By Thanksgiving. Sixteen people. The turkey was twenty pounds this year — I upgraded, because the last Thanksgiving with Marvin at the table deserves a twenty-pound turkey, because excess is how I express importance, because the turkey is not just protein, it is a statement, and the statement is: this matters. This table matters. These people matter. The man at the head of the table matters, even though the man at the head of the table does not know it is Thanksgiving and does not know why these people are here and does not know that the turkey in front of him weighs twenty pounds, because the knowing is gone, but the eating is here, and the eating is enough.
David carved the turkey. Marvin sat and watched. Sophie held Marvin's hand under the table — this has become her habit, the hand-holding, the five-year-old's instinct to protect and comfort the grandfather who does not understand what is happening but who responds to the touch of a small hand with a calm that nothing else produces. Sophie is six now, and she has become Marvin's protector, his translator, the person who sits beside him and tells him what's happening in a voice so gentle that it breaks my heart every time I hear it: "It's okay, Grandpa. We're eating turkey. It's Thanksgiving. I'm right here." She is right there. She has always been right there. The chain includes protectors as well as feeders, and Sophie is both.
I did not cry at the table. I saved the crying for the kitchen, after everyone left, after the turkey was wrapped and the pies were covered and the dishes were washed. I sat at the kitchen table and I cried for twenty minutes, the specific, measured, adult crying of a woman who has been holding it together for ten hours and who has earned the right to let go, privately, in the kitchen, where Sylvia would have cried, where all the women cry, where the crying is as much a part of the holiday as the turkey and the stuffing and the brisket and the boy who carved it and the man who watched.
That turkey — twenty pounds, the statement turkey — needed time to rest before David carved it, and it was in that in-between hour that the kitchen became its own kind of Thanksgiving. Sophie had finally let go of Marvin’s hand long enough to stand on her stool at the counter, and we made these together: little wonton cups, pressed into a muffin tin, filled with sausage and cheese and something warm and manageable. They’re the opposite of a twenty-pound turkey — small, approachable, finished in minutes — and sometimes you need that counterweight, something you can hold in one bite and call complete.
Sausage Wonton Stars
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 24 pieces
Ingredients
- 24 wonton wrappers
- 1 lb bulk pork sausage
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend
- 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a standard 24-cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Form the cups. Gently press one wonton wrapper into each muffin cup, shaping it so the edges flare up and out like a star. Lightly mist the tops with cooking spray.
- Bake the shells. Bake for 5 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden and the cups hold their shape. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Cook the sausage. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bulk sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 7–8 minutes. Drain well on paper towels.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, combine the cooked sausage, shredded cheese, ranch dressing, diced red and green bell pepper, and black olives. Stir until evenly combined.
- Fill the cups. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each baked wonton cup, mounding it slightly.
- Final bake. Return the filled cups to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the filling is heated through. Serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 110 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 230mg