Thanksgiving Pasta

Every family tradition starts somewhere

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Thanksgiving is a time for some families to reflect on what they are most grateful for — maybe fellow family members, friends, Black Friday sales, or the fact that they could find a fresh turkey at the fifth store they tried the night before. However much thoughtful reflection exists, a humongous meal accompanies it, with more sides than you’d ever put in front of someone on, say, a Tuesday in June. While we’re not doing a big gathering this year, my daughter Amelia, my husband, and I still like a nice holiday meal, so I have my work cut out for me.

So many choices

About two weeks ago, I listed out all the likely menu suspects and asked said husband and daughter to each rank the top three things they wanted for Thanksgiving dinner. I have rheumatoid arthritis, which can pop up out of nowhere and knock me on my butt, so I was hoping to pare down the festivities just a bit by taking people’s favorites into account and ditching one or two other things. My husband wasn’t too helpful outside of declaring that we had to have turkey no matter what, but Amelia had a clear vision in her mind: mashed potatoes, cornbread, and Thanksgiving Pasta. If you’ve never heard of that last one, it’s because Amelia and I coined the name years ago (if you beat me to the copyright office, it’s yours). So…