“USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.” – USDA

As far as I know, the USDA guidelines don’t include the presence of toxic friends or relatives.

I’ve been lucky. Most of my Thanksgiving holidays have been in the good to great range.

However, some people think Groucho Marx was more on target when he said, “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. Unfortunately, this wasn’t it.”

(There may be wisdom in the belief there’s a reason we don’t see these people more than once a year.)

We visualize this Norman Rockwell picture as the Thanksgiving we expect (from a 1943 Saturday Evening Post article.) He called the painting “Freedom from Want.” That freedom is among the blessings we celebrate when we gather with friends and relatives around our Thanksgiving tables.

Unfortunately, the turkey may be spoilt before the cook has time to pick up his/her fork (to signify the meal can begin) when one or more people think the feast is a site for open warfare. Today, in our polarized country, the subject is often politics.  This plays out when an arrogant know-it-wall castigates those at the table who don’t share his/her views.  This kind of “chewing out” has no place at the table set for blessings and fellowship. But it happens and often tears families apart.

To what end?

–Malcolm