Happy Thanksgiving!

So I’m back-posting for Thanksgiving, cuz I just didn’t feel like gettin on the ‘puter yesterday. It was a good day, though.

Wednesday Night

I ended up not getting out of work any earlier than 15 minutes Wednesday evening (and that’s cuz the last PM left at that point, there was absolutely nobody left in the office but myself, and I was damned if I was gonna stick around for 15 minutes just for principal’s sake) so I didn’t get any extra time to prepare the Garlic and Basil Mashed Potatoes for the next day. They weren’t difficult to make, but had a lotta steps and WERE time consuming. And required quite a bit of clean-up. However, they were a pretty big hit at Thanksgiving dinner, so at least all the work was gratifying. :)

The folks called to let me know I missed a great Kodak moment just before 5:00 as the sun was going down and the snow was glistening in the trees against the brilliantly colored sky. Would have been nice to see… I know I’m the official shutterbug in the family, but hopefully THEY remembered to break out a camera. We also coordinated when I should show up at their place in the morning for our traditional Thanksgiving morning homemade donuts. Pop suggested I take my shower that night, so they wouldn’t have to wait 2 hours after they call me in the morning. He didn’t need to exaggerate QUITE so much… though I DO tend to somehow lose time in the shower.

Almost on Time

I ended up showering in the morning anyway (I’m always too tired at night to muster myself for all that fuss) but I got up early so that I was stepping outta the shower just as they called at 8:00 am. I ALMOST got to their place in the projected amount of time (I rarely manage it… knowing myself, I always try to give myself extra time, and Pop always tries to cut down the timeframe, presumably to hurry my ass up. You’d think he’d have learned by now) except I forgot to account how long it would take to get into my car. The temp had dropped well below freezing again overnight, and the small amount of slush left on my car that had melted somewhat the evening before had now frozen my car door and trunk shut, and the windows were frosted/iced over. And, of course, I’d forgotten to break out the ice-thaw spray I keep in the trunk… which was frozen shut. I managed to get the car door open, then grabbed my scraper and pried open the trunk to get the stuff to spray down my windows. I just LOVE Winter. *sigh*

Donuts

The rest of the day was great, though. Mom was just fryin up the donuts as I got there, so it ended up good timing… for me, anyway. As usual, the donuts were awesome… she makes ‘em out of a raised hot-roll mix, and dips ‘em in a simple powdered sugar glaze. After we cleaned up, we actually had a li’l time to sit and relax before starting to prep for dinner. Since there’s only 4 of us, and none of us like white meat anyway, she decided to make 4 turkey thighs rather than a whole bird, so it didn’t require quite as much baking time. We ended up only eating 2 thighs between the 4 of us, anyway, so it was plenty of meat and still enough for leftovers.

Thanksgiving Dinner Preparation Assignments

My job during the preparing of Thanksgiving dinner has always been to keep the cooking accoutrements washed, dried and ready for her next need. But since I got into cooking, myself, in the last few years, I’ve also started helping with some of the prep as well. She set me to work chopping and mixing and stirring and loading up the table. And, of course, finishing up the potatoes, which still required a last minute sprinkle of topping and baking. She’d already set the table the night before… painstakingly setting each place just right and elegant. Her whole home is in a Victorian theme, and her dining room is no exception. She set out her new China Set for the first time, and it all looked quite nice.

Pop’s contribution was running down to the storage room (where extra food stuffs are kept) and/or to the store for last-minute supplies, and picking up Gram just before dinner. Gram has a difficult time getting going too early in the morning, so she usually opts out of Thanksgiving morning donuts. Pop would have turned on a football game, but Mom just recently agreed to be a Nielson family for a week, and they were slated to start logging everything they watch, that very day. So us females were spared from football by Pop’s aversion to keeping tabs of his channel surfing. *grin*

Excellent Spread

Dinner was a pretty great spread… I wish I hadn’t forgotten to take my camera, or I’d have gotten a shot to share. Oh well. The menu consisted of: bourbon basted turkey, gravy from the turkey drippings, garlic and basil potatoes, mashed maple sweet potatoes, cream baked asparagus (a required staple every holiday), corn bread stuffing, baked beans, cranberry salad (Gram’s contribution), cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, stuffed celery and home-made rolls. Quite a lot for 4 peeps, but it leaves plenty of leftovers for all for at least a week. :)

The clean-up didn’t take TOO long (relatively) between Mom and Pop and myself, though Pop commented on how inequitable it seemed to have hours of cooking and hours of cleaning for the sake of ½ an hour of eating. lol Oh well… we decided it’s worth it for the awesome meal we had that day. We’d tried quite a few new dishes, and we usually don’t have that kind of luck finding such great tasting experiments.

Kickin Back

Afterwards, we relaxed in the living room for a pleasant game of Taboo. Mom was pretty beat… her back had already been hurting her before cooking, but then all that leaning down over the counters and sink had only made matters worse. She didn’t get up much for the rest of the night… which was okay. I handled serving the dessert right there in the living room (once we had room for it several hours later). I’m not a big pumpkin pie fan, so I ended up having some more of Gram’s cranberry salad (definitely good stuff).

When Gram started to poop out, we wrapped up our game and Pop took her home. Mom broke out with the extra features from the Star Wars trilogy pack she’d recently bought and had told me about earlier in the week. It was pretty interesting seeing how they scrounged together some of the ground-breaking effects for the first set of movies. George Lucas really had a vision to which he remained true despite vast amounts of setbacks. Gotta respect the dood. :) Oh, and there were some sneak previews to Episode III, which should be comin out soon. Don’t remember exactly when, but I’m thinking at least next year.

Home

Amway, I ended up getting home probly around 9:30 pm. I was tired, and just didn’t feel like putting my brain into gear to blog, so I curled up to finish up the rest of my book. As I frequently do, I pushed myself to finish it and didn’t finally crash until after 2:00.

Overall, a good day. Pop was in a great mood, and Gram seemed a little brighter than her usual quiet and frequently pain-filled self. Mom wasn’t doing so well, but I think it helped that she didn’t have to do all the work by herself. I was actually feeling pretty good, though. My head didn’t really start objecting until I hunched over my book that night and forced myself to stay awake long enough to finish it. But I took a half dose of meds just before I crashed, and had the luxury of sleeping in this morning, so it’s all good.

Amway, that’s about it for Thanksgiving. On to today.