Company's Coming

I think we've worked out the best for our family thanksgiving.  We all chip in on the prep work and the cleaning, the meal takes hours to eat, and nobody is expecting anything from the Food Network.  We all know the cheesy corn casserole will be gone first, that the beer is on the porch, the wine is at the bar, and my mother is making the gravy.  An hour before dinner, my dad and I go to help my great aunt walk the 50 yards from her house (and pick up the spiral ham that has been cooking since about 6 AM).  Afterwards, we compete with the cats for a napping spot in the sun or take a walk to get rid of the post-meal waddle.

The fun part is, we're never sure who is going to be at the meal.  There are always some people up from Texas and a few strays that my great aunt and her sister collect from their friends, and there are usually enough new people that my dad can tell the same old stories to a new audience.  A few of the Texans will watch whatever football game is on, while I raid the bookshelves for something to pass out to.

It's always a good day.

 "take on the emotional and physical responsibility for the holiday" and "actualize the cultural belief that the family is one big harmonious group."    Yep...thats my job discription.   Oh yeh, and cook ALL the food.   I'm not complainig though, I really love it...really.

Hi John,

I am in New Delhi for Thanksgiving, the weather is beautiful, sunny days and cool nights, everybody buying indigo shawls, Kantha shawls, silk shawls, woolen shawls, it's the Delhi winter wear.

i am going to make sure the birds on my balcony have a thanksgiving feast - aka the bread for the dressing.

And that would be the red vented bulbuls, white cheeked bulbuls, two toned Indian crows, common mynah, lots of house sparrows - but no turkey!

take care,

April Cornell

my family(daughters and their spices) unanimously decided about 10 years ago that I was not to be allowed to cook anything anymore for Thanksgiving dinner.  This was following my discovery of a "new" way to fix sweet potatoes/yams, by mixing them with grapefruit sections.  The key to this new recipe (from a popular paperback insert in with the Sunday funnies) was that the white membranes from said grapefruit pieces MUST be removed before mixing.  Well, the (now former) son-in-law assigned to the task of removing the white membranes was a total failure (he failed at any number of other actually more important assignments and so we left him on the curb about nine years ago.)

Following appropriate signs of reluctance to stop cooking for family gatherings, I then gratefully accepted the family's decision to send my only grandson (at that time) to train as a chef at the local Le Cordon Bleu academy.  You expect me to tell you that now we have this amazing chef to prepare our family meals?  I don't think so - we don't pay enough - he is in demand elsewhere so until one of the next two grandsons (ages 6 and 7) wishes to become apprenticed to the chef, it is every daughter/spice for herself and I can do whatever I want to with my sweet potatoes/yams.

I so well remember those old "responsible" days - getting up at 4:30 a.m. to stuff and truss the darned bird, having no sleep, being on my feet all day, fielding complaints over what was/wasn't cooked or available and then getting 7 loads of dishes washed in the dishwasher.  Not any more - I paid my dues - no worries about who is allergic to walnuts or that the youngest grandson can't be near cashews (quick, the epi-pen) - I did not need that extra five pounds anyway.  Peace.

This is where estrangement and disharmony really come in handy.  I have one sister who takes on the  whole thing and one who lives too far away to get here. I have a brother who also lives too far away and a brother whose immediate family doesn't necessarily get along with his extended family. All of this adds up to five adults ( and three spouses) who spend their thanksgiving five different ways. Grandmere will go to the supreme hostess, the other two families will manage on their own and we singletons will find similarly disposed folks.  I have skipped turkey for years and am fairly certain the world financial crisis is unrelated.  I love my family and look forward to seeing them all at Christmas, when I can give them things.

 I find that being alone or close to it heightens the blessing counting. You aren't caught up in all of the drama and you are still reminded of That Pageant. And my response, at least, is to  begin the lengthy inventory of all of  the many blessings of this life.

And then I will go and do pheresis on Friday while everybody else is out saving money. Since I am going to win the Peterman Sweepstakes, bargains mean nothing to me.  

Speaking of MIA, has any one seen or heard anything from DPR?

THEATRE There, the bait is cast upon the water.

House Guest is back among his family and proving resistant to my pleas to share his interesting account of Upper Michigan dining:

Breakfast: toaster waffles with fresh fruit and coffee. I've done that.

Lunch, every day, a hot fresh baked meat and vegetable pie with gravy and a small, two glass, carafe of a blush wine that they must buy by the tanker. Haven't done that but would be willing to give it a go.

Dinner: Either Brook Trout, lamb chops, quail, wild duck or some combination and a larger carafe of the same wine. Who was in the kitchen, Babette?

He has written as well the best ever one sentence biography. I'll try bribery.

Well Mr. P:  Your sound advice is too late to save me.  I thought I was hosting a small, (about 6 people) intimate gathering but it turns out that I am hosting a dinner for 25-30 people this year.  However, most of these people have no one else to share the day with and afterall isn't that the true meaning of Thanksgiving...sharing?  I don't receive a lot of prep help but this year I have had plenty of offers to clean up and by george I am taking them up on it.  In years past, I have spent 3 days preparing and 3 days cleaning up.  Not this year.  I am truly blessed with wonderful family and friends.  I have "turky bingo" planned and a "Thanksgiving Trivia" game all thought out.  Of course there will be football fans gathered in one room and the movie Christmas Vacation on in another.  The day will be filled with lots of love and chaos!  But despite the hard work... I truly love it.  My dining room table is already set with the Thanksgiving plates and turkey napkin rings and waiting!  Come on over.  I guarantee you'll gobble til ya wobble!

Happy Thanksgiving Holiday to all of my PE family.

