Here’s a juvenile ibis hunting along the waterline (with bonus glossy ibis ass right behind its head):
I’m scrambling around to get last-minute work stuff done before overnight guests arrive this evening and we’re completely overrun with family on Thanksgiving itself, which we are hosting. I don’t think we have enough wine (there will be Trumpers!), but we will remedy that.
How is your Thanksgiving prep coming along, if applicable? I feel much calmer than I usually do when I have to host a bunch of people. One of the upsides to getting older (for me, anyway) is that the prospect of public humiliation isn’t as frightening as it used to be.
This benefit first occurred to me shortly after my 40th birthday when I was at a fancy restaurant in South Florida, waiting alone at a table for a friend to arrive. I was in town for a business trip, and we were meeting in the elegant dining room of the hoity-toitiest hotel my then-corporate overlord would accept as expensable lodging.
I had a real paper newspaper with me because this was before there was reliable WiFi on planes, so you couldn’t just stare at your phone to deter strangers who might want to talk for the entire flight. I was reading the paper at the restaurant table, and when my friend arrived, I lowered it while waving — lowered it right onto a candle in the center of the table.
The newspaper burst into flames! Everyone in the restaurant turned as one to gape at the spectacle! I laughed and extinguished the flames with my water glass and smothered it with my linen napkin, then ordered another cocktail when the waiter came to clean up the mess.
If that had happened 20 years before, I would have definitely perished on the spot of humiliation. Anyhoo. Open thread.
Eric NNY
I hope the waiter was extra careful handing you the check.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Here’s a juvenile ibis hunting along the waterline
hunting for a place to get high with his cousins after dinner?
Adam L Silverman
Actual photographic evidence of BettyC
mrmoshpotato
That day’s news must’ve been really bad.
NotMax
Must have still been hot off the presses.
Nowadays the phones burst into flames all on their own. Progress.
;)
Kristine
Having Thanksgiving at a friend’s house tomorrow. I was charged with making pickled grapes and an apple tart. Made the grapes yesterday. Will be getting started on the tart forthwith.
Happy Thanksgiving to all BJ’ers who celebrate. May it be calm, happy, and filled with too much good food.
Gin & Tonic
Since it’s a new open thread, I’m going to be self-indulgent and re-post this from the dying one downstairs:
Yesterday Tucker Carlson sided with Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine, now Apple has done so as well.
Princess
What’s everyone eating/making/ordering tomorrow? I love to hear about other people’s holiday meals.
WaterGirl
I love you, Betty. People on the train might be wondering why I just laughed out loud. I don’t care, either.
Scout211
Betty, I love your stories. I also love that you used “anyhoo” in a sentence and spell it just like I learned growing up in Iowa. Perfect.
germy
Betty Cracker got briefly in touch with her inner Inspector Clouseau.
At least, the waiter has a fun story to tell on Thanksgiving.
Jim Parish
I live alone, and realized a couple of decades back that that meant I can make *anything I want* for Thanksgiving. This year, I made a big pot of Spicy African Peanut Soup, which I will be eating all week, and I’ll be making a loaf of brown bread (the kind with molasses) and a cheesecake later today.
Omnes Omnibus
Didn’t something similar happen to Mary-Louise Parker’s character on the West Wing?
As far as T-day prep goes, my brother houses the celebration so most of the work is on him and his family. My parents buy the bird and my role is to simply help my dad stuff the thing. Oh yeah, and to do the charming guest thing and feed wine to the chefs and entertain the dog and other things like that at which, in all modesty, I excel.
tobie
@Gin & Tonic: Aaargh. I’m generally not given to conspiracy theories but it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that global corporations have basically decided that it’s worth risking global mayhem, climate change, pandemics, and war if they can turn a profit. I suppose the super-wealthy think they can insulate themselves from all of this. The idea that you benefit from global stability seems to have gone out the window.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: These days there are lots of reasons for phones to self-immolate.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
Barf.
Sloane Ranger
Sitting in my lounge at the moment. I have been without central heating since the boiler broke down a week last Saturday. Repairman came on Monday and got it working for a whole 3 hours. Complained to the company that I was paying them hundreds of pounds a year in insurance and not getting a competent service. Different man came this afternoon and replaced the flow switch.
Everything seems to be working as designed. Currently enjoying all the benefits of a nice warm house and keeping my fingers crossed that the problem has been solved.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
No joke, this has probably happened to everybody at some point. I vaguely remember doing something like this with a napkin when I was a child
Sister Golden Bear
Because ICE is made up of horrible, sadistic people.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
I don’t get it. Is Russia really that big of a market for them? Their economy is smaller than Italy’s and about as big as Texas’
mrmoshpotato
@Sister Golden Bear: As Cole says – American Nuremberg trials.
James E Powell
@Princess:
Our family consists of two households – both alike in dignity – in two states. We do the usual Thanksgiving menu – turkey, dressing, the green bean thing, etc. on the Sunday before. On the day itself, we do standing rib roast & crab legs.
mrmoshpotato
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Maybe the Soviet shitpile mobster conman yelled at Tim Apple.
Mel
A day or so after we moved into our house, I had a fire mishap that still makes me squirm with shame.
The house was quite old, and the windows in the downstairs rooms were very tall, and off the shelf curtains didn’t fit, so we were waiting for
made-to-measure blinds to arrive. The houses on the street are close together, and with a glance, the neighbors could clearly and easily see into my dining room on one side, and the kitchen on the other side.
We were getting ready to eat, and I decided to light a candle. I struck the match, held the candle up to it, and KAfloof! Both of my hands and one of my wrists spontaneously burst into flame. I panicked for a couple of seconds, running in circles and screaming “Fire!!Fire!!” at the top of my lungs, (windows open), before running to the sink and extinguishing the flames. I expected to see a red, charred mass, but other than one little line of blisters above my wrist, there was no injury.
