Thanksgiving Eve

My neighbor called this evening to see if she could borrow an egg, and we were chatting in my living room before I was startled to realize that I was wearing my pajamas. I spend so much time at home these days, and am so comfortable around her, that I hadn't even noticed. She's certainly seen me in my pajamas before, but I did feel a bit sheepish to be wearing them at 7:30 p.m.

We went into the kitchen to get an egg, and I remembered that I had some pears that were perfectly ripe, and wouldn't remain so through the weekend. I'd been googling for a recipe when she'd called about the egg. So we went back over to her apartment, and she searched her Joy of Cooking cookbook for pear recipes while I chatted with her fiance, who was at the computer. We all talked about conferences and books and libraries, which sounds awfully nerdy, and was, but also involved a lot of laughing and a tiny bit of singing (he was singing, not me!).

I decided that I was too lazy and short on time and ingredients to make pear pecan bread before bed, and my neighbor realized she'd left her egg in my kitchen, so we went back over to my apartment. I gave her the egg and the two pears I wasn't going to bake up fancily, and we chatted a little longer before she returned to her cooking, and I to my computer.

Last year, I spent Thanksgiving with her family, and I remember standing in her fragrant kitchen the night before as she made amazing stuffing and we talked about food and family. Based on last year and on tonight, I'm thinking that Thanksgiving Eve may be one of the very nicest days of the year. There is a general sense of people cooking and anticipating eating and having the rest of the week off (and in some cases, a trip!). It's not as big of a deal as Christmas, so there's less stress, but a similar, if subdued, festivity.

Standing in my pajamas on the eve of Thanksgiving, in my warm, clean kitchen, laughing with my neighbor as she described this year's biggest culinary adventure--a cake with chestnut flour she's making herself!--and excited to be roadtripping tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I was very thankful indeed.