We have pecan and pumpkin. I’m not having any pie, but I am having a cup of coffee to fortify myself against the chill. We’ve been taking the little cousins out to explore the woods and trails. Here’s a lovely freshwater spring right off the Suwannee:
For those if you celebrating Thanksgiving and/or Hanukkah, how did your feast turn out? I was in charge of the turkey and gravy, and it was perfection if I do say so myself.
Yatsuno
You’re still meschugnah Betty, but I still luvs ya.
Being really lazy right now, though I did shave and shower.
MikeJ
Turkey hasn’t gone in yet. About to chop off the legs, put them in a nice rub and toss them back in the fridge until tomorrow. Turkey confit will be cooked when I can tie up an oven for 10 hours at 190F.
Tommy
Love your pic. Happy you took folks out for a walk. Saturday our entire family will get together with the folks that are now my family cause of my brother’s marriage. My family you can count on one hand. Their family, well not so much. Lots and lots of kids.
We’ll be at their grandparents house, which sits on a large lake. I’d love to live on a lake. No cell phones are allowed and it freaks out the younger folks. Seems a second without texting harms them in some way I don’t understand (I am an uber geek BTW). I always take them out for a walk. Not sure they like it as much as they are happy to get away from the parents. But I do it anyway.
raven
Nailed a 26 inch redfish and I am thankful as could be!
Linda Featheringill
Sweet potato pie and mince meat pie. I made refrigerator dinner rolls and they turned out fine. Turkey is good, too, but then the oven did all the work for that.
JMG
Turkey still cooking. Dinner ETA is 6 p.m., because of schedule of arriving relatives. Just made the mashed turnips to be warmed up later and my daughter has finished her pie crusts. You have to be really into the outdoors to go for a walk here in New England today. It’s still not above freezing.
PeakVT
In case the regular trolls are taking the day off, allow me to stir things up by throwing out a few proposals to move Thanksgiving to a different date: one (ahem), two, and three.
Tommy
@JMG: We’re having a ham today. 28 pound turkey I’ll cook Saturday for our extended family get together. Mom doing all the work today, which cause I am usually the cook, I have to admit is nice. The most I’ve done today is tell her where stuff is in my kitchen.
NotMax
@raven
Congrats.
The fish, however, is likely a tad less thankful today.
NotMax
Whoops. Just realized totally spaced out sending Thanksgiving cards this year.
/One holiday the greeting card industry hasn’t yet figured out to milk to excess.
raven
@NotMax: The one I caught last year turned out to be a tad over the limit and I swore I’d never do that again. I got ruler in my tackle box now and this one was just right!
eta I will say this, cleaning what you eat should be done by everyone just to get a sense of what’s what.
Tommy
@NotMax: I would think that would be the case :).
As I have said I will spend time Saturday with the family my brother married into. Most of them are to the far right of Rush. But one guy, and he is kind of shunned by his family, I get along with well. A huge hunter. Has a shack on his farm he smokes meat he hunts.
Kind of bonded with the guy throughout the years. He’ll have some venison for me and blood sausage. Makes spending time with his family worthwhile.
dmsilev
Baby-proofing complete, vegetables are in the oven now. Bird has maybe an hour to go. My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew should be here ‘soon’ (prepping a pair of toddlers for travel takes time whose quantity is best calculated using chaos theory). I think we’re just about set.
NotMax
@raven
Clever man.
“Be patient and calm – for no one can catch fish in anger.”
– Herbert Hoover
BTW, The 6 Most Mind-Blowing Things Ever Caught by Fishermen.
Tommy
@dmsilev: Congrats. My brother wants to bring my niece to my house. I have a large house and literally have a room I call my Lego room. Legos and a lot of toys a four year old girl might like. I am a 44 year old kid at heart.
But I hear it isn’t safe for a child to come to my house. I honestly don’t know what that means, but maybe cause I don’t know is why said home is not kid friendly.
raven
@NotMax: Yikes!
raven
@NotMax:
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” –Henry David Thoreau
jeffreyw
Mrs J’s World Famous Perfect Pumpkin Pie
raven
@jeffreyw: Sweet!
Tommy
@raven: Have you ever watched River Monsters? I think on the Discovery Channel. All fresh water fish. The brit pulls out some amazing stuff. It stuns me how diverse the world is. Like 300 pound catfish. 500 pound stingrays. And other fish I don’t even know the name of.
dmsilev
@Tommy: Well, my niece and nephew are not quite two, so ‘safe’ means gates across the stairs and the kitchen entry and so forth, plastic covers on all the power outlets, moving things out of reach, etc. I’m at my parents’ place, and they have all the necessary infrastructure (and toys to keep them occupied); it just takes some time he effort getting everything deployed.
raven
@Tommy: I have seen it, ever catch John Lurie ?