Then I remembered that, right before deciding to light the candle, I had used alcohol to clean all the small cuts and nicks I had gotten on my hands while moving. Brilliant, I know, but I had just spent the previous 17 hours unpacking, and the night before had travelled 6 hours with four wailing kitties and two very large dogs sharing space in a Subaru.
The flame had burnt the alcohol off of my skin before reaching the skin itself,
For several years, I thought that the neighbors somehow had miraculously not seen me running in circles with my hands aloft and aflame like a human torch, until one night I was at a neighborhood get together and someone asked what everybody’s favorite horror novel or movie was. When it was my turn, before I could answer, my neighbor said, “I know yours. It’s definitely ‘Firestarter’.’
Shame! Shame!!!
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
Madame requested that I get samgyetong* out of the freezer for dinner tomorrow, the real Thanksgiving dinner will be on Sunday since the kid’s on-call at the hospital tomorrow.
*Korean chicken soup.
geg6
Did something different and ordered a fully cooked turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, bread dressing and rolls from Giant Eagle. My sister is hosting but we always split the work. She’s making a small turkey breast to augment the big bird for all the picky ass white meat eaters in my family. Sister is also making a cornbread dressing, Mac and cheese, and creamed corn. This morning I made Grande Marnier cranberry sauce and prepped the honey carrots, garlic mozzarella asparagus and sweet potato casserole with crunchy pecan crust. Those will only need roasting/baking tomorrow. Other than those things we’re making ourselves, most of the meal just needs reheating. We’re having 14-15 for dinner and no Trumpers in the bunch. Eating lunch now and then a shower, head to the wine store and then to pick up the turkey, etc. and drop it at my sister’s. Then I can relax all evening. We have leftover shrimp, tomatoes, zucchini and lemon pasta for dinner, so easy living for me after all the errands.
Drove up to Latrobe, PA with another sister yesterday to pick up my niece at her college, St. Vincent’s. Just a beautiful campus! Of course it benefits from being the place where the Steelers hold pre-season camp and huge endowments from the Rooney’s, Arnold Palmer and Fred Rogers. It does like like they’ve spent the money well.
dmsilev
Preparation is going smoothly so far. Cake is baked and in the fridge; just needs to be dusted with coca powder once the ganache has had a few hours to set. Mom and I just peeled and sliced a bunch of apples for the pie, and she’s rolling out the dough now. Turkey has been cleaned, broth for gravy has been made, some initial prep work for the roasted vegetables has been done. I think we’re just about at the end of today’s task list.
WereBear
@Sister Golden Bear: Several former border agent trainees have been on social media sharing their hellish training and routine abusive practices.
They quit. They valued their souls more than a paycheck. I admire that.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
LMELAO
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Sister Golden Bear:
Boy, wonder how Modi’s gonna feel about his best buddy Trump now after he hears about this?
jeffreyw
Have you ever heard the faint hiss from the butane escaping an unlit Bic lighter? Did you know you can check if there is any gas remaining, even in the dark, by holding it near your ear and listening? Can you see where this is going?
PSA If your gas lighter is not working and you use this method to check gas level – do not hold it to your ear as you flick it! Flick it and only then bring it to your ear.
John Revolta
Ooooo, dat ibis ass. Hot dog.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@mrmoshpotato:
Possibly. That crossed my mind
columbusqueen
Am happily going to my brother’s now that he’s back home-the girlfriend kicked him to the curb a year ago. He hates Trump with a passion, so things should be fine.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
Hmmm, looks like there’s a helicopter over the river, guess someone fell in. It’s been raining here for the past 4 hours or so.
Ruckus
@Princess:
Probably salmon and salad.
No big dinners anymore for me. Only cousins left for family, and they live spread around the country. Of friends, also spread out. Or also no longer with us.
germy
These photos try to explain drumpf’s thinking:
bemused senior
This year we won’t have younger daughter and her fiance with us because rookie LAPD cops don’t get major holidays off. But we still have my older daughter and family, including the 4 year old grand-twins. They remember enough of last year’s Thanksgiving celebration to be full of questions such as “will we sit at the special table with the special plates? Will we have the rolls and special jelly (by which my grandson means the cranberry-fig compote)?” So our menu is usually the same, with small variations in side dishes: roast turkey, cornbread stuffing, dried apricot stuffing in the crop, giblet gravy, mashed garlic-cauliflower, Indian green beans from Madhur Jafrey’s cookbook, a new side dish recipe from the Wapo–sweet potato salad with orange maple dressing
and last but not least dinner rolls made for many years from the first edition of the Sunset Book of Breads. Pumpkin pie made with coconut milk and bourbon, and pecan pie as dessert choices.
Steeplejack
I am getting ready to don the tactical gear (pants!) for a final run to the grocery. I just need a few odds and ends, mostly stuff to make horseradish sauce for the gigantic prime rib roast I will be doing at Sighthound Hall tomorrow. I want to get in and out before the onslaught of people who had to work today and need to pick up T-Day stuff tonight. Might reward myself with a burger and a pint at my local afterwards.
Bro’ Man is on call tomorrow and has to work Friday, so it will be just him and me. (His family abandoned him to go to Rehoboth Beach for the long weekend.) I’m doing the roast, he’s doing the sides—mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, dressing—and a mincemeat pie for dessert. He won’t be drinking, so I’m taking a bottle of red plonk. Low-key and simple.
Ruckus
@tobie:
Well if you look at it from their perspective, they do a bit better than alright despite political turmoil.
Greedy motherfuckers.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: save me some of everything, please!
VeniceRiley
I once lit a gas fireplace that had a leak. Best haircut I ever had. Perfectly feathered. My eyebrows were a bit too short, however.