Having folks over for Thanksgiving has little to do with the stresses of food... It is the CLEANING that is crushing!  First to go is one's ecological balance, where the spiders, ants, cockroaches (this is the South, guys!), and so -- living in a regime of mutual assured destruction -- have to go.  Out come the longhandled mops and the insectside.  (Guests don't take kindly to 'ecological balance'). 

Then there is the vacuuming.  (Thank goodness I don't share my quarters with cats or dogs like my siblings!).  Even so, deferred vacuuming has to be 'caught up' lest sharp eyes note the dust (misleadingly called dirt).  

And then there is the dusting.  Empirically it's best done before the vacuuming.  If you have thousands of books, it's best to simply forget trying to 'dust the books' --- that's hopeless.  Besides, stirring up that dust simply makes you start coughing and/or sneezing.

Ah, the 'silver'.  (Usually just plate, but no one need know that...)  Black is ok UNTIL guests are expected.  Then out come those strange bottles of special elixers which make black silvery things shiny again.

Gee, I'm tired already.  

I'm very thankful this Thanksgiving Day that I'm driving 320 miles (each way) to spend Thanksgiving with my youngest brother!  (Whew!)

Geez, almost forgot to mention this: Stop what you were planning on doing after reading this, go out, find a little Flip video camera and buy it.

If you are very lucky, they will also sell you the tripod.

Then, during dinner, simply turn the thing on, set it somewhere it won't get knocked over, aim it at the group and Bob's your uncle! Sixty minutes of nice quality video and audio to load onto a computer, probably edit and share.

The red light is a tip-off that something is up and not everyone is happy to be in on this but there is a subtle caution that comes with the instructions: "Touch it only with a hand for which you have no further use."

Wait, maybe I just made that up.

We've used this at birthdays and dinners and got some beautiful stuff. You will too.

Doc,

Letting the silver tarnish and then polishing it  (leaving lots of black in the low relief areas) is the best way to keep it from looking too new ( and suspiciously like plate). Silverplate isn't the End of the World. THAT would be having to actually purchase your own*

*(as opposed to hope chest gifts, wedding gifts, etc., or best of all, inheriting it )  

When I read everyone's accounts of their dysfunctional family Thanksgivings, I feel sad that my family is so boring.  I don't know if it's because we're too obtuse to notice when we're being insulted or if we actually get along.  Maybe more of the former than the latter. 

The most drama we had at Thanksgiving came in about 1974.  My relatives from Chicago came down to SC to visit.  At some point, the doors to the kitchen closed and the kids were shooed away.  Years later, we found out that my mother and my Uncle Eddie had had words over the best way to make gravy.  Eddie, a rotund diesel mechanic famous for his insensitivity, apparently thought he was going to best my mother's Joy of Cooking with his army cook experience.  Not bloody likely.  We never found out the exact exchange of words but I know he had it coming......as he'd already traumatized a nine-year-old me by threatening that I couldn't ride in his new Cordoba because I couldn't roll my Rs when I said "Corinthian leather."   

Sadly, the Uncle Eddies of the world make for the best stories.

What's the trouble here, really?

Is it dealing with the family dynamics

or the expectations of what a marvelous day this OUGHT to be (according to cultural expectations)?

I do so wish I was cooking dinner at my house and having everyone come to me. As it is, I'm scrambling to do two days worth of shopping, baking, downloading photos to SD cards, laundry and packing into one day - today. This girl doesn't procrastinate, does she? Tomorrow, it's the modern version of ‘over the river and through the woods,' as we spend 11-ish hours, crammed in the car, driving up I-95 to New England to see my mom (and maybe my brother, if the spirit moves him?). Thanksgiving Day is also mom's birthday this year so it seems even more important to make this holiday trek. I feel very fortunate that 2 out of my 3 sons will be joining us this year. My only other sibling, a sister, and her family, won't be driving the distance to attend.   

My mom does not like to cook. She never has. She never will. When I became old enough to cook for the family, and enjoyed doing it, she was thrilled. As a kid, the holidays were a time when relatives would bring all the food and mom would supply the place to gather; except, my dad did like to make the turkey. Thankfully, both of my grandmothers were good cooks.

When my husband was on active duty, in the Navy, there were many years when it was impossible (because of distance) to be with family during the holidays. During those times, we always invited sailors with nowhere else to go, over to our home to feast on whatever we could pool together. We were all so thankful just to be with each other and have the ship in its homeport. And, of course, there were those lonely holidays when the ship was deployed, when you would truly get to the nitty-gritty of your blessings. Often, we would celebrate all the missed occasions when the ship returned.

As I get older, I find that I abhor holiday-hype even more. Christmas decorations are displayed before Halloween and Thanksgiving seems to get lost in the confusion. It's important to make myself stop and think about all I have to be thankful for...which is why I took this moment out of my crazy day to come here...not only to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving but also to let you know that one of the things I'm thankful for is all of you.

Jonathan Isles - I hope your little one is feeling better today.

PeterLake - I hope you are feeling better today, too.

I think every family has it's holiday war stories, however, I live in a delusional world and expect nothing less than a Norman Rockwell...picture perfect day.  I dare say that our dinner is more indicative of the Griswald family Christmas dinner, complete with our versions of cousin Eddie, Aunt Bethany, Uncle Lewis, and even Snot.  My husbands nickname really is Sparky and he looks and acts like Chevy Chase.  Now if I just looked like Ellen the picture would be complete, except no exploding turkeys, green jello mold, and hopefully nothing burns down. 

Kindlee-

I don't know about anyone else but this year, with the economy in the toilet and all the turmoil around the globe, I am spending a lot more time thinking about how much we still have to give thanks for.  More time than I normally do.   I hope that most folks are doing the same this Thanksgiving. 