We used to drive in a convoy from Urbana to Keokuck Iowa and fish below lock and dam # 19 on the Hamilton, IL side.
R-Jud
We had a late lunch, just the three of us, here in Jolly Olde. Our stuffing was terrific, thanks to some wild boar sausages the butcher had, and dessert was very simple– baked apples from our tree with lots of brown sugar and pecans. Then I went to the gym, and regretted it.
Poopyman
Watching my sister assemble the vegan t-giving meal and sipping scotch. I suspect I’ll be put to work at cleanup.
jeffreyw
We had the big dinner fairly early-ish. The carcass is in the big stock pot simmering down with various odds and ends of herbs and aromatics. The cloverleaf rolls were another big hit. Best new thing: pecan praline sweet potato casserole.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
After all of my bitching and moaning, I thought I should report back that my SIL made an ACTUAL TURKEY and not turkey loaf. So we are all happy today.
Amir Khalid
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Yay your SIL!
Elmo
No turkey this year because wife has gut issues. So – grilled swordfish with sautéed spinach and pan mushrooms.
Damn! I am GOOD at this!
(Sorry – self taught cook, and discovering that swordfish doesn’t have to be dry and tough, but can be succulent and juicy if treated well, has been a revelation. I want to cook swordfish for the whole world this way.)
James E. Powell
Today is a day to remember that “Pie is the food of the heroic. No pie-eating people can ever be permanently vanquished.”
scav
A Punk blue-mohawked Santa Ninjabread man in polka-dot boxers is delivering turkeys and toys to this house late as both MD-parentals are working. I’m sous-chef and chief boy-wrastler and, yes, discoverer of the newest holiday hero. Chief wrastled boy contributed way to get blue and white icing to come out like toothpaste. Hold us back! May the punk guy with the sticking out tongue deliver stuffing to all!
Bonnie
I ate out and am very thankful for all the restaurant people who work so this non-cook can have a good meal. Also, treated myself to a 45 year old tradition started in those hippy days and listened to Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant. While I went out with my bipolar twin sister, I pretended I was by myself because she was having a bad day.
Suzanne
We just got back from the vegan restaurant where we ate this year. Everything was awesome and I stuffed the hell out of myself. Afterward, Spawn the Elder said, “I need a crap and a nap.” And she was right. I took care of the first of those and am now lying in bed, with no messy-kitchen or entertaining guilt. This kinda rocked.
Trollhattan
Beer & pizza @ the Honolulu airport. Back to civilization. :-(
jeffreyw
I like pie.
dp
Pumpkin, maple pecan and coconut cream. All excellent, if I do say so myself.
Gene108
I moved to NJ after college and lived here 17 years, ie almost my entire adult life. I have acclimated so well to the NJ way of life that I have forgotten all the steps involved in pumping my own gas.
One thing I hated initially that I have adjusted to is there are no self service gas stations. There are only full service gas stations by state law, which can add an excruciating few minutes to a fuel stop, if you need gas and are short on time, which I often was in my early 20’s.
Like I said, I’ve learned to adjust to full service gas stations, but I did not realize how thoroughly I’ve adapted until today. I drove down to NC to visit my mom today.
The first time I stopped to get gas in Delaware it was cold. I forgot what it was like to pump gas in the cold. Despite the cold, I had a manly feeling of being self sufficiently again. Pumping gas is like riding a bike, you can never forget.
I popped the hatch to get at my gas tank. Unscrewed the gas cap. I swiped my card. I picked the grade of gas I needed. I started pumping the gas. I got this check list down cold. And damn it was a lot colder pumping my own gas than having someone do it for me.
So I put the gas nozzle up and get on the highway. My check engine light comes on. I glance at my side mirror to pull over and wondering what happened and notived I forgot to close the hatch to my gas tank.
In short, I’ve lived in NJ so long I forgot all the steps involved with pumping my own gas.
I came sooooo close to doing it right, but I guess I should do an airplane style checklist the next time I leave the state.
raven
I like fish.
R-Jud
@Elmo:
I’ve never cooked swordfish, but I know exactly what you mean! It’s a wonderful feeling, whether you’ve made fish or bread or a really cracking cocktail. Glad you had a happy Thanksgiving!
pacem appellant
My brother-in-law is about to head out to Walmart to get in line to get a wrist band so that he can shop when it opens at 6pm in order to buy a Playstation, an Xbox, and an iPad. But thanks to Brooks and Shields, I know better than engage him. Plus, I don’t have to make small talk anymore.
