Thanksgiving with Ryan.
He arrived Wednesday at 3 PM, having driven from Lejeune with a duffel bag and a bottle of wine that Torres helped him pick out ('Torres said white wine goes with turkey, is that right?' It was right, Torres. Well done.) Dad met him at the door, shook his hand, and said, 'Help me with the grill.' Which is Dad for 'welcome to the family.'
They weren't grilling anything for Thanksgiving. Dad just wanted company in the backyard. They stood by the grill — the unlit grill — and talked about... I don't know what. Probably nothing. Probably everything. Men and their grills. It's a language I don't speak but recognize.
Megan arrived that morning and was, I must say, gracious about Ryan. She shook his hand, said, 'Welcome,' and only later, in my bedroom with the door closed, said, 'He's handsome, Rachel. He's VERY handsome. But —'
'Megan.'
'I'm just saying. Handsome doesn't pay the mortgage.'
'We're going to live in base housing. There IS no mortgage.'
She went quiet. Because she knows about base housing. She grew up in base housing. She knows what it means and what it costs and she doesn't want it for me. And I love her for that, even as I want to shake her.
Thanksgiving dinner was perfect. The full Donna Abernathy production. Turkey carved by Dad with the ceremonial gravity of a man performing a sacred duty. Every dish perfect. Every timing right. The cranberry sauce that's homemade with orange zest because canned cranberry sauce is 'jelly, not sauce.' The stuffing that had extra because Ryan likes stuffing, and Mom doesn't forget.
Ryan said grace. I didn't know he was going to — Dad always says grace — but Dad looked at Ryan and said, 'You want to do the honors, son?' SON. Dad called him son. I squeezed Ryan's hand under the table so hard I might have broken a finger.
Ryan said: 'Lord, thank you for this food and this family. Thank you for the people who serve and the people who hold down the home while they're gone. Thank you for Mrs. Abernathy's cooking, which is the best I've ever had and I'm not just saying that because she's sitting right there. And thank you for Rachel. Amen.'
Mom dabbed her eyes with her napkin. Megan looked at me. I looked at Ryan. Dad nodded.
'Eat,' Mom said. 'Before it gets cold.'
We ate. We ate and ate and ate. The leftovers were massive. The turkey sandwiches were consumed at 10 PM. Ryan fell asleep on the couch (separate rooms, Donna's rules, but the couch is close enough). I lay in my bed and listened to the house settle and thought: this is my family. All of them. The old ones and the new one. The ones who've been here forever and the one who just arrived.
Happy Thanksgiving. The table is set for six now. It's never going back to five.
If there’s one thing Mom will go to war over, it’s the cranberry sauce. Canned cranberry sauce is “jelly, not sauce,” and she’s right — once you’ve had the real thing, simmered with fresh cranberries and orange zest, there’s no going back. This year she added raspberries, and Ryan went back for thirds. Here’s the recipe, because the table is set for six now, and everyone deserves to know how it’s done.
Raspberry Cranberry Sauce
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 6 oz fresh raspberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine the liquids and sugar. In a medium saucepan, combine orange juice, water, and sugar over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely, about 2 minutes.
- Add the cranberries. Add the fresh cranberries and orange zest to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have burst.
- Add the raspberries. Gently fold in the raspberries and a pinch of salt. Continue to simmer for 5–7 minutes, stirring gently, until the sauce has thickened and the raspberries have broken down.
- Cool and serve. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. The sauce will thicken further as it cools. Transfer to a serving dish, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Best made a day ahead.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 10mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 87 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