When my daughter was born, we swore we'd never have one of those lavish, absurd birthday parties for her and we never did.  My husband once observed that a good recession would put an end to such ridiculous parties.  I suspect it has. But I think it may also put an end to consumption for its own sake.  I suspect we will all start appreciating, or at least, seeing what has been in front of us all along. Let's give thanks for what a recession can't take away! 

Thanksgiving ~ This year will be a tough one for my family. Its going to be the first one without my Grandmothers being with us. It'll be the first Thanksgiving ever without my one Grandma's rolls, & her Apple or Cherry Pies & the other ones homemade Bread.  

Thank God for Mothers & Fathers though, my mom & dad have worked tiredlessly since October to make sure we all can get through Thursday by being grateful for the blessings that are still here with us.   

Of course me being me, I painted y own self in corner on Saturday when Mom told me to bring the Wine (Easiest job EVER) & I said what elese is on the Menu & complained that no one was bringin the Green Bean Casserole. You guessed it assigned the GBC ~ BUT my sister was there & stated she wanted me to make Alton Browns recipe of it with Fresh Beans..... Who knew GBC could have like 20 ingrediants in it!!  But in the interest of family harmony I will appease my sister & give the recipe a try. I however will NOT take responsibilty if anyone gets sick.....

As for my DH's side of the family he has decided to skip them (and my family) this year. One of our friends has a Christmas tree lot & needs help with it since his wife left him DH has decieded to do this & quite honestly I'm alright with him doing that as I think by doing so he is really the one who is truly living in the spirit of the day.   

I also inherited G-ma's silver tea set ~ it TOTALLY needs to be cleaned I can't believe all the silver tea sets my Grandfathers parents had like 4 of them. Who ever needed 4 silver tea sets especially in the early 1900's thru the 1930's?  I just want to clean it & have a tea & hats party with a bunch of GF's so that its actually been used again in the last 60 years. 

Heiress ~ Nice to see you back ~ Hope everything is good over by you.

Heiress good to hear from you! Hope your doing well!

Isles,

Excuse me if you have already done so, but could you phoneticize the pronunciation of your place and- is it Welsh?

Curious

If you order from Honeybaked Hams like Mr. P suggested, and you want to call and complain to them them, do not, I repeat, DO NOT use this number

To call and complain about not getting your honebaked whatever this holiday season.  It is one digit off from our toll free number and I am too busy to listen to people complaining that the seasoning packet smelled funny or their pies never arrived.  Thanksgiving right on through Easter I get on average a half dozen calls a day.  You'd think me answering the phone "Hickman Land Title, how may I help you?" be a big tip off that we can't help you with your meat.

Our brand new receptionist just got her first Honebaked complaint this morning and she kept trying to explain but the man was yelling so loud I could hear him 10 feet away.  Happy Thankgiving to you sir, way to spread the joy.

Ah heck, I have forgotten to polish the blasted silver (which must be used for quantity's sake.)  This year, for the first time since I divorced twenty years ago, I have all my children (except daughter Lorelei, who will be floating down the Mekong River as we eat) coming for Thanksgiving.  Their dad's family has always reunited over the holiday and I have always granted them leave from my custodial rights on that weekend. However, Son Zach married the lovely Olivia this past April and she told him whe wanted to do Thanksgiving with me and hubby Jim.  So, I will definitely give thanks for my new daughter-in-law, who is terrific in so many ways. They will be joined by my siblings, including my reclusive and elusive brother Peter, and a cousin or two. 

And there will be drama, as last week younger sister Scottie called from Tampa and told me that her two dogs (a Scottie and a Westie) were her and husband Marty's children and she wanted them with her on Thanksgiving.  I responded that I thought they were going to be staying at Peter's house and that my multi-leveled condo with wood floors is not a good place for dogs.  She said that she wanted the dogs with her at the Thanksgiving meal and I firmly responded that our home is not suitable for fifteen people and two small dogs, or vice versa.  She then channeled my long-dead Mother and lit into me with all sorts of recriminations, using words like ungrateful, prig, nouveau riche, bitch, selfish. I concluded her thirty minute harangue with a have a nice Thanksgiving with Marty and the dogs.  Unfortunately, she called the next morning, apologized and they will be coming for Thanksgiving. The dogs will be staying at Peter's the entire time.

So, she sucked the joy out of my holiday prep and filled that void with dread. However, I have a beautiful turkey waiting to be brined and cooked, a cheater tray of delicious dressing from a local caterer (I transfer to my own dish, add more celery, onions and oysters), and all sorts of other goodies to satiate the heftiest appetite.  And this afternoon, I will start on the chile that Zach and Olivia, sisters Mary Scott and Lucy Kay will eat with me and Jim after they arrive tomorrow afternoon.  I have so much to be thankful for, why am I so downhearted? 

off to locate and polish the blasted silver

Kindlee, thanks so much.  Little Audzilla spent literally the entire day on the library couch - behind the baby gate where Syd Vicious, her little sister, couldn't get at her.  And after sleeping all but three hours of the day away on the couch, she went upstairs last night and is still sleeping this morning.  I think she has one of those long, slow burn fevers going that will kill off whatever it is that she's got.  Tangentially, I am SO HAPPY that we home school and that I don't work.  I can't imagine trying to fit sick wee ones into the margins of a conventional day.  

