Let's Talk Turkey
+ cutie to go cups, if Big Brother was a cooking show, and how to get green grass
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It’s Thanksgiving Eve! If you’re reading this on Wednesday, I’m either en route to Alabama to visit mine and J’s families or I’m already there prepping my bird.
You guys know you can’t pay me to stop whining about the grocery store, and I’ve made it clear I’m not a strong cook, so why on earth did I volunteer to cook the main dish on the Super Bowl of eating holidays?
One, I kinda just wanted to do something crazy lol. Why not just try.
Two, it’s a legacy thing. My grandma and her sisters carried the cooking mantle for a long time. My mom and aunt’s generation grew up with that cooking, but they didn’t necessarily pick up on all the magic. And now me, my cousins, my sisters … we’re in a spot where grandma isn’t cooking much anymore, mom can get by but doesn’t have the secret sauce, and it feels like it’s up to us to carry the torch.
Different Strengths, Same Team
And where does my husband stand on all this? Like he’s told everyone whose asked, he’s “just along for the ride1.”
This whole turkey thing isn’t the first time J’s been pulled into one of my bright ideas, and “along for the ride” doesn’t give him enough credit. Just this Friday, our hot date was using this recipe plus ChatGPT to create the ultimate turkey timeline. All my big birdy dreams stand atop his very tall, very detail-oriented shoulders.
Talking turkey2 during date night was a sweet reminder that I don’t have to force myself to be the details guy. J’s got that. And he doesn’t have to try to come up with kooky ideas that turn into more work than he planned for (trust me, I’ve got that covered lol).
He gets to be him, and I get to be me. Different strengths, same team.
It’s Greener Where You Water It
You’ve heard of the “silent majority.” Well, a lot of the feelings I write about here fall into the “loud minority.” 98% of this first year of marriage has been better than I could have dreamed. But the other 2% has been a doozy. And a lot of why I write is to help you and I stay encouraged mid-doozy.
And now … I have an obsession confession to make: my YouTube algo is all Kaitlan Collins. You know, the CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
I know for sure that in this post, maybe others, I’ve told you guys that my first gig out of college was as a TV news reporter in Huntsville, AL. It feels like, at least for a brief period of time, that Kaitlan Collins and I were on very similar paths. We’re both from Alabama, we both went to college in Alabama, and we both studied journalism and political science.
And now, only a few years apart in age, she’s the CNN Chief White House Correspondent with her own primetime show and I’m … well … you guys know me, ha. Or at least, you know what fills my days for the most part: my husband, my family, my work, and making peace with all that’s changed in the last 12-ish months. Watching Kaitlan crush it on CNN also makes me think about all the change I’ve lived through eight years post-undergrad.
I was going to be her. At least, I thought I was lol. I put blinders on from the time I was in middle school, and I knew I was going to be a TV reporter. Maybe even an anchor one day. I was in the broadcast club in high school, got hired by the university to anchor the nightly news in college and, when it was time to graduate, I went from a small Alabama state school to being on-air talent in a top 80 market. At the time, it felt big. HUGE. I was on my way.
But then I got my dream job and, four-ish months in, I absolutely hated it. The hours, my bosses, the absence of day-to-day conveniences like having regular access to a bathroom … it wasn’t for me. My dream job stabbed me in the back and, eighteen months into a two year contract, I tucked my tail and moved home with mom and dad. Their unwavering love and support are what put me back together and gave me the confidence to go back out into the world. I went corporate, moved out, started teaching group fitness, found friends, fell in love, got married, moved to Atlanta, and that’s where you guys pick up on the story.
I know the TV gig wasn’t a good fit. And I know, I mean really, truly know, that this life I’m building with Jonathan, in Atlanta, serving LIIV ATL … it’s God’s perfect will for my life.
I also know that at 30 years old I’ve put down a dream or two, and I’ll never know how those stories would’ve played out. Maybe that’s what happens when you’re someone who has lots of hopes and dreams and ambitions. You end up putting one thing down for another and, in doing so, you never know what could’ve come of all the things you said no too.
I think that’s why, at least in part, I’m in my Kaitlan Collins era3. It feels like pulling a story off the shelf that I likely won’t finish4, admiring the story’s true main character as she does her thing, and then shutting the book to go tend to my own grass. They say it’s greener where you water it.
More like re-wearing my wedding shoes. These pumps were comfy-enough wedding shoes a year ago, and they’re finding new life this fall.
My sister-in-law gave me these little disposable to-go cups (similar) and ngl they’re a bright spot.
For my iced coffee friends: Just brew a cup of hot coffee at night, let it cool a bit, and put it in the fridge. There, you have iced coffee!
Obviously, my turkey. But also this song off the new Summer Walker album. Lyrically, it’s like the anti-“Cater 2 U” by Destiny’s Child, and I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve gone so far as to make up my own backup dancer choreography5.
J is also entering his Olivia Dean era, and we’re loving this one off the new album.
We recently finished this show on Netflix, and it’s basically the show you’d get if Big Brother and a cooking show had a baby.
This chili recipe. It’s so good I almost entered it into my office chili cook-off. The secret ingredient is unexpected, seasonally relevant, and soooo good!
Q for the Road:
What’s your favorite way to repurpose leftover Thanksgiving turkey?
Is turkey pot pie actually a thing?
When’s the official leftover cutoff?
That’s All! Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!
With you,
Sarah
More With You, Weekly
Good man.
HA!
That and she’s brilliant. Sis knows her stuff. And I was a polisci/journalism major, so I do genuinely have an interest in this stuff. We can talk about the Epstein/MTG/Mamdani of it all offline if you want lol.
Never say never!
I just watched Dream Girls for the first time, so naturally backup dancer choreo is top of mind.
LOVED this one! I had no idea about your career pivot but I’m a big proponent of the power of changing your mind. My mom went to nursing school when I was little and watching her do that made me believe I could literally do anything, anytime. Everything is data for our next move!
I have to know how your turkey came out. The first time I cooked one, I called my dad in tears 😂
Wedding shoes in the wild is so badass. Loved reading about your journey. The universe works in weird ways. I’m also a huge Kaitlan fan!