… And I just spent the last half hour looking at spicy west African peanut soup recipes.
germy
‘Anonymous’ Author of White House Book Promises to Reveal Identity
nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/anonymous-author-of-trump-book-promises-to-reveal-identity.html
On reddit?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ruckus:
Of course that won’t last forever. Not that the MOTU are looking at long-term trends
debbie
Similarly, when I raised my hand to wave at an arriving friend, I knocked over a bottle of Merlot. It must have killed them not to kill me for ruining the tablecloth.
@tobie:
That’s always how it’s been; what’s new is that they have president so willing to so openly help them achieve that.
I think it was Colbert last night who mentioned a Trump tweet wanting his war criminal buddies to campaign for him. What a joy that is sure to be.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
It sorta fits that the anonymous White House official would be a redditor, or at least use reddit
PST
@Jim Parish: Speaking of making anything you darn well please on Thanksgiving, I have always admired Calvin Trillin’s campaign to change the national dish from turkey to spaghetti carbonara.
germy
@debbie:
Maybe drumpf is slowly assembling his own private army.
dexwood
By design, I live 2000 miles away from my immediate family, a choice I happily made 45 years ago. My wife’s family, including her 93 year old parents, are spread around to other cities this year. My son volunteered to work an 11 – 9 shift tomorrow so a member of the crew he supervises can have the day with her family. My wife simply said, fuck it, let’s not do a big traditional dinner, are you okay with that? Fine with me. Instead, we’ll be making egg rolls to go with a chicken stir fry. Plenty of good wine in the house, a pumpkin pie she baked last night, and just the two of us staying home on what promises to be a cold snowy day.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@debbie:
War criminals, as in the assholes he just pardoned? Fuck him.
germy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
should have used nextdoor.com
CaseyL
I have no family nearby, so some friends I traditionally spend Thanksgiving with have decided that preparation for the holiday will be making reservations at a nearby Indian restaurant that holds a T-Day Buffet. There will be Tandoor Turkey with American-style trimmings…plus a whole lot of Indian food.
All of the food coma, none of the fuss :)
WereBear
Aren’t we assuming facts not in evidence?
JoeyJoeJoe
@Princess: Loco moco (burger patty with egg and gravy on top of rice) for me and the people I’m visiting)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
The Monsters Are Due on Nextdoor.com
Gravenstone
@Mel:
Apparently you really, really wanted to sterilize those cuts…
Gravenstone
@geg6:
Please speak more of this dish. I am intrigued.
Aleta
@WereBear: Our government is selecting for people who are abusive, at the top level, at the border and in ICE. It’s sending messages to contradict rules against abuse in the military and universities. Police abuse of POC and those with mentally illnesses continues. The pattern is in line with my understanding of fascist Germany, whose leader T has admired since he was a boy.
Jager
Day before Thanksgiving snowstorm, the weather clears up it’s a beautiful day, I’m 16, with a really nice 15 year old girlfriend. I invite her to my grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner. We finish dinner head back, a 20-mile drive on slippery roads. We decide to park and ahh, neck. (there’s an old term) We finish our kissy-face time, I make a U-turn on the narrow country road, slide off and bury my 55 Chevy. I tell her to sit tight, listen to WLS and I walk to the main road in penny loafers, hitchhike home, get the keys to the dealership off my old mand’s desk. Hitchhike to the car store fire up the small tow truck, a Jeep forward control model. I drive out, hook up and as the Jeep stands tall on its back wheels I realize I have no idea what I’m doing, I figure how to work the wrecker, that takes an hour, I finally get my car back on the road. My girlfriend just got her permit and couldn’t drive worth a damn, but somehow she’s able to follow me to the dealership, I stow the tow truck and get her home two hours late. She got grounded for two weeks and I forgot to put my dad’s keys back his desk and got my ass verbally kicked off and on for a month after I fessed up.
germy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices…to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill…and suspicion can destroy…and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own – for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.
Steeplejack
* DVR Alert *
TCM is showing some heavyweight movies today and tonight. One that might get lost in the crush is Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000), with Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, at 6:15 p.m. EST. It’s worth watching anytime, but it might be particularly nice if you’re not feeling, or are rebelling against, the standard Thanksgiving hoopla.
Oddball French trailer here, which doesn’t quite do it justice.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
If you’re going with the Chef john method for the roast, impress upon him to keep his cotton pickin’ hands away from the oven door.
;)
@Princess
Roast leg o’ lamb, homemade cranberry sauce. Have to throw together the sauce today so it can gel overnight in the fridge. Probably (if the orange tree in the yard doesn’t have any ready for picking) need to dash out to the market for some OJ this afternoon first, as that’s a necessary for the sauce. If the market has more than halfway decent sweet potatoes or yams, might spring for those as well (another dish in which to use up the OJ). Otherwise, just the meat and the sauce is enough to spike the ol’ satisfaction meter.
Oh, and if there’s a decent sale at the market, some emergency back-up vodka.
Was thinking about trying to make homemade doughnuts in the air fryer but the laziness override seems to have kicked in.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@James E Powell: Props for the Romeo and Juliet reference.
We’re eating in ship’s Italian restaurant tomorrow. I am studying the menu and considering risotto.
germy
@WereBear:
You’re right. Not much thinking going on under those hair plugs.
Aleta
@Mel: What a story. Vivid! Glad you were mostly OK.
germy
So! What are we all planning on renaming Thanksgiving?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy:
I told Mr DAW it would be funny if Anonymous turned out to be Ivanka. He suggested maybe it was Eric.
TomatoQueen
I have a sudden craving for crab cakes from Clyde’s, but will take whatever Meals on Wheels hands out. Mini can of cranberry in the fridge. Slice o’ Edwards’ pecan pie also.
germy
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
If it turned out to be Pence I think I’d fall right over.
WereBear
@Aleta: This so much! I always wondered why the Germans fell into such an abyss, but most of them didn’t.
They were coerced and afraid of the ones who did.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy: Or possibly Mother.
JAFD
Hello, jackals, jackalettes, and other gentlebeings !