Stoney, the earliest we can find of my name is a John Eales of Devon, in Cornwall, around 1624.  Inexplicably, the next generation changed the spelling to Eells - which sounds just like it looks - as in "the shrieking eels beneath the Cliffs of Insanity!"  Of the two schools of family thought, I choose the one that says "Eales" or "Eells" is the typical English butchering of a French word - i.e. "Isles" - rather than the one involving an ancestral "eel-monger" who sold lots of "eel pies", because those are beastly and fit only for composting.  Knowing a little but about lingual drift, though, I find it pretty easy to imagine a "John of the Isles" becoming a "John Eales" and then a John Eells in pretty short order.  I am considering changing the family name back to its first historical occurence, Eales.  I ponder these things.  Changing my Eye-name to Isles is part of a thought experiment to see how I like the idea of change to begin with.

I also do happen to like the idea that the name is Welsh.  I'd like a reason to learn "Land of My Fathers" and go to footie games where I can bellow it with tears treaming down my face.  But if we're Welsh then the double-L in "Eells" deserves to be spoken as the Welsh distinctive sound "dh".  That would put my name more in the posture of "Yädhs".  Now THAT would be fun.  But we don't have a reliable Welsh link.  I've asked a few friends, sons of my neighbor who are in fact Welsh and live in Wales, if they would look around for occurences of my name somewhere in their neck of the woods.  Who knows what we'll eventually find.  

Hey, thanks for letting me hold forth on, well,  MYSELF!  

Oh, and let's not forget the Scottish "Ell", the ancient measure of length.  And the English "Ell", which was shorter.  And then there's the incomparably more ancient middle eastern god named "El", which survives to this day in the names MichaEL, and GabriEL, and other such ancient signposts.  Maybe My family is actually descended of Gods?  

Now you've gone and done it.  We started with etymology and pronunciation, and now we're firmly into my private hagiography.  Predictable.  

Rings I feel for you.  All my grandparents are gone and the first year after is always the toughest, ok so 2 of them died before my parents were married and everyone was slightly afraid of the Prussian lady, but the fourth was a very sad loss.  Sir Boyscout's grandfather died this summer and this the first big holiday without him.  He is waxing nostalgic already, but still in good spirits.  I think the important thing is to celebrate the good times you had and not be afraid to be a little sad.

Since it is DH's paternal grandmother's first Thanksgiving alone we HAVE to go there...dinner is at 8pm.  But we had thanksgiving with her last year so his maternal grandmother insisted that we have to come to her dinner at 2pm...she lives 2.5 hours away.  So its dropping Molly off in my mom's backyard-driving-dinner-family-time-driving-dinner family time driving coma.  The good thing about being relatively new to SB's family is that they are afraid to ask me to bring anything.

I'm going to miss dinner at my parents house which makes me sad, because its the most relaxed, laid back, fun thanksgiving.  We eat about 1pm or whenever mom says its ready and she's old-school, no one can help her cook.  No fancy menu, just good old fashioned home made Turkey dinner with one special addition, Rotkohl.  After dinner we nap, after nap we swim, after swimming we play games and watch tv and eat pie. 

We've never had an argument, no one has ever stormed out mad.  Everyone is barefoot and we're all so happy to have a day off of work and a nice meal together that we don't care if dad has to have his can-shaped cranberry sauce or the kids are covered in mashed potatoes and doing blow-fish faces on the sliding glass door.

If you want to watch someone else's Thanksgiving crisis rent "Piece of April".  It will make you laugh.

Just used the pitting one friend against the other strategy. They didn't know what hit them.But I subscribe to using whatever ploy you can think of to get through it. By the way you can doctor the canned gravy by adding some pan drippings, which you've defatted, from the turkey. Throw in a few spices and it'll seem practically artisanal.

Jonathan,

Now I'm jeleous, I've only had the Chicago EL (Elevated Train).

I hope Little Audzilla feels better soon.  Sounds like you have made a grand environment for all of your wee ones.  Good for you!!

Speaking of great Thanksgiving-themed movies, although this isn't one, the movie "Avalon" has a lovely little sub-plot that centers on the perrenially late uncle, and cutting the turkey, all among a family of immigrants.  I love that movie.

I'll try to get my two cents worth of Turkey day memories a bit later. 

Just in case I hit panic mode and lose track of time I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksging filled with Happy Memories.

and as a good friend of mine says 'may the strars shine on your faces and the hair on your toes grow long and curly'! I'm very grateful to be in your company!

It's easy for us, our daughter married a man from a divorced family so they have to play the 'be at our house' ping pong game while my wife of 38 years and I don't want to add to that angst and accept them whenever it's cool for them to visit.  My birthday is Christmas Eve but I hate the thought of the kids as I call them dragging their two daughters onto the highways during that destruction derby that passes for interstate traffic.  So, the same offer stands: come when it's convenient, the gifts will be here along with the grub.  Happy holidays.  Our anniversary is New Years Eve so we get it all done while the spirit is still strong.

Thanks,PeterLake!  And may the Holy Turkey Coma find you and bless your post-prandial nap, on Thursday and forever after.  

 I think I've mentioned on here before how brilliant my father is. Such a character. Well, he outdid himself this time. He volunteered to host Thanksgiving. And then he went bird hunting with the boys. He DID send us all an email from South Dakota,

"Girls, I left plenty of firewood by the back door and a fifth of Polish vodka on the dining room table. Have fun and please spend the night. Love, Dad"

Very clever man. Sincerely. So we get to have a Thanksgiving where nobody is hosting. So we all get to relax. Brilliant, right?!

I so need that this year. No uber-planning. We have only two plans: One turkey, and Jaime's pumpkin martinis. Oh, and a game of football with lots of trash talk.

Good times. 

Nachista,

I'm so calling that number right now. Be ready. And I loved Pieces of April. Everytime I make pancakes and mess up the first one, I think of poor April. 

Ben Franklin: ~ Guests and Fish smell in 3 days.