Other than that, it’s nice here. Food was amazing. The vegetarians and carnivores got along just fine. Wine and beer. The sounds of the kids happily at play (oh, that’s a blessed sound). Cats and dogs lying together. I don’t know why I should need privileged white men telling me how to handle the politics of TG. The arguments are part and parcel. There’s a feature, not a bug. The tea-baggers and tote-baggers sitting down together, eating, laughing, swapping organic gardening tips, knife-honing techniques, and wine-pairing notes. Don’t know why I need B&S (anybody notice before that their first names form an appropriate two-letter acronym) telling how to get along. Happy TG! Peace.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
Turkey, ham, cranberries two ways, leek mashed potatoes, sausage and chessnut dressing, green beans, sweet potato salad, cilantro spaghetti squash, almond butter chocolate torte, and pumpkin pie.
All cleaned up. Neighbors may stop by for desert later.
TheMightyTrowel
Among the joys of being an expat: we had thanksgiving with one american friend and her friends last night and we get to have thanksgiving with another american friend and his friends tomorrow night! Still digesting, TBH. I made cornbread (all eaten), port cranberry sauce (gave the recipe to 4 people) and Mr Trowel made his amazing dairy free chocolate mousse (gone. all gone.). Also the hostess sent me home with a turkey leg so I know what I’m having for lunch!
Tommy
@raven: Nope. I don’t have the patience to fish. Nor do I hunt, but good with a bow. Kind of makes no sense cause I like fresh game and fish more than anything. But I have to go on the kindness of friends and family for any of that. Heck Saturday I’ll be getting some wonderful blood sausage. From my brother’s wife’s brother. He is viewed as an outcast. Shuned to be honest. It doesn’t wear designer cloths. He might come over with some dirt under his fingernails. Honestly the only person at the event I want to talk to. Look forward to seeing.
NeenerNeener
I want to offer my thanks again to whoever it was here that recommended covering the turkey with bacon to baste it while it cooks. Awesome results, 2 years in a row now.
TheMightyTrowel
@NeenerNeener: It’s called barding your bird and I’m a big fan. It’s the only way to cook game birds and end up with something juicy and edible at the end. Also i defy you to find a meat eater who doesn’t salivate at the thought of bacon-wrapped partridge.
Tommy
@pacem appellant: LOL. I am a huge gamer. I have a PS3, PS2, N64, and a Sega Genesis all hooked up. But alas I am not a first person shooter, I like to be honest puzzle and kids games (like Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet Kart). So I don’t need the newest machine. I got Assisan Cred the other day, the first one not the one that just came out, and it was so stunning visually I forgot it was a game I could play for awhile.
It makes it very cheap for me. I often only pay like $10-15 for games. Amazing how fast they fall from $59.95 to like $15.
Yatsuno
@TheMightyTrowel: Me. Of course that ain’t close to true. :p
Tommy
@TheMightyTrowel: Bacon makes everything better. The favorite thing I cook is a shrimp, where I devein it and put a sliced Jalapeno pepper in that vain. Wrap in butcher bacon. Throw on the grill.
I am almost offended cause it is like the favorite thing I cook and I note it takes like zero ability.
As for a turkey, I can’t cook one. I have no idea how my mom does it, I guess experience and a lot of love, but it is always juicy. Never dry. I mean we’re cooking it at my place, well she is, and taking it to our family event Saturday cause well we know she does it better then any of us.
Yatsuno
@Tommy: I don’t question it. I just stay the hell out of her way. And sneak bites when I can.
There was a story out of Portland OR where a bunch of gamers did a playing marathon to raise food for food banks. They pulled in over 37,000 pounds and the MSM yawned. That’s yer librul media fer ya.
jeffreyw
Thread needs moar kitteh. I was getting ready to commend Homer for not hassling Bea when I realized he had spotted young Ginger and was getting ready to go smack him around, instead.
Tommy
@Yatsuno: It actually makes sense to me, waiting in line. I am an uber geek on most levels, just not as much with gaming. The blogs I follow are out of control talking about each. The Xbox One will alter your life if you consume media. Its goal is to take over your living room. The PS4 is cheaper and the video play I’ve seen is stunning. Where I have to pause and wonder if it is live game play or real people in the video.
Villago Delenda Est
@raven:
Woot!
Just got back from dining out (local bbq place had a Thanksgiving buffet, with the traditional stuff AND pulled pork) and looking forward to pumpkin pie later.
Villago Delenda Est
@James E. Powell:
That “controversy” is as silly as Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Or Star Trek vs. Babylon Five.