Way back when, my college dining hall had ‘picnic tables’, with the attached benches. One fine day, I came out of the cafeteria with trayful of dinner, found my friends had left me a seat in the middle. Put tray down, stepped over bench, sat down. But I’d left tray projecting inch or two over table edge, and I was wearing jeans with big-ass belt buckle, which caught on tray and catapulted mystery meat and chocolate milk and Russian dressing over neighborhood.
I stood back up to disentangle myself, looked down at carnage…
And then I noticed that my fly was open.
So may I wish all youse a verry Happy Thanksgiving, from someone who is very grateful to be walking around on this side of the grass today, and who’s had a very good year.
Thank you for all the support, thoughts and prayers you’ve given me, and may the deities of your choice shower blessings upon you.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Yes on the Chef John method, and, yes, I will be watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn’t screw things up. I volunteered to do the roast because he’s feeling a little put-upon about being on call and the family being away, but he can be a little overbearing as a cook and has a tendency to kibitz, which is why I don’t cook much around him. But this is so simple and seemingly foolproof that it’s just a matter of keeping him from opening the oven. Fingers crossed.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Risotto…..with extra cement? :)
dexwood
@germy: With president Asshole in office, Angstgiving.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Are they using John Podesta’s recipe?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@mrmoshpotato:
Don’t you be dissing risotto! The menu says it’s made with Jerusalem artichokes and parmesan tuile (whatever that is).
Dorothy A. Winsor
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Memories of R crimes past.
JAFD
Please tell your kid ‘Thank You’ from all of us who’ve needed all of the medical people to be around
mrmoshpotato
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t think all the details are known. At least Hillary had to ask for some clarification, right?
No history of a Soviet shitpile mobster conman to fill the time I guess.
Butter Emails
@tobie:
It’s not quite that. It’s that individually, they don’t consider themselves capable of changing the ultimate outcome. As a result each and nearly every company makes the choice for a quick buck which collectively screws us.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Essentially, parmesan and herb lace cookies.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato:
Looks pretty detailed to me.
thalarctosMaritimus
Our local PBS/BritTV monger brought out Danny John-Jules and Craig Charles for a Red Dwarf fan event.
I had long hair back in the day, and while we were standing in line to meet them, I brushed too close to a candle. By the time I began to realize my hair was on fire, Mr. thalarctos was already putting it out.
By the time we reached the table where they were sitting, there was nothing to indicate anything amiss had happened at all, except for that burned-hair smell.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
Rod Serling’s narrations were the best part of every episode
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Your stomach will be chipping away at it for days! 😁
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Are you on a cruise? That sounds delicious!
mrmoshpotato
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Looks like the editors at foodandwine should be punched to me.
Aleta
@Dorothy A. Winsor: These cruise updates from you are a breath of fresh air….
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I am! We left Barcelona on Nov 14, and stopped in Malaga, Casablanca, and Dakar before heading across the Atlantic to Recife, Brazil. We’re now sailing down the coast of Brazil, heading for Rio, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires. We’ll fly home from there on Dec 5. It’s been great.
Gin & Tonic
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I love Buenos Aires. Enjoy.
Aleta
@CaseyL:sounds fantastic to me.
If I had to live on only one food it would be Southern India dal, any of them.
Martin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Um, Reddit AMAs are universal. Obama did one as President in 2012, right before the election.
They work well because they are direct interactions – anyone can ask questions. They have a fucking army of moderators to manage the whole thing – from vetting the interviews and getting proof that the person is who they claim. And the result of the AMA remains for time and is easy to find.
It’s a pretty great mechanism. Anonymous won’t reveal his identity on Reddit – it’ll be 60 Minutes or something like that.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Gin & Tonic: Will it be cool in Buenos Aires at this time of year? I’m assuming Recife and maybe Dakar are the hottest places we’ll be because they’re closest to the equator.
Aleta
@germy: Trumpleaving
Just One More Canuck
@Ruckus: The version of that picture I sent to friends when it was time for my daughter to sell girl guide cookies had the caption, “Next time, you’ll just buy the damned cookies”
Jess
I once set one of my mother’s oven mitts on fire when cooking xmas dinner at her house. She didn’t see, but my uncle did and laughed as I beat out the flames with the other mitt. A fews days later, she noticed the burn marks and asked about them. My uncle and I both claimed ignorance, cuz we be jerks. ;-) But I did buy her new oven mitts for the next xmas.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Don’t discard those bones!
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: We’re very efficient with leftovers I’m afraid.
Friday will be a reprise of Thursday. Saturday will use most of the rest of the turkey and some of the potatoes to make a shepherd’s pie. Sunday, the bones become turkey barley soup. And that’s the end, which is just as well considering that everyone is thoroughly tired or turkey. Still, four dinners for five adults and two kids is pretty good use of a single fourteen pound bird.
Jess
@Just One More Canuck: Funny! Did it work?
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
This time of year my 95-year-old (maybe 96?) aunt may well be at her summer cottage in Guaratuba part of the time, so as you pass by there, wave.
;)
WereBear
My first turkey was a enormous creature from a famous kosher place. As soon as we pulled the plastic off all these hairs sprang up. Happily, First Husband ran off to get his blowtorch. I got to cavity search it (which failed miserably) and then it took hours and hours and hours while we ate all the sides.
I’ve never gotten that ambitious again.
J R in WV
A couple of years ago we visited Italy, Tuscany actually, and were based near a fortified ridge-top town called Castellina in Chianta a beautiful small city with great restaurants, in which wife ordered Risotto for lunch. She shared. It was wonderful.
I have attempted to reproduce that delicious food ever since, with little luck. My risotto is good, very good. But their risotto was wonderful, heavenly.
Hope your risotto is just as good!
ETA: There was a great small museum, and Etruscan tombs on the top knoll on the edge of town, open to view. Amazing trip, visited vineyards, farms, cooking lessons, NO BAD WINE IN ITALY, NONE!
