11:35 p.m. | 2005-11-23 Al a Surprise. I�m going to YoungerSister�s (YS) house tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner. As I have for the last several years because she invites me. Which is way cool. See, about the time we moved Christmas to July (roughly ten years ago), we � as a family � gave up celebrating Thanksgiving together. It was a difficult time and the holiday celebrations had become quite oppressive so we ditched Thanksgiving and moved Christmas. Seemed logical at the time. At that time, the �family� consisted of myself, my sisters and my mother. Since then the family makeup has changed along with a lot of other things. However, as a family, we never resumed a Thanksgiving celebration. For several years, I just did my own thing. My �thing� being, um, not celebrating? It can be odd like that when you�re single and your family doesn�t get together. Mostly, I spent the day enjoying a good book. Quiet time is nice like that. However, as I mentioned, a few years ago YS started inviting me to spend the day with her family. I�m grateful for that. I always enjoy spending time with her, her husband, LittleNephew and YSMIL (her mother-in-law). She�s always treated me quite well too. YS cooks, cleans and entertains. All she asks me to do is to keep LittleNephew occupied. I can do that. Not so much with sword fighting � tether ball yes, sword fighting no � but I give it my all. (That�s usually when I discover that I�m not so young anymore.) Most importantly, I never feel like the odd person out when I join her family for Thanksgiving or Christmas in December. I feel welcome and that�s a really good feeling. From the beginning I�ve always asked her �what can I bring?� For the first few years she just said �yourself.� Great. Love that answer. Or, rather, I loved that answer. Much like last year, this year YS asked me to bring an appetizer. As well I should. Last year, she asked me to bring a relish tray. I was happy with that request because I knew exactly what to bring. A relish tray is a family tradition so it was easy. Not daring at all. But, YS has become bolder. As well she should. This year? An appetizer. One that was not a relish tray because she�s got that covered. I agonized. For hours. Like I do when I�m asked to contribute something rather than a specific thing. My mind goes on a trip. What do people want? What do they like or not like? What if I mess up by bringing something no one likes? What if? What if? What if? Oh please. She simply told me to bring an appetizer, not a bunch of drama. I did offer to surprise her and she accepted that challenge. Which required me to dig a little deeper and ignore the sage advice to not try something new for a holiday event. I came up with two appetizers. The first is one that I�ve done before but haven�t ever unleashed on my family. Quite simple. Ham strips covered with cream cheese topped with a green olive and rolled up into nice little ball of finger food. Many years ago, I introduced its cousin � salami slices covered with cream cheese topped with peppers and rolled into easy bites � at Christmas in July (I believe) and it�s been a favorite and demanded appetizer since. I only hope the ham roll-ups get the same review. So there�s one appetizer. Not so risky I think. But since YS gave me free license and I�m much more confident than I used to be, I�m trying a new appetizer. I found the recipe yesterday. It�s a salsa recipe and who doesn�t like chips and salsa? Albeit this salsa is, um, a little different. The ingredients: avocado, tangerines, pomegranate seeds, green onions, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, honey and salt. As tuff517 would say: �That�s a lot of flavor�. Yes, yes it is. But, I�m going with it. It sounds just wacky enough to be really good. I�ll find out tomorrow. Just in case, I have ready a container of fresh traditional salsa. (Compliments of the �what ifs� kind of thinking.) It�s fun though. Trying new stuff. Whether or not my appetizers are good, tomorrow�s gonna be great. I get to see my nephews, spend some time with YS and sit down to a great dinner with YS, YSHusband, YSMIL and the boys. That�s always a good time. Here�s to creative endeavors and Happy Thanksgiving celebrations! Enjoy. your thoughts? seed flower