It is possible to eat ice cream with your pie. It’s not heresy to do so. The result is greater than the sum of the parts.
PsiFighter37
I wish I could say that Thanksgiving was great, but I think this was the year it finally sunk it that I grew up in a mildly dysfunctional household. Brother is out of town, so was just me and the parents (stepfather + mother)…I don’t understand why both of them do things they KNOW are going to piss each other off. They’ve been married for nearly 20 years. They both talk about completely different things and never get involved in chatting when the other person is talking to me.
Goddamn. I’m almost 28 years old…it’s one thing when I am a high school student and having to live under the same roof, but I do not…so just please, grow the fuck up, you both are older than me by a good chunk, shouldn’t you have the wisdom to sort these things out?
I don’t know. On a day of giving thanks, all Thanksgiving EVER does is remind me to be thankful that I had a semi-decent head on my shoulders and didn’t get too messed up when I was going through adolescence. And that if I am ever a parent, I swear I will take what I was given and make sure my kid doesn’t have to go through the anything remotely similar.
PF37 +3 Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA (ha, ha)
TheMightyTrowel
@Yatsuno: The best way to cook a turkey is upside down – get a v-shaped rack and do the first 2/3 of the roasting time breast down. I also put tons of butter (blended with lemongrass and chilli!) under the skin. But I haven’t had to do the actual turkey in 4 years thanks to friends with bigger ovens.
Villago Delenda Est
OT, but Noisemax is at it again:
Rove: IRS Rules Take Aim at Conservatives
Well, duh. They’re going after the most likely group of tax cheats. Grifting scum like Rove.
Southern Beale
I was in charge of baked apple pie and baked mac & cheese. I think the apple pie was too gourmand for the kiddies, but the adults liked it. My teetotaling B-I-L said it was my best yet, didn’t tell him I’d loaded the thing up with brandy and grand marnier.
The mac & cheese was also delicious but hey it was mac & cheese. Hard to screw that up.
PsiFighter37
@Villago Delenda Est: Didn’t we already go through this fake scandal earlier this year?
I forget where I read it, but I take it as a good sign that conservatives are getting tired enough of how ‘shitty’ Obamacare is and are going back to making up shit about what the government is doing.
Tommy
@PsiFighter37: I am sorry. But I will just say this. I am 44. I often got pissed off at my parents for all kinds of reasons. Today I could have. Mom bitched at me cause I didn’t have the right Zip Lock bags. Not the right kind of pan or plate for this or that.
My mom and dad bitched about all of this. What time we’d eat. Heck I kid you not what plates we’d use. Life is too short for me to get worked up about any of this. What is the phrase “first world problems.”
If these are the “problems” I have to deal with, well I can deal with them.
katie5
Abbreviated T-Day as I’m with my mom, who’s in hospice.
JPL
The sons, S.O. and I went up to my brothers house in the mountains. Since my brother is ill, we brought up all the food already prepared. I read several articles about cooking a turkey ahead of time and I have to admit it was pretty good reheated. We left my brother and family plenty of leftovers to enjoy.
Now it’s bedtime. I’m pooped.
raven
@Tommy: Both my and my wife’s parents are dead. They had all the issues everyone has. We’d give anything to sit down and eat with them.
PsiFighter37
@Tommy: I’m talking more about behavioral stuff, like my mom complaining about small things that she KNOWS (hopefully, after many years of being together) will piss off my stepfather. And then my stepfather overreacting and sulking because he can’t brush comments these comments off, which just makes everyone else miserable.
I just really dislike the fact that this happens every time I bother going back to their place (which is thankfully only for Thanksgiving and Christmas). Aren’t these supposed to be ‘family’ occasions? Then why does it make everyone feel so goddamn miserable?
Maybe having your parents being childish and ergo miserable is a ‘First World’ problem, but I’d like to think that it’s more a universal issue, i.e. wouldn’t it be nice to have parents who didn’t let stupid little things bother them all the time? It’s one reason why I think my relationship with my fiancee goes so well…I do not get hung up on little things at.all. Life is too short to get stuck on things that have zero impact on the bigger picture. And I guess that’s a good lesson that I learned from my parents, even though I’m quite sure they did not intend it (and wouldn’t even see it that way).
To be clear, it’s not how they interact with me…it’s how they interact with each other. One on one, it’s all good…because I know what ticks them off and therefore I DON’T FUCKING DO THINGS THAT WILL TICK THEM OFF.
Sorry. Know I’m being a downer on a day that shouldn’t be.
raven
@JPL: Damn boat doesn’t leave until 8am and I’m awake at 4:30 over here!