NotMax
@WereBear
I was present for the aftermath when a young lady decided she was going to cook the turkey and did not know there was stuff in the cavity. Stuff wrapped in plastic.
Aromatic (not in a good way).
Kathleen
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I did that as an adult at a job related team building event which included mucky mucks. I was the only person in the crowd who hadn’t had a drink which was the suckiest part. Flipped that paper napkin right in that effing candle.
WereBear
@NotMax: “Someone I know” once ruined a nice pot roast by overlooking one of those plastic diapers. The wonderful scent was off by this much. And ruined the entire thing, of course.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Crispy turkey skin, creamy plastic.
Martin
I would argue that’s true of the rest of us as well. About 2 years ago I realized some of my anxiety was from being a strong advocate for major reforms to address climate change, and then me doing more-or-less dick personally about it. So, solar panels went up (local, female owned business), one car turned into a hybrid (used), another into a PHEV (used – averaging 4 gal gas per month), the 3rd is turning into an ebike. We’re long-term planning for a whole house battery. Hot water heater needs to be replaced and that’ll go from gas to electric, etc.
A lot of people are like I was – Yes! We must do something about climate change! and voting accordingly, but not really changing my role in the world to what it needs to look like. Most people assume that they’re too small to solve the problem, but its a collective action problem – we all need to get to that spot, every one of us. Funny thing is that when you make the changes yourself you wind up motivating the companies to act. Take the hundreds of gallons of gas that we no longer buy annually and multiply it by 100 million households and now you have some VERY motivated oil companies.
Raven
Great day down at the beach! I wheeled Bohdi down for the sunrise and then came back and settled into fishing. I caught a whiting that got bit in half so I cut it up and caught a really nice redfish and bluefish on the same chunk!
NotMax
@Raven
One fish, two fish. Redfish, bluefish.
gene108
@Gin & Tonic:
Happens with India, with regards to how maps are drawn depicting Kashmir all the time.
Some maps show it as an Indian state (or now territory, I guess), which is how India sees things. Kashmir is a rightful part of sovereign India.
Many others show it as disputed territory, which is Pakistan’s propaganda, and reason it seems to never want to make peace with India, because it feels it has to “liberate” Kashmir.
Mary G
I go to a friend who has many great qualities. Cooking is not one of them. Fortunately she buys all the sides from Trader Joes and Costco.
Almost everyone is a classic Doug J totebagger – faithful Democrats with money who watch the Snooze Hour and listen to NPR, so I try to adjust their attitudes. I am sure they love Mayor Pete, but feel Biden is the safe choice. I will push for Kamala. We will enjoy hating on Twitler.
laura
The turkey is resting on the back porch because it’s as cold as the refrigerator but more room. Stuffing, green bean casserole and gravy stock will be prepped this afternoon along with deviled egg slurry (will pipe eggs tomorrow) and spouse picked the rolls up from New Roma this morning at 6:30. Vince will be hosting the 30th Appetite Enhancement Ride tomorrow (Towe Auto Museum 9:00 am for any Sacramento Jackals) so we’ll go to the Cidery tonight to fold tee shirts and get raffle items organized.
We’re hosting a pair of friends and any extra old boys who may not have family. Both brothers are taking a pass on travel, so once we’ve ate, I plan to sail the couch for the duration of the weekend.
Wishing the jackaltariat good tidings!
Betty Cracker
One time in college I stayed at school over Thanksgiving break. I don’t know why — my parents’ (separate) abodes weren’t all that far — both within a couple of hours’ driving distance. I didn’t speak to my dad for months at a time back then and perhaps was battling a stepfather at the same time, who knows? For whatever reason, I stayed behind.
Anyway, it was weird being one of the few dorm rats rattling around the empty building. Many on our Island of Misfit Toys were foreigners who didn’t have anywhere to go, others malcontents like myself. For some reason, a half dozen of us took it into our heads to have a “Thanksgiving in a Can”-themed meal, and we got every food item for the feast in cans, that was the rule. This included — I shit you not! — a whole (small and pathetic) chicken in a can.
These items were warmed in microwaves, heated in toaster ovens or sauteed over hot plates and consumed in the common area. It wasn’t very good, but we had plenty of cheap wine to wash it down with, so most of us had a good time. I hope that will remain the strangest Thanksgiving I ever experience.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: One fish, two fish, how do you tuna fish?
mrmoshpotato
@laura:
With some hot spiced and spiked cider?
ETA – also, was ‘sail the couch’ supposed to be ‘sit on the couch’ or is it a Styx kinda weekend?
Steeplejack (phone)
@mrmoshpotato:
Aw, hell, no! I’ll leave one with my brother and bring the other one home for some yet to be determined slow cooker/Instant Pot thing.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Did anyone bring the canned bread?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
So I am going to be somewhat responsible for the ruin of a family’s Thanksgiving dinner this year, and hope it doesn’t erupt in bloodshed.
I’m handling a nasty piece of intrafamily squabbling between a couple of siblings over a real estate transaction involving the sale of a church and the disposition of proceeds therefrom (the details are unimportant, but suffice it to say, everything about it is disgusting). The person I represent insists that his brother (who has been ducking process) be served at their mother’s house during the family Thanksgiving meal so he can be there to see his face when my special bailiff delivers the paper.
I’ve arranged it, but don’t feel good about it. Process server is charging a premium.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack (phone): Chef John apparently got his Fred Flintstone on.
LongHairedWeirdo
Re: public humiliation, I remember a parent explaining that there was this potty training video that was interesting, and seemed to help. “Of course,” he continued “that’s not to say it’s not horrifying to have your kids bellow out the chorus from ‘she’s a super duper pooper’ in the supermarket checkout line, but if you’re not used to that by now, just wait a bit.”
(I loved the implication “oh, you haven’t been so horrified *yet*? You’ll get used to it. Probably quickly. We all did.”)
