A Thanksgiving Story

Oh, just a short little story, but it sure does warm my heart and I want to share it with you!

Just earlier today, I went to visit a friend in the hospital. Much to my surprise, right next door, was a store called Zorn's. 

I had not thought about Zorn's in, well, decades. Before my mother died in 1988, she cooked a big Thanksgiving dinner every year. It had all the trimmings, and my mother was a fantastic cook who could make the most gourmet meal out of common ingredients on any given weeknight. 

My mother's stuffing for Thanksgiving was GREAT. It had a wonderful blending of fresh flavors that was so savory, so absolutely delicious, everyone looked forward to it year after year. Between Thanksgiving dinner and subsequent turkey sandwiches with stuffing, the memories I conjure up right now are pretty intense.

But....my mother (and father) were immigrants from Denmark. My mother, um, didn't know squat about making stuffing. Looking back, I don't think she ever really "got it." How did I find out? Smart, very smart, woman - when my husband and I were dating, I guess she figured that she could certainly ask him to do her a favor and my guess is she probably told him to keep a secret...OR ELSE, knowing he would!

What she told my husband to do was to go to Zorn's, now, about 45 minutes away from where she lived, pick up the stuffing, bring it to her and KEEP QUIET about it! A guy dating the mother's daughter is not going to do that? She's no fool! Obviously, she had been going there for YEARS.

I don't remember how or when we all found out her secret, but we were completely shocked when we did, given her great cooking skills.

What great memories I had seeing Zorn's today...and my husband (the same guy) and I bought lots of Thanksgiving trimmings there today...including their stuffing. I'll have two types of stuffing at our table this year - mine and Zorn's. It will be REALLY interesting to see who likes which stuffing best!

Thanksgiving in my home