I think I'm going to plan ahead, and go out today and make sure I'm stocked up on the cheapest white sandwich "bread" that I can find, and LOTS of mayonnaise.  And that jelly in a can.  That way, when the time comes to transition from first-servings to leftovers, I'll be prepared.  And Ruffles.  Ye Gods, this is the only time I allow myself to eat food-like products.  But I love those leftover sandwich feasts with those nasty "crisps".  And sparkling apple cider.  It's as close to junk food as I let myself get. 

Dang it, now I'm salivating on the keyboard already.  Pathetic.  

Canned gravy?!?!  Who can't make gravy from scratch?  You take the turkey out of the pan, add flour the drippings in the bottom of the pan and simmer on the stove...adding bits of flour until you have the consistency you like, strain and serve.  If it is too bland add some stock or bouillon.  Cans and packets are a waste of time and money.

Missive, good luck finding the right transposed digit!  If the receptionist answer tell her to get back to work and then hang up, she'll be mystified but I'll think its funny.

Thanksgiving was my all-time favorite holiday, until I got married and the parents of my in-laws started playing tug of war.  Now I've got to pick a new favorite Arbor day, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and International Eat an Apple day are all in the running.

Did anyone else grow up in a town small enough to shut down on Thanksgiving?  All the small towns in our valley weren't big enough for stores and the one big town almost completely shut down.  There would be one gas station open, one pharmacy open until noon and one grocery store open til noon just about everything else was locked up tight. 

There is a local restaurant owned by a Persian immigrant that has been open on Thanksgiving and serving free Thanksgiving meals to anyone who wants or needs one since he opened 25 years ago.

Now everything is open and having sales on TD.  I kind of miss when the streets were empty and the shop signs were switched off.

I grew up in a small town like that Nachista, it also was shut down from Noon until 3pm on Good Friday.... (not really a Big Surprise considereing I grew up in a Polish Catholic Town)  But its not like that any longer. I kind of miss it also it's strange to see the  K-mart full of cars when its Turkey Day.

I hate the pull of the Families when it comes to TD though. I also hate having to eat 2 HUGE meals within hours of each other. It's just Madness. I think that's why I'm relieved by DH choice to spend it selling Christmas trees. I can enjoy what I want & as much a I want in the 1 big meal without being disapointed that I didn't eat something becuase I had another meal with 18 different side dishes & appetizers to be at & to eat at. At my DH family you do not say no thanks to anything whether you like it or not. 

Oh & some of us on here cannot cook unless it fits in to a Crockpot so Nachista I have NEVER made Gravy & I really NVER plan too becuase I haven't found the CP recipe for it yet, let alone a whole turkey that would fit into one.... So I think I'm out of the woods for ever having to host & bake on TD.   :)  

Kilted portrait up and viewable in my profile.  New name spelling.  Apparently I have flibbertigibbet tendencies.  

The portraint ain't my best shot, but I was in between trying to keep El Syd from emptying the diaper pail and wondering if the auto-focus wasn't wandering.  Better shot next time.  Sword, too.  I'll put the swordly one up later.  

Rings I have a friend in Ireland who cooks whole turkeys in her microwave.  If you can't microwave or deep fry it, she won't cook it.  The suprising thing is that she's actually a good cook, her food always tastes great.

By the way, the article from the New York Times in today's "Interesting Times" is very poorly fact checked.  I just shook my head reading it, it was written to be sensational and the person writing is obviously biased...said when an institution like that can't be impartial.

Excuse me, it was The New York, not the Times, but still...

What's the weirdest Thanksgiving side dish you've ever seen?  Someone here at work just said that they always have an peanut butter, snickers, marshmellow, raisin, apple salad.  I could have lived the rest of my life without mentally picturing that combination.

Remember, ladies and gentlemen, drinking your breakfast on family-centered holidays is a time honored tradition . . .

now, where did I put my flask?

Hi all - long time reader, first time commenter :)

Thanksgiving is actually my favorite holiday - no pressure of gifts, not much hustle and bustle - just hanging with family and friends and food.

I suppose I'm lucky in that, I have a pretty low maintenance family. Now, 10 years ago, I would have felt a huge amount of "pressure to impress" just because I'm a little Type-A with certain things... But now, I just pour a glass of wine and enjoy the crowd.

Of course I'm also a romantic at heart... and if I truly had it my way, I would do one of those heart-felt activities like having everyone list something they're grateful for... but the rest of the family wouldn't go for it - so I keep that tradition to myself and spend some quiet time with my journal reviewing my year and all that I have to be grateful for.

Nachista - the weirdest side dish I've ever seen at Thanksgiving was Jell-O salad with vegetables in it... now, I know it's not unheard of, but I stand by my right to call it weird ;)

Nachista - just saw your comment about things being closed on TD. My husband and I have that conversation all the time... why is it that things can never slow down? Why do we always have to have this sense of motion... or accessibility.

I remember as a kid NOTHING would be open on major Holidays - nothing. You wouldn't dream of going anywhere on a holiday. And like you, I sort of miss that.

Personally - I don't want to be accessible 24/7. As humans, I don't think we're meant to be. I need down time... I figure that's why they made it so I could turn my PC and my Cell OFF.

I liked that peacefulness that would settle over the air on a holiday - when you knew everything was closed, and you had that sense of not needing to be anywhere but right where you were.

Jenn were you in Utah and/or eating with Mormons or Lutherans when the veggie jell-o appeared?  For some weird reason I've seen a lot of green jell-o with carrots in it.  I don't know why.

Jenn G, I could swear I've seen your profile photo somewhere before...other than here.  Its going to bug me for the rest of the day now.

If you've got dogs you'll appreciate the following story SB just sent to me.