You’re right – it’s easier not to sweat the small stuff once you’ve got some age on you, and you’ve got the perspective to realize that a lot more of it really is small stuff, after all.
laura
@mrmoshpotato: “sail the couch” is a family thing. Imagine hogging the entire couch – pile of pillows to lay back in a comfy angle of repose, legs stretched to full extension, and one arm fully prepared to hold the rudder, if it had one. It was a power move that forces everyone else to find a place to sit and my dad was the master at it.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: Yes! That exact, nasty brand too! I’d forgotten that until I clicked and saw the photo!
Kathleen
@bemused senior: My mother put bourbon in her pumpkin pie filling. Gave it a special zing.
Steeplejack (phone)
@mrmoshpotato:
So he said, but no video.
I’m wondering if the rib bone would be good to spice up some black beans and rice or red beans and rice, or whether it would be overkill for that. Might have to do some research.
trollhattan
I’m grilling-smoking the bird today because tomorrow the spouse and kid head to a soccer tournament in SoCal then from there to the state HS XC meet in beautiful Fresno then back here Sunday to ponder WTF happened to her Thanksgiving break. Tomorrow it’s leftovers and hang lights for the dog and me.
Martin
@Betty Cracker: My grandmother worked at the student health center where I currently work. The international student center was the next building over, so she started a tradition of inviting all of the international students to her house over the holidays. She’d have a dozen or two students for thanksgiving and christmas, all bunked out across her house. Thanksgiving would be kids from Germany and Japan and various parts of Africa, India, and so on. She just opened her house up – they could come and go as they wished.
I’d come in for a holiday visit into the middle of this and it was amazing. Everyone sharing their local traditions, learning about American ones. They’d invite her to their homes, which she often take advantage of as she loved to travel. This went on for years and years. They’d invite her to their weddings and to meet their kids years later. They’d stop by for a visit when they returned to the US.
I realized pretty quickly that they were much better relatives than many of my actual relatives, so I switched form team gene pool to team world. My relatives need to earn a seat at my table like everyone else. Some of them make it, most don’t.
Martin
@trollhattan: Good man. I rotisserie smoke the turkey every year and it’s the best way to cook it. Will be a little challenging with the rain this year. De-stresses the kitchen by a ton as well.
Martin
@NotMax: About every 10 years I get a craving for that canned bread. No idea why.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Never had a dorm Thanksgiving, thank god but did have one dorm spring break, which sucked because the dining halls were closed and I was car-less.
Our oddest family Thanksgiving was pizza (no pineapple) and beer in the Honolulu airport.
trollhattan
@Martin:
[knock wood] the rain seems to have moved on this morning so I could catch a break there. Tending to the bird is zenlike, I don’t mind a bit.
Roger Moore
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Honestly, someone who has been ducking process servers deserves this kind of treatment. The rest of the family may not, though.
WereBear
@Roger Moore: I’m sure the family knows who they are dealing with. Or maybe, should?
NotMax
@Martin
Flashing back to tutorials occasionally held (during cocktail hour) at the home of this fellow in place of the classroom.
What seemed like every five minutes he would ask “Anyone care for a banana?” One time I happened to be in the kitchen with him when he asked that and he proceeded to open a kitchen cabinet. Bunches of bananas on every shelf. Another cabinet, same thing.
Gotta love eccentric Brits.
Martin
@trollhattan: Yeah, I won’t mind either. I’ve done enough rain camping to desensitize myself to standing in the rain. Plus, the rotisserie makes it pretty low maintenance – just reloading the smoker, mainly.
I’m just happy for rain. Moar please. Have the spouse drive carefully. Snow down to 2500 feet, and Thanksgiving driving in SoCal is pretty shitty in the best of conditions.
Jay
James E Powell
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
With a side of spaghetti?
Martin
@trollhattan: I worked display for department stores starting in high school, so Thanksgiving is a HUGE payday, overtime leading up to it, then from Wed night until Fri opening you work nonstop, overtime, plus holiday pay. I could earn a months pay in 3 days. So, my last family Thankgiving was when I was 15, and then it was turkey subs and pizza for quite a few years. Couldn’t afford to fly home in college (though the school had a wonderful tradition where they’d do a formal thanksgiving dinner I think on Tuesday night where the students were served by the faculty) but Thanksgiving proper was usually Subway for me. I didn’t get proper Thanksgivings again until I met my wife, and I do pretty much all of the holiday cooking now to make up for lost time.
WereBear
@Jay: Oh, the Reasonable Person standard. That will snag a Republican every time, will it not?
The Moar You Know
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Goddamn. People who duck service are assholes, but that request…man, some people are just garbage people.
Yutsano
@Martin:
Umm…in Washington we call that normal life.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
My mom has ruined my Thanksgiving plans this year.
The Contessa and I have done Thanksgiving for most of the past 28 years – there’ve been a few times we did it with her mom and dad (while she was alive), and her dad maybe twice. I’d say we’ve done it maybe 22 times out of the past 28. Its a lot of fucking work.
Originally, the Contessa was slated to leave for a conference in Cannes and some travel about Provence Thanksgiving morning. The children were told “this year, do Friendsgivings, we’re not handling it”. I was going to go to Churchill Downs for a day of overdrinking and a full racing card. I let my mom know and suggested CD for the three of us; in response, she promptly invited herself, my dad and me to go to my teetotaling aunt and uncle’s house for their Thanksgiving, nevermind that I was perfectly content to not be around family this year, as they are all irritating me lately (related to middle daughter bouncing back home from Illinois a few weeks ago). Mom also volunteers me to make stuffed cabbage rolls (Lebanese recipe) – a favorite of my dad’s.
Last week, the Contessa opted out of doing an early segment of her trip, and to leave Saturday, instead. Shortly after that, middle daughter learns that one of the losers that shared their communal shithole in Illinois has offed himself, and decides to go back so she can participate in some half-ass tribute show among the layabouts in that community.
