All In the Family

The thanksgiving holiday is almost upon us. You can tell because the office is starting to have people take their well deserved vacation days and we finally had our first frost of the season. For a special #ArchiTalks holiday treat, the subject for this 15th entry is “From the Architects Table”. Everyone is taking a break from the office grind to enjoy friends and family, so it seems #ArchiTalks is too.

 

If your house is anything like mine during the holidays, your senses are about to go into overdrive. The house begins to have that wonderful smell of stuffed turkey ready to be carved.  The subtle aroma of rolls dripping with butter makes your mouth water with anticipation. That freshly baked apple pie with the brown sugar crust is just about irresistible and might just need a quick taste test before the big dinner. It’s an orchestra of a thousand moving parts that come together to form arguably the best meal of the year. And to steal a line from my father-in-law, where will you find me?  In the den, watching football, staying out of the way.

 

Oh now don’t get me wrong here, I know how much work goes into creating a feast like this every year.  I know that my talents don’t exactly lend very well to these type of endeavors. So the the real question now is, how do I get my fridge out of a state like this?

 

 

Lucky for me, my wife is an absolute wiz when it comes creating a culinary masterpiece. In fact, considering I’ve been around great cooks my entire life; my grandmother, mom, wife, and now even my daughter is getting in on it; it’s surprising not very much of that ability has rubbed off. You would think with dishes like these it would.

 

  

Throughout these generations recipes are tweaked to suit new tastes, different locations and available ingredients, or even just to experiment with something new. But there is one recipe I have been enjoying ever since I can remember, and to my joyful surprise, the taste has remained constant and if I do say so, delicious. Ok, before I spill the beans on a secret family recipe, I have to let you know…. I HATE PICKLES!!  There, I said it, it’s out in the open and I feel such a sense of relief. Dill, sour, bread and and butter, I don’t care.  Don’t put them in anything I’m going to eat, no. Which is what makes it so strange that this taste I have been enjoying my entire life…. Yeah, you guessed it, pickles. But not just any pickles, Gammy’s Sweet Pickles. And from what I know, my family is the only one that makes them. Trust me on this, once you have had these, you will never enjoy another kind of pickle ever again, ever!

I know what you’re thinking, it’s just pickles.  Well, maybe, but to me it’s more than that.  In my mind it connects generations of my family like nothing else. It’s that timeless element that no matter who is making it, you instantly recognize it. You’re part of the family, you’re home. So at the risk of being disowned, I figured it’s time for more people to enjoy this family recipe, but you have to wait. No really, check out the recipe below, you actually have to wait two days after you make them before you can start to enjoy them. Or if you wait longer, the taste keeps getting better.

That’s what’s on my table, and I hope it always is. Ever wonder what’s on other architects tables?  Check out the rest of the #ArchiTalks crew below.

Jarod Hall – di’velept (@divelept)
UTAH = JELLO

Eric Wittman – intern[life] (@rico_w)
giving thanks and [wine]ing

Emily Grandstaff-Rice – Emily Grandstaff-Rice AIA (@egraia)
Unplug Tradition

Michael Riscica – Young Architect (@YoungArchitxPDX)
The Architect’s Postmodern Thanksgiving!

Meghana Joshi – IRA Consultants, LLC (@MeghanaIRA)
Archtalks from an Architects Table

Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
“From an Architect’s Table” Dolly Brown’s Pumpkin Pie

Rosa Sheng – Equity by Design (@EquityxDesign)
Hacksgiving – A Hacker’s Thanksgiving

Eric T. Faulkner – Rock Talk (@wishingrockhome)
Archi-Table – Any Berry Salad

Lora Teagarden – L² Design, LLC (@L2DesignLLC)
ArchiTalks: Bourbon. Every architect’s friend.

Mark R. LePage – Entrepreneur Architect (@EntreArchitect)
From My Table To Yours

Jeff Echols – Architect Of The Internet (@Jeff_Echols)
This Thanksgiving: Something New

Matthew Stanfield – FiELD9: architecture (@FiELD9arch)
Thanksgiving Feast…

Bob Borson – Life of An Architect (@bobborson)
http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/margaritas-especial-del-arquitecto-de-texas/