Holiday Spirit

One of our favorite Thanksgiving stories came from a friend who spent the holiday stranded at Logan Airport in Boston by a snowstorm. All flights were canceled, and the place was packed with families loaded down with food they were bringing to their holiday dinners. As is the custom for many families, the host cooks the turkey and everyone else is assigned to bring one of the courses. There are no official rules for who brings what, but what generally happens is that the most experienced baker brings the pies and rolls, the person with the least time brings the cranberry sauce, and the vegetables are divvied up among everyone else.

When it became obvious at the airport that no one was going anywhere, someone came up with a plan to make the best of the situation. There was plenty of food, but unless there was a way to share it, each family would be stuck with the one course they were bringing.

We can imagine that in a very short time, casseroles were uncovered, baskets were unpacked, and pies were set out on the ticket counter. In the spirit of the holiday, airport restaurants helped out with plates and silverware and donated their microwaves to heat vegetables.

We understand there was plenty of talk about going home the next day to roast a turkey, but at Logan that year, everyone filled their plate with holiday sides, and oddly enough, not one person asked, “Where’s the turkey?”

In that spirit, here’s a cranberry sauce we love.

Jean Kressy is a food writer in Ashburnham, Mass.

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