Pie fight

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and you know what that means.

Family fights.

Francesca and I are having one right now.

Not a big one, a mother-daughter-size one.

We call them Chihuahua fights because they’re adorable.

And we love Chihuahuas.

We don’t fight over politics, because we agree on that, or over masks and vaccines, because we agree on that, too.

We fight about core values.

Namely, food.

Specifically, when to freeze it.

It might be worth discussing post-holiday, since I’m guessing we all have a lot of leftovers.

Mine aren’t in the refrigerator.

Mine are frozen solid and have been since they survived the meal, uneaten. They might even have been scraped from plates.

I’m not proud.

No one has to know.

Except you.

In my defense, we had eggplant parmigiana, our traditional vegetarian Italian Thanksgiving, and I have to admit that Francesca makes the meal.

I provide comic relief and margaritas.

I even squeeze the limes.

Until they hurt.

The more you drink, the funnier I get.

Eggplant parm is my favorite dish, and that’s why every single morsel must be frozen as soon as the meal is over, so none will ever ever ever go to waste.

It’s not only that I hate waste.

It’s that I love eggplant parm.

And I’m too lazy to make it myself.

I won’t bother, even on a national holiday.

So for me, freezing is nonnegotiable. It must happen and it must happen quickly. I don’t know what flash freezing is, but if I could flash freeze it, I would.

In a flash.

But Francesca disagrees, saying that we should put the eggplant parm in the refrigerator, so we can relax and enjoy it over the next few days.

As if the holidays have anything to do with relaxation or enjoyment.

I say we can thaw it out, then relax and enjoy it.

She says it doesn’t taste as good after it’s been frozen.

I disagree.

Chihuahuas, attack!

In truth, the same food fight began a week before Thanksgiving, when I went to New York to pick up Francesca. She had ordered two pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dessert from a special bakery in Brooklyn.

Yes, two pies for two women.

We like pie.

Hers-and-hers pies.

I wanted to freeze them the moment I laid eyes on them and save both for Thanksgiving or later, but Francesca didn’t agree. She wanted to keep one in the refrigerator to eat over the next few days, on account of the relaxation and enjoyment we were supposed to be having.

So one went in the refrigerator and the other in the freezer.

In the end, we shared our pies, proving nothing.

Classic Chihuahua conflict resolution.

Same with our fight over pre-Thanksgiving pizza. My food reward for making the trip to NYC is a pizza from my favorite pizzeria, Bleecker Street. I wait in the car while Francesca gets the pie, then we head south and she hands me slices while I drive.

Yes, it’s possible to balance a pizza box on a dashboard.

I didn’t say it was wise, I said it was possible.

It takes practice.

Start now.

But when we got home, we had a few slices left, which I wanted to freeze. But Francesca said no, so we kept them in the refrigerator.

And sadly, our leftover pizza slices got thrown out.

Because we were relaxing and enjoying the holiday so much.

Which, to be honest, we did.

I don’t know if this means Francesca was right, or I was.

You decide if you’re Team Mom or Team Daughter.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s about food and gratitude.

I’m thankful for my daughter and even for our pie fights.

I’m thankful for so many things, this year.

I have health, happiness, and hope for a better year to come.

For all of us.

This holiday, celebrate the love you share.

You don’t have to freeze it or thaw it, it’s always there.

It keeps.

Forever.

Look for Lisa’s best-selling historical novel, “Eternal,” in stores now. Also look for Francesca’s critically acclaimed debut novel, “Ghosts of Harvard,” now in paperback.