesome.

Dad’s Cream
Caramels
1 cup sugar
¾ cup corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine sugar, syrup, salt and ½ cup of the cream and stir constantly over low heat until sugar dissolves, then cook to soft ball stage. Add another ½ cup of cream, cook again to soft ball stage. Add last ½ cup of cream and cook to firm ball stage or 246º. Remove from heat, add vanilla and pour into a well-buttered 8x8-inch pan. Cool, score in desired size and put in refrigerator overnight. Break on score lines, separated and wrap in waxed paper.