Jasper and the Unbaked Yeast Rolls

We have a fox terrier by the name of Jasper. He came to us in the summer of 2001 from the fox terrier rescue program.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this type of adoption, imagine taking in a 10-year-old child you know nothing about and committing to doing your best to be a good parent.

Five weeks ago we began remodeling our house. Although the cost of the project was downright obnoxious, it was 20 years overdue AND it got me out of cooking Thanksgiving dinner for family, extended family, and a lot of friends that I like more than family most of the time.

I was assigned the task of preparing 124 of my famous yeast dinner rolls for the two Thanksgiving feasts we did attend.

I am still mad at the electrician for getting the new oven hooked up so quickly. It was the only appliance in the whole house that worked, thus the assignment.

I made the decision to cook the rolls on Wednesday evening and to reheat Thursday morning. Since the kitchen was freshly painted, you can imagine the odor. Not wanting the rolls to smell like Sherwin Williams latex paint #586, I put the rolls on baking sheets and set them in the living room to rise for five hours.

After three hours, Perry and I decided to go out to eat, returning about an hour later. An hour after that, the rolls were ready to go into the oven.

It was 8:30 p.m. When I went to the living room to retrieve the pans, much to my shock, one whole pan of 12 rolls was empty. I called out to Jasper, and my worst nightmare became a reality. He literally wobbled over to me. He looked like a combination of the Pillsbury dough boy and the Michelin Tire man wrapped up in fur. He groaned when he walked. Even his cheeks were bloated.

I ran to the phone and called our vet. After a few seconds of uproarious laughter, he told me the dog would probably be OK; however, I needed to give him Pepto Bismol every two hours for the rest of the night.

Who knows why I thought a dog would like Pepto Bismol any more than my kids did when they were sick. Suffice it to say that by the time we went to bed, the dog was black, white, and pink. He was so bloated we had to lift him onto the bed for the night.

Naively thinking the dog would be all better by morning was very stupid on my part.

We arose at 7:30 and as we always do first thing, we put the dog out to take care of his business. Well, the dog was as drunk as a sailor on his first leave. He was running into walls, falling flat on his rear. Most of the time when he was walking, his front half was going one direction and the other half was either dragging the grass or headed 90 degrees in another direction. When he ran down the small incline in our back yard, he couldn't stop himself and nearly ended up running into the fence.

His pupils were dilated and he was as dizzy as a loon. I endured another few seconds of laughter from the vet (second call within 12 hours) before he explained that the yeast had fermented in his belly and that he was indeed drunk.

He assured me that, not unlike most binges we humans go through, it would wear off after about four or five hours.

He then told me to keep giving the dog Pepto Bismol.

Afraid to leave Jasper by himself in the house, Perry and I loaded him up and took him with us to my sister's house for the first Thanksgiving meal of the day.

My sister lives outside of Muskogee on a ranch (a 10- to 15-minute drive). Rolls firmly secured in the trunk (124 less 12) and drunk dog leaning from the back seat onto the console of the car between Perry and me, we took off.

Now I know you probably don't believe that dogs burp, but believe me when I say that after eating a tray of risen unbaked yeast rolls, DOGS WILL BURP. These burps were pure Old Charter. They would have matched or beat any smell in a drunk tank at the police station. But that's not the worst of it.

Now he was beginning to pass gas and it smelled like baked rolls. We endured this for the entire trip to Karen's. We were thankful she didn't live any farther away than she did.

Once Jasper was firmly placed in my sister's garage with the door locked, we finally sat down to enjoy our first Thanksgiving meal of the day. The dog was the topic of conversation all morning long and everyone made trips to the garage to witness my drunken dog, each returning with a tale of Jasper's latest endeavor to walk without running into something. Of course, as the old adage goes, "What goes in must come out," and Jasper was no exception.

Granted if it had been me that had eaten 12 risen, unbaked yeast rolls, you might as well have put a concrete block up my behind, but alas a dog's digestive system is quite different from yours or mine. I discovered this was a mixed blessing when we prepared to leave Karen's house.

Having discovered his "packages" on the garage floor, we loaded him up in the car so we could hose down the floor.

This was another naive decision on our part. The blast of water from the hose hit the poop on the floor, and the poop on the floor withstood the blast from the hose. It was like Portland cement beginning to set up and cure.

We finally tried to remove it with a shovel. I (obviously no one else was going to offer their services) had to get on my hands and knees with a coarse brush to get the remnants off of the floor. And as if this wasn't degrading enough, the dog in his drunken state had walked through the poop and left paw prints all over the garage floor that had to be brushed too.

Well, by this time the dog was sobering up nicely, so we took him home and dropped him off before we left for our second Thanksgiving dinner at Perry's sister's house.

I am happy to report that as of today (Monday) the dog is back to normal, both in size and temperament. He has had a bath and is no longer tricolor. None the worse for wear, I presume. I am also happy to report that just this evening I found two risen unbaked yeast rolls hidden inside my closet door.

It appears he must have come to his senses after eating ten of them but decided hiding two of them for later would not be a bad idea. Now, I'm doing research on the computer: "How to clean unbaked dough from the carpet."

And how was your day?

~Author Unknown~

I think I have the flu. Sorry to bring this up on our 'feast discussion,' but I'm actually quite thankful for it.

Every year I try to fast for the day or two prior to Thanksgiving, and every year I fail. I like to eat, what can I say?

I think the twenty-four hour flu is just what I needed to pull it off. Perfect. I'll be raring to go Thursday. 

Missive, I hope its a short-lived flu, it sucks being sick on a food holiday.  My ex-sister had a nasty flu her first Thanksgiving with us and she said she couldn't stand the sight of turkey or mashed potatoes for 2 years after.