No problem. I decide that Thursday, I can either make an appearance for a couple of hours and make like the Contessa is gone, or I can say something came up for her at the last minute and we both go there for a couple of hours before slinking off and away with a case of the shakes. I also considered pretending I have food poisoning and begging off completely so we can lounge about the house and spend time grilling steaks, making cocktails and boning.
So today, we drop the news on mom that the Contessa will be home. Mom informs us that she’s gotten our oldest daughter and her partner to commit to going to my aunt’s instead of a Friendsgiving (she was actually also working on the youngest daughter, too, but she was fully committed to her plans), and demands to know if we can expect middle daughter, who is still legit up in the air. So now, I’m going to have to go to the fucking grocery store, fight apocalyptic crowds for the last bags of cranberries and nuts, and will have to show up with more than the single tray of cabbage rolls which already irritated me, all because Mom insists we all be up each other’s asses for the holiday.
And yeah, I’m bringing bourbon. Maybe a couple of bottles.
Mnemosyne
If the Trumpers get out of line, you can feed them to the alligators.
Perhaps a discreet warning when they first arrive will do the trick. 🐊
debbie
@germy:
I thought we were just getting rid of it.
Jay
timesofmalta.com/articles/view/keith-schembri-and-yorgen-fenechs-doctor-both-under-arrest.752986.amp…
It appears that the murder of anti-corruption reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia, goes right to the top.
Wasn’t there some vague link involving Malta connections to Trump/Russia?
Funny that.
NotMax
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Probably too late to gather up the equipment for an IV drip.
;)
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Roger Moore:
That’s kind of where I was. I think the mom is a sweet lady, and both of her boys are raging assholes.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@NotMax:
If I could, I would.
I liked my plan a whole lot better.
LuciaMia
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving at 8PM tonight.
Fair Economist
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Is the incompetence tactic an option? I.e., show up without the items you’re supposed to bring and give some patently lame excuse.
Martin
@Yutsano: Yeah. I grew up on the east coast, so you can’t really stop life for rain, but it’s not a daily occurrence either. Here in SoCal rain is uncommon enough that you can often simply refuse to deal with it “No, I’m not leaving the house today – it’s damp”.
Setting up camp in pouring rain is pretty miserable though, because there is no ‘dry’ in your future. You’re just moving from one wet state to a different wet state. My dad and I once went camping ages ago as a hurricane was coming up the east coast. It was supposed to turn out to sea, so we thought we’d be fine, but apparently it stayed over land more than expected and broke up and just stalled out – on top of us. So it rained (poured!) nonstop for a week. Not the kind of light rain which is refreshing. The kind of chucking down where even with good rain gear, it soaks through everything you own. There was almost no letup to cook through or try and triage your gear. Every day we figured it couldn’t do that for another day, and then it did. It finally broke for the last 2-3 days of the trip, which were fun, but we were at the point that each day you’re figuring out which of your socks is the least wet and putting those on.
danielx
Current CNN headline:
Trump claims he never directed Giuliani on Ukraine
Bus, meet Rudy. Rudy, Bus. I hope you two crazy kids will be very happy together.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Fair Economist:
Considered it, but I’ve set a really high bar for myself over the years – I can be sloppy drunk after a hard day of prep, and my Time On Target on meal prep for bunches of people is always spot on. I’m afraid they wouldn’t accept it.
Yutsano
@Martin: Ugh. We don’t get rains quite that heavy but the 4-5 days of solid rain thing I understand. For us it’s the price of living on the edge of a rainforest. At least I think the Olympic Peninsula still fits that definition. Climate change has done a number on a few ecosystems up north.
geg6
@Gravenstone:
Easy peasy. Prepare 2 lbs. asparagus. Mix 6 tablespoons evoo, 1 1/2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper. Spread asparagus on a sheet tray and drizzle with the garlic oil. Heat oven to 400F and roast asparagus for 10 minutes. Pull out and top with freshly shredded mozzarella cheese. Roast another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!
Yutsano
@danielx: Hmm…I wonder when the “insurance policy” kicks in. And it’s not like this should be a surprise to ol’ Rudi. He’s known the Frogface for decades.
Ruckus
@Martin:
Sort of sounds like being out to sea for a few weeks. In the navy. On a crap boat that can’t make enough water. In the summer. In the Caribbean. You sweat so much that it seems like it’s a constant rain. With more sweat for your shower.
danielx
@Yutsano:
”I never thought the leopards would eat MY face!”
Kent
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
When my wife and I moved back to the Pacific Northwest 4 years ago she insisted that we buy a larger house than we really needed with one child in college and the other two just years away from it. She wanted a home that would be the default family central location for every holiday event as my parents have a small place and my brothers and extended family are scattered about in smaller places. She said I would thank her.
I now bow to her wisdom. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we just stay put and everyone who wants to come is welcome. I load up the basement fridge with all the food supplies a week in advance and then just have a stress-free holiday not worrying about travel. We don’t have any crazy MAGA types in the immediate family so that makes things easier. I have plenty of them in the extended family but they don’t show for holiday events, only big family reunions. Since we have the biggest and most holiday-esque house we are always the default location.
Yutsano
@Ruckus: My dad hated surface ships because of the weather. As soon as he could he was back on a boomer.
Mel
@CaseyL: It sounds wonderful. Tandoori chicken and biryani = heaven on a plate.
mrmoshpotato
@LongHairedWeirdo: *looks up the song* LOL
Yutsano
@Mel: I just had a whole mess of Greek food. I’m drooling.
Ruckus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Never past the next quarter. Don’t get greedy, only worry about what you can steal now, there’s plenty of time to steal whatever you can next quarter.
Always leave a little something to let them think you aren’t a total douchebag. Even if you know better.
mrmoshpotato
@laura: Hahaha
Mnemosyne
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Then a sudden bout of food poisoning is your only hope of avoidance. Sorry.
