Thanksgiving 2011
24/11/11 08:02
I'm glad Nan's parents finally came around. They seemed unwilling to commit and not entirely up to the task when we asked just one week before the holiday what they wanted to do for Thanksgiving. I would say that they just looked tired and maybe couldn't bring themselves to say "no" to the family that has joined them for the holiday for years prior. I won't say that the sentiment was unanimous but the Mrs. spoke for the both of them. You might say that she expressed his desire and not her own. As of late, he is not wanting anyone to go out of their way for him. Maybe he is not wanting to be a burden or perhaps no more of a burden than he has already been. Not to us necessarily but certainly to the Mrs.. Then again, who knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Speaking of thanks, I should name a few. I'm happy to be employed when the nation has a 9.1% unemployment rate. I'm happy to have a family that is free of ailments if you overlook the usual aches and pains. I'm happy to have a son who, if not thriving, then is certainly getting by with a little help from his friends. And, maybe with a little help from mine although I know not what they do when they are not working with me. I'm happy to have sufficient resources such that I can afford a cup of coffee after work every day and not feel guilty about the expenditure. It's nice to not have a mortgage. One of the only things that I haven't caught up with entirely is the wood pile in my driveway, putting a bit of gas in the snowblower, and getting some rims for the snow tires on my darling's car. I'm delighted that my extended family is not wanting or needing anything other than their usual familial needs. Save for Jim, just maybe. It's hard to know what's going on there. As Carol King says, he is "oh, so far away." And, you can't worry about the spouses and darlings of your brothers and sisters. As long as they come and go without leaving a wake of misery in their path then I'm good with that. Did I tell you that we paid to have the chimney cleaned yesterday? I usually do it myself but my darling insisted that we pay to have a professional do the job this time. That's fine but I will take it from here. And, oh, what a surprise, they recommended certain repairs to the chimney and liner. Bastards.
We were late to the dance this Thanksgiving so ended up with a 14lb turkey. I usually don't mind paying a little more for the birds without hormone shots, the birds devoid of steroids and saline, and those humanely raised and vegetarian fed. It all adds up to about $2 more a pound but, as they say in the ads, you can taste the difference. I sure hope so. We'll be preparing a stuffing recipe from Stonewall kitchen and a squash recipe from the same. Both call for use of their jams in a jar. I asked Nan to put aside half the stuffing so I can add a little pork sausage to it and that should be very tasty indeed. The pumpkin pie came out of the oven last night. Nancy prepares a nice pumpkin pie each thanksgiving using her grandmother's recipe. You go, girl. You won't find any escargot on our menu but that is by design. Not sure if my sweetnesss will be making her famous stockpot sweet potatoes but I would encourage her to go for it. We have a bag or two of cranberries in the fridge but not sure what we'll be doing with those since Nan's mom has those covered. I get to serve up the gravy as I did last year. Let's hope this year's version is less muddy. It was just barely pourable last year. I think I added too much corn starch. I'll not make that mistake again. Seems we're short a vegetable or two so we'll look to close that gap as the day wears on. I do have some spare brussel sprouts in the fridge that I could use. We'll see.
Speaking of thanks, I should name a few. I'm happy to be employed when the nation has a 9.1% unemployment rate. I'm happy to have a family that is free of ailments if you overlook the usual aches and pains. I'm happy to have a son who, if not thriving, then is certainly getting by with a little help from his friends. And, maybe with a little help from mine although I know not what they do when they are not working with me. I'm happy to have sufficient resources such that I can afford a cup of coffee after work every day and not feel guilty about the expenditure. It's nice to not have a mortgage. One of the only things that I haven't caught up with entirely is the wood pile in my driveway, putting a bit of gas in the snowblower, and getting some rims for the snow tires on my darling's car. I'm delighted that my extended family is not wanting or needing anything other than their usual familial needs. Save for Jim, just maybe. It's hard to know what's going on there. As Carol King says, he is "oh, so far away." And, you can't worry about the spouses and darlings of your brothers and sisters. As long as they come and go without leaving a wake of misery in their path then I'm good with that. Did I tell you that we paid to have the chimney cleaned yesterday? I usually do it myself but my darling insisted that we pay to have a professional do the job this time. That's fine but I will take it from here. And, oh, what a surprise, they recommended certain repairs to the chimney and liner. Bastards.
We were late to the dance this Thanksgiving so ended up with a 14lb turkey. I usually don't mind paying a little more for the birds without hormone shots, the birds devoid of steroids and saline, and those humanely raised and vegetarian fed. It all adds up to about $2 more a pound but, as they say in the ads, you can taste the difference. I sure hope so. We'll be preparing a stuffing recipe from Stonewall kitchen and a squash recipe from the same. Both call for use of their jams in a jar. I asked Nan to put aside half the stuffing so I can add a little pork sausage to it and that should be very tasty indeed. The pumpkin pie came out of the oven last night. Nancy prepares a nice pumpkin pie each thanksgiving using her grandmother's recipe. You go, girl. You won't find any escargot on our menu but that is by design. Not sure if my sweetnesss will be making her famous stockpot sweet potatoes but I would encourage her to go for it. We have a bag or two of cranberries in the fridge but not sure what we'll be doing with those since Nan's mom has those covered. I get to serve up the gravy as I did last year. Let's hope this year's version is less muddy. It was just barely pourable last year. I think I added too much corn starch. I'll not make that mistake again. Seems we're short a vegetable or two so we'll look to close that gap as the day wears on. I do have some spare brussel sprouts in the fridge that I could use. We'll see.