Comrade Jake
Firmly in food coma
Mike E
I cooked the bird at our family dinner, my sister has quite the kitchen set up (with a 2nd oven in the basement that I use for the turkey) and we fed 13 adults plus my baby niece. I split the dark meat from the breast, and both halves roast perfectly. Nice meal was had, with virtually no family drama.
Happy Thanxgivukkah!
Dee Loralei IPhone
Hospital decided to keep son overnight for observation. A bit of blood in the urine and fluid buildup around his kidneys and pancreas. I’m at my aunts eating quickly and packing up a few things we’ll need overnight. Keep Cooper in your thoughts and prayers if you make them. Thanks all, and Happy Healthy Thankshiving to all if you and yours
raven
@Dee Loralei IPhone: Let’s hope it turns out well. My bride had a “procedure” for a similar issue last week and it turned out ok.
Tommy
@PsiFighter37: I think that might be a “married” thing. My parents have been married 47 years and often they do things like you note. I totally understand what you are saying and I do find it mind-numbing. Heck I have been living on my own since I was 18. 25+ years. My mom comes over and treats me like I am 5. I think that is a mother thing like a married thing. Not sure I understand it, but bet it is kind of universal.
raven
@PsiFighter37: You are being who you are and so are they. Make the best out of it, time is a thief.
Tommy
@Dee Loralei IPhone: That is a good thing IMHO. A few years ago I got clipped by a car on my mountain bike. I was in and out of the ER in a mater of minutes and I wish they would have spent more time with me. Long story short, my collar bone was not right. Had to get set re-later and that caused a lot of pain and medical bills.
PsiFighter37
@raven: Yeah, that’s kind of the attitude that I take. But then I look at my friends and their families (cliche, I suppose), and wonder, how hard can it be to have peace?
Oh well. I have to go to work tomorrow (albeit for an abbreviated day), so I won’t have to dwell on this too much longer.
raven
@PsiFighter37: Well it wasn’t hard for my parents, they got divorced when I was 11 and it totally fucked up my sibs and me for years.
PsiFighter37
@raven: Well, my mom’s on her third marriage. So take what you will from that.
raven
@PsiFighter37: That’s what mine did too. She was a pain in the ass and I miss her.
JPL
@Dee Loralei IPhone: It goes without saying, that we will be thinking of you and Cooper. Hope everything is okay.
Tommy
@PsiFighter37: LOL. My folks bitch at each other but the extended family my brother married into we look like scholar and saints. I don’t get to see other families like I see them and I will take my family above them every day of the week.
I mentioned above one of their family member is shunned. It was an open conversation today with my parents that I engage their child, not to let him feel alone. I said won’t be hard cause I like him. I think he is one of the top marksmen in the state of IL. Yes where I live you have teams in school that shoot guns.
I don’t own a gun. Would never shoot one. But it is easy for me to talk to him about this. I like to be the best at what I do. Not hard to talk to him about that.
schrodinger's cat
@jeffreyw: Nawty Kitteh!
Geoduck
Went to my cousin’s house, she always puts on a good spread. Excellent assortment of desserts, on which I pigged out.
NotMax
@TheMightyTrowel
Exception that proves the rule here, I guess.
Kurt Montandon
How cold can it be when that water’s not even frozen?
ellie
I went to Whole Foods yesterday and bought a turkey dinner for two and a pumpkin pie. All I had to do was heat everything up and eat it. It was nice not having to cook and it turned out nice.
WereBear
We had a lovely time at the hotel buffet, and then went to the great room overlooking the lake and mountains, lingered there over drinks so we could chat some more.
raven
@Kurt Montandon: The water here is 61. It was 29 this morning and 49 when I was fishing. Get wet and stand in 49 degree’s with 15 mph winds and you’ll find out.
tybee
@katie5:
that certainly puts things in perspective.
may a peace be upon you and your mom.
tybee
@raven:
nothing quite like that sensation. glad you got hooked up.
Fred
We had a nice little feast for two. Roast chicken, peas and carrots, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing on the side plus gravy. Served with a dab of lingon sylt and some red wine it was almost like thanksgiving in America.
We have much to be thankful for but we particularly celebrated our new high tech heat pump unit, to supplement the wood furnace. Now it’s tolerable warm when we come downstairs in the mornings and we can leave the house on it’s own for days without worrying about the pipes freezing up.
But the doggies celebrated getting chicken skin and mashed potatoes-n-gravy. They don’t care if the heat is on, they just curl up in their beds and tuck their noses in their tails. They are thankful for warm tails.