Nachista ~ Your are Funny ~ Being a Lutheran I was broght up that Jello is it ~ It's an all food type, you can have it as a salad, as a Vegetable, & as a Dessert. You can put oranges, apples, bananas, cranberries,  shredded carrots, celery & yes I've even seen it with beans. You can put coolwhip on it, Mt Dew in it & yes even at times wine in it also (but not for the at Church events)  

I hate Jello for those very reasons mentioned. Its RARE that I will eat it, as it has been shoved onto my plate too often at to many different events.  

MissIve ~ Get well soon

Rings a lot of mormon wives (especially the old school ones) feel the exact same way about jell-o, except for the wine part of course.  Ever seen a cake with holes poked in the top and jell-o poured in the holes?

Thanks Rings and Cha-cha-shista!

Am headed home to bury myself in bed and watch Charlie Brown.

I'm facinated by jell-o.  It is such a strange food item. 

When our friend Patience came to visit from Washington D.C. we had a party in her honor up the canyon at my dad's old beat-up cabin.  She wanted some sort of activity or competition, so we settled on 'Best Jell-O Creation Contest".  She brought prizes from Washington D.C., (mostly free stuff she found around the Senate/House office buildings), and we had exactly 2 entries...hers and mine and mine fell apart so she won by default. 

The winning jell-o creation was lime jigglers in the shape of trout with red sprinkles embedded in them to make them rainbow trout.  Mine was a jell-o mold of a teddy bear, I accidently evicerated him whilst trying to separate the pieces of the mold.

Missive which Charlie Brown?  Great Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, or Christmas?  They are all classics.

The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving one  is on tonite on ABC  ~ 8pm Eastern, 7pm Central.

YUK ~ A cake with Jello in it, that's just wrong. I will admit though I do at times eat the Jigglers they are kind of Fun!!!

Ahhh...jello.  Strawberry is THE BEST!  Isn't it such a comfort thing? Such a reminder of childhood.  But I really appreciate it when it's on its own, not with a meal.

Sorry I haven't posted in several days, I promise I'm not falling back into my old bad habits...I have been reading your posts from my phone but haven't been able to post myself.  I have been caught up in the "ready-ing" of things for the holiday and being drug to see the infamous Twilight movie TWICE with the sidekick Spunky. 

Olivia--Doesn't that sound like a good cover for clandestine superhero activities? 

 In the past we would have a crowd over and after dinner we would play this game where we'd draw a card with a phrase on it and then pick someone at the table and express our gratefulness for that person using that phrase.  But this year there seems it seems others have made other plans...perfect!!!  Its just three of the four kids and mama and I was really look forward to a game.  Schmeigle riddles are always fun so I was really looking to use the riddle poems from yesterday, however I have been side track til now and the link has escaped. Can anyone help me out?

Rings, by far the best use of jell-o I've seen is to make a giant slide.  Every year the local  university rolls out a huge sheet of black plastic on Old Main Hill and students bring pans of jell-o and dump them out on the plastic and slide down the hill.  Sticky but awesome.

Ohh ~ At the YCC we had a Camp Olympics ~ I won the Wheel Barrel Jello Throwing Event. I'm glad that the counselors never had the slide idea.... The Kool Aide Drink A Thon was bad enough. (Haven't drank it since)

Racingyogagirl ~ Have Twilight on my to see list. Was it as good as the tween boppers actually say?

Jello Jigglers? Alcoholic or not?

Inherited plate is not so bad. Some of it is plenty old and valuable. Martha S created a vogue for "hotel silver" a few years ago. You do have to wonder how some of the smaller pieces made it into the wider marketplace.
I am trying to load a picture of myself kilted. some day...

BTW, M. Isles, my first kilt ( and possibly first JP Purchase) was a lady's ancient hunting Stewart with the apron reversed. I bought them for my brother and me. Since we have no particular claim to wear the Stewart tartan, we called it Ancient Poaching Stewart.  It seems to have shrunk a little around the waist over the years.  

I'm with Nachista on gravy. The only reasons not to do it are:

A. You never roast or braise any beef pork or fowl- or
B. You simply don't care for it

It is harder than Koolaid and maybe even Jello (which I love if it is red) but simpler than egg salad.

There is almost nothing that can go wrong that you can't easily work out of.

The one rule that is sometimes not observed is that gravy requires some fat- not much but without it, you don't have much and it is actually a bit troublesome to make.

MissIve,

If you are sick, I am sad but I will send a big mental BetterBall out into the cosmos to cool your fevered brow. Be lookin'.

I thought that the first one lost was a "toof" but now that I think about it, it's probably the last one- no?

Stay cosy

trask!

With booze. Always with. Love the pic. Who and who?

Miis I,

that would be a friend and I in our younger wilder years...

We are both much more dignified these days. He married an ex gf of mine. She makes sure he is more dignified. I have so little choice...

By the way, Brown Liquor will either cure you or give you a good reason to feel sick.  Remember those cool nights at the football stadium in C Hill... 

Nachista,

One year my stepmom brought the gravy for Christmas dinner in a deep, quart sized plastic container.  I turned it upside down in a pan, pulled the container off and the gravy maintained the container shape. It retained this shape until the bottom of it practically boiled and then it "tumped over", as we say in the south.  We did not stir it for quite a while as we forgot it at first and then wanted to see exactly what it would do.  Once stirred, it turned into bits of brown something.  Actually, I think Jessie might win the prize for the oddest gelatin dish.  We still laugh and I am using a combo of canned and homemade gravy on my turkey.  I take no chances anymore.

Hi April: are you the April Cornell? I've long admired your charming line. And was Diana Vreeland right when she said pink is India's Navy blue?

