It's time to talk turkey … you need to brace yourself for your Thanksgiving grocery shopping this year.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: This year's Thanksgiving is no different than previous years in that it remains, far and away, Red's favorite holiday, except this year has shopping challenges; while if it was up to Black, she'd skip the Thanksgiving meal altogether.
Shopping for Thanksgiving's always a major undertaking, especially for Red, as she likes to make sure she prepares everyone's favorite foods. It usually means a long list that requires shopping at different grocery stores to get the best prices, but this year even the "best" prices will be considerably more expensive, not to mention it may also be a challenge to find all the ingredients.
When she commented about this to Black, she expected her traditional response – Black offering to either have it catered or take everyone out for dinner (her ulterior motive being she could order something other than turkey for herself). But not this time. Instead, Black applied her "backward planning approach" to, of all things, Red's Thanksgiving dinner,
There is nothing you can do about supply chains issues, but there are things within your control. Start with who you really want there and how much leftovers you want, and go from there. That will help you identify the essential "favorite" dishes so that you can create your shopping list. Then get an early start on your grocery shopping.
It often amazes Red, while at the same time making her laugh, at how easily she jumps straight to being overly emotional and reactive, rather than stepping back and letting logic and common sense prevail. But that's what Black's for – to remind her to focus on what she can control and try to forget or, at least, keep in perspective everything else.
As she said to Black,
In other words, "streamline" Thanksgiving dinner and focus on what I really need vs. everything I might want. Or, was that your polite way of telling me that I have a tendency to cook for an army instead of just my family?
Is it even possible to have a single Thanksgiving favorite? Some have many – some have none!
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red always looks forward to Thanksgiving, not just because she loves having everyone around her dining room table, but because she enjoys so much of the food; while Black tolerates the food and tries to forget that she's not a fan of "forced celebrations", especially this year's double hit as Thanksgiving falls on her birthday.
Of course, Red does all the cooking, not just because she enjoys it but because that way, she's guaranteed to get her favorites – cranberry sauce and cornbread stuffing. She enjoys the food so much that a few times a year she'll make a turkey dinner, but with much fewer side dishes.
Black, on the other hand, doesn't have any Thanksgiving favorites, unless you count a baked yam, which is nothing special as she makes them in the microwave year-round. But she does miss the years they used to go to the Omni Hotel for its amazing Thanksgiving buffet, and she could avoid all the traditional foods,
Some people love to make turkey and all the fixings. I prefer to make dinner reservations.
A movie with murder, designer clothing, amazing locations, sex, and money. Who needs the popcorn?! (Besides Red.)
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red loves going to the movies – sometimes because of the story, other times it could be the actors or director, but always for the popcorn; while Black's very discerning when it comes to "investing" a few hours to sit in a movie theater … but we both want to see "House Of Gucci."
Red's especially partial to biographies, whether books or movies, so the fact the movie's based on a real story makes it even more appealing to her, not to mention it has a phenomenal cast and Ridley Scott as producer/director. (And, of course, there's the popcorn!)
Black, on the other hand, knows she'll enjoy the fashion, but it's the fact Maurizio Gucci could be a business school case study on how to simultaneously betray your family and bankrupt a company that got her attention. That and the Gucci family's reaction to the movie,
Given the scandal of murder and the betrayal of a fashion dynasty, the Gucci family takes issue with … the physical appearance of the actors? Talk about style over substance!
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