Adapting Thanksgiving Traditions

The Whomptons have few family traditions but our Thanksgiving tradition is well established: we go on a hike (usually at Castlewood State Park) and then we have lunch at the Indian buffet (usually Flavor of India). Last year we had to audible part of this tradition because Flavor of India permanently closed (!) so we tried a different Indian restaurant instead.

This year we had some obstacles to overcome to make our Thanksgiving tradition a reality.

1.      Eric had his ACL and meniscus surgically repaired in September and he has been slowly regaining full mobility and strength in his knee. While steady improvements have been made, he is not anywhere close to hiking yet. So we needed to find a trek that was relatively flat and short.

2.      Then it rained for four days straight in Saint Louis. We needed to find a trek that was relatively flat, short in distance, and was paved. No one was signing up for a mud hike!

3.      For COVID safety reasons, we’re not eating in a restaurant, and we certainly are not eating in a buffet restaurant! Double contagion risk! Also last year’s Thanksgiving buffet meal caused me to have vomiting mastocytosis reactions and I didn’t desire having that experience twice.

We arrived at the perfect solution: we would hike in Powder Valley with the awesome Finney family and I would make the Indian buffet myself. Unfortunately, Powder Valley never opened for us – although we waited quite patiently – so we audibled to walking Tilles Park instead. Tilles Park with the holiday lights was not quite a hike, but it was attainable by our injured and healing family members, so we’re going to count it. Tradition #1 adapted.

Tradition #2 required substantially more work. I know that all the Indian aunties make their delicious meals with a pressure cooker, so it became time for me to get one too. I ordered an Instant Pot to be delivered the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and I spent an entire evening browsing through online recipes. In the end, I decided to make at least one entrée a day so that by Thursday there would be enough leftovers and variety in options that it would be like eating at the Indian buffet.

So the Whompton Thanksgiving dinner menu included samosas (store-purchased), naan, vegetable curry, aloo saag curry, aloo gobi, lobia curry, rajma curry, and chana dal. I’ve had tremendous fun playing with my Instant Pot; it’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed cooking this much. I also made naan for the first time; I really enjoyed kneading and rolling out the dough and I was delighted to see the naan be devoured by the household. I never would have pushed myself to get an Instant Pot and experiment with all these recipes without 1. the pandemic and 2. a 9 day Thanksgiving break so it was the perfect confluence of circumstances.

We’re being COVID adaptable over here and the Whomptons experienced Thanksgiving 2020 without any sense of loss or missing out. I'm proud of us.