It has been said and it is true, there has always been and there shall always be....... room for jello.  I always think of Animal House when I think of Jello; look ma, no hands.

Miss Ive,

Get well right now!

I'm a big fan of gravy making.  I find the secret to a superlative gravy is a wire whisk and a lot of aggression.  Think "24 Hours of LeMans" (for patience), plus Mixed Martial Arts World Championships, and you'll come out on top with th gravy thing.  Oh, and heavy cream.  The flour goes in, sure, but at some point the thought will occur to you "Maybe some heavy cream would be really good right now".  Trust that thought.  

By the way I forgot to mention earlier I just loved this post. I laughed out loud. And really it's all true.

April-If you're the designer, I like a lot of your dresses very much. Some are lovely and retro, and go well with my Peterman wardrobe. If not, welcome anyway.

Cap and C. Mike-sounds like a good time.

I'll bet anything Robert is acting out somewhere...

William-Some of my best Thanksgivings were ALONE, eating what I want to eat, watching TV or not, reading, thinking of all the drama I'm missing. Or, taking my kids up to Petit Jean Mountain to hike and eat at Mather Lodge, just being outside and celebrating with Mother (Nature). When the family got together someone alwas got mad. What's UP with that?

WB Heiress, nous avons vous manque'!

Pam-I'm thankful for you, and Grid bless all here.

Jonathan-Settled on a name yet, dear? I can't wait! Here's a thought-try Aisles, an offshoot of the House of Usher. Coat of arms is crossed flashlights on a sable field, lions rampant both sinister and dexter. I can see you there. Great pic-studly kilt, dude. You rock. Gravy and aggression go together like guns and butter-yum.

Nachi-I'll be ringing you up too, dear. I can't resist a challenge. Gravy-yes. CHOCOLATE gravy-yes YES!! Here in Little Rock, everything used to shut down on holidays, Sundays, and if anyone heard that anyone might've seen a snowflake. Great dog story-I LOL'ed!

I have two recommendations for the holidays-new fave, and my current crush, is ITLAPD-arr, matey! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. The other is, for a seriously twisted holiday movie experience, my first choice has to be True Stories, David Byrne's fever dream of life in Bizarro World, Texas style. A close second could be Buckaroo Banzai's Adventures Across the 8th Dimension, in which John Lithgow gives the performance of a lifetime as Dr. Emilio Lizardo. If you haven't seen it, you live in ashes. Go now. JL lectured here at the Clinton School last year, and took pains to admit that he still has people congratulate him for that jacked-up ballet of dementia. 

Welcome Jenn-you seem like a natural here. Glad to have you! I too wonder about those who have to be IN TOUCH all the time. People walking about talking to the air, with Borg headsets on. My students wriggling in their seats as break time gets close, a jones for their phones. I am so not down with that. I need privacy in my head, since my work all day is with people, people, people. 

RYG-I KNEW it! You and sidekick Spunkster are IN THE FIELD, and you KNOW what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Yes, the Weed of Crime bears bitter fruit indeed. Gogogo RYG&S!!!

Ramdoride-No one can hurt you like a close relative. Good karma to you for the holidays. Illegitimati non carborundum, dear.

Missy-if you're only sick a day or two-it's doubtful that you've got the flu

When body aches and bowels slip, food poisoning has you in its grip.

Not sure if a poem about it helps, but I couldn't stop myself...

And now, because I'm feeling wicked and evil and twisted, a short treatise on the composition of that doubtful 'food', jello:

The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.

Yes, friends-boiled hoof scum. Gotta have it!

Happy Holidays!

well gag me with a spoon! I think I'll have the cheese cake instead.

John-I shared a bit of my last response to you with the group. I hope you approve of my ramifications...

Why soitenly!

Ok, I knew I really liked it here just from the blog posts and the comments... but now we're talkin' Jello with wine and possibly Jell-O shots and Charlie Brown... WOW - I LOVE it here!

Nachista -hmm... wonder where else we're hanging out together online. I love the internet and spend lots of time in cool places - and if you're there too, well... even cooler ;)

Missive - feel better!! ~ warm thoughts and positive energy coming to you ~

Speaking of Jell-O in a cake... it's actually pretty good! It's not so much Jello-like as it is cake-like with lots of flavor...

I lived in Wyoming for a season, way back yonder, and Husband toiled in the bentonite mines for a short time. It is a marvel what is done with this reddish, flourlike dirt. It goes into your Snickers bar, toothpaste, face creams, winemaking (prevents flocculence-eeek!), and on and on. Why, you ask-WHY is she going on and on about DIRT in FOOD? As with the jello discussion, it just always amazes me, what we'll eat. When I teach infection control and immune system support, I discuss the concept of a clean diet and regular exercise with my students, and there are always those who, until they experience the rich panoply of illness a hospital environment can bestow unto the unwary, maintain that whatever tastes good to them is ok. Willing subjects to the whims of advertisers and unscrupulous manufacturers of foodlike substances, alas. I like to shock them by maintaining that today's chemists could (and perhaps have-there are certainly documented incidences of theoretically 'accidental' occurrences) introduce enough fat and sugar into the mix to make an old white dog turd taste pretty good. That visual generally focuses the mind in a manner wondrous to behold, and stimulates some interesting debate. Then, I show them Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me. Game over. After that, most of them just want help in improving their diet and immune system.

Sometimes my lesser demons sortie, take, and hold the sensory high ground for a time. I apologize for any offense. Mea culpa. To paraphrase John Lee Hooker:

Let that girl boogie-woogie. It's in her, and it's GOT to come out!

Peace out.

Peter-Just looked at your new pic, and burst out laughing. All praise to your weltsicht-bravo!