Ruckus
@germy:
Hair plugs! Put in with a power drill, which went way, way too deep.
Explains so much!
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I realized the other day that I hadn’t seen you since the site rollout. Have you been to view by topic in the sidebar? I was sure you would see something there that you liked!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Mnemosyne:
Damned gas station sushi at lunch. Why in god’s name do I trust gray food?
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: he doesn’t actually have to give himself food poisoning, right? He just has to say he has it, I think.
Uncle Cosmo
I see the thread is en fuego with conflagration stores, so before everyone’s burnt out, here’s mine:
Winter before last I was in the suburbs of Prague visiting friends. We had wandered down & around the corner from Milan’s flat in a panelak to a small wineshop where the young proprietor usually has some decent wines reasonably priced per glass to be enjoyed at the counter or table. We’d ordered a white & sat down on the bar stools & I tossed my purple & black acrylic toboggan cap onto another one behind me. I failed to notice there was a tea-light size candle burning away there. Next I knew there were screams from people beyond me & I turned to see flames shooting up from it. Milan snagged it & beat the fire out, saving the cap except for a 2″ x 3″ patch completely burned through. I of course kept the cap – it’s a good story & with some judicious adjustment it’s still wearable & besides it’s one of my small stock of Baltimore Ravens gear (why would I wear purple and black otherwise?). & I also have a photo taken in the shop about 2 minutes prior to ignition to go with the story, Eccolo.
FlyingToaster
There was no school today (thank goodness); WarriorGirl had a makeup violin lesson this morning, followed by playing the intro for her (7 years ago!) former preschool’s Thanksgiving concert.
However, there was homework due at 4pm, which between yesterday evening and this afternoon, was completed and submitted. First Trimester is over!
We’re in the middle of prep; I’ve gone and harvested the remaining herbs (parseley, sage, rosemary and thyme) and HerrDoktor is working on the second stuffing. The turkeys have brined and are sitting in coolers on the front porch (east, and therefore out of the sun); I’ll be going to fetch Chinese for tonight’s dinner before I make the rolls (Challah rolls this year). We have several trays of appetizers in the chest freezer.
Tomorrow we load the minivan and truck it all up to the North Shore and cook and eat, since all 5 nephews (ages ranging 24 down to 12) will be at the feast. The SIL is making everything else — or at least will have it there for us to make. No Trumpistas. We don’t talk religion or politics anyway, because that shit just turns into fights. Lotsa sports and video games and comparing notes on suburban public schools versus urban private schools.
eclare
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ve begged off family events with upset stomach, food poisoning. It has worked for me.
Jay
Ruckus
@WereBear:
For the first 20 years of my life all the aunts/uncles/cousins would get together T day and xmas. Each holiday different house. One holiday I let the younger cousins know that I had baby sat them and changed diapers on occasion. Now that was a holiday to remember.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
B&M brown bread. Used to love that. Haven’t even looked for it in the last 20-30 years.
Jay
NotMax
With major alterations to take into account the smaller size of my Instant Pot, personal spicing medley and proportions preference (also what’s on hand) and a notion that the recipe as given calls for way too much broth and butter, made this dish a few days ago. Did use the same amount of shrimp.
The result? It’s a keeper. Seafood crack ladled over rice. Will be finishing up the last of it tonight.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
Parts of the Olympic Peninsula have been rain forests and remain that way. But the Olympics create a rain shadow, so some places on the eastern side are quite dry. That’s why they grow lavender in Sequim.
Jay
Martin
@Yutsano: My dad was on subs his whole time in the navy (got him out of slogging around Vietnam) and he said it was tolerable except when he had watch duty in the north atlantic when he was on the old diesel. The nuke was like being in a hotel.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jay: I suppose the minor detail that his hands were tied firmly behind his back went unreported… Maybe the hit team couldn’t find a balcony high enough on short notice.
Jay
debbie
Oh, FFS:
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: They have irrigation canals in Sequim, though I’d call it more north than east of the Olympic mountains.
WereBear
@Ruckus: It was on the table every year but I don’t remember anyone actually eating it 😂
Martin
Trump would be proud. Now start yelling ‘no quid pro quo’.
Jay
Roger Moore
@debbie:
Blind squirrel/stopped clock
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: No pro quo! You’re the puppet! Sad!
germy
Only the best people.
Jay
Your tax dollars at work, funding Nazis.
MomSense
This is a really stressful time of year for people which means it’s stressful for me at work. Tonight I’ll pick up the last few things and tomorrow I’m going to relax and make some of the sides and desserts. I’m actually going to roast the chestnuts ahead of time for which my hands will be thankful. We aren’t celebrating until Friday this year for reasons of work and middle son’s turn with SO’s family on the day of this year.
Always make pretty much the same menu.
Turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, maple walnut squash purée, applesauce, orange cranberry sauce, roasted onions with sage, salad, and all the pies – pumpkin, apple, and pecan. I’m tempted to make a mincemeat pie. It was my grandfather’s favorite and it has been many years since I’ve made one. I found out recently my neighbor loves them so that gives me a good excuse.
happy holiday to everyone.
mrmoshpotato
@germy: Good thing it’s “Innocent until proven guilty.” and not “All you Trump trash are guilty until you can prove you’re innocent.”
Jay
NotMax
@MomSense
Dress code or come as you are for when I show up at your doorstep?
;)
mrmoshpotato
@MomSense:
Time to bring out the open fire!
Litlebritdifrnt
Great news from me. After all the upheaval after Mum’s death we have moved house. We are now in a delightful fully refurbished rental, 2 bed bungalow in Morecambe which after the four story Georgian terrace is a blessing. No stairs!The kitchen is HUGE and beautiful and I can’t wait to start cooking and baking in it. My family have been absolute troopers getting Mum’s house cleared and us moved. They have gone above and beyond to get us settled and nothing is too much trouble for them. Husband is working every day as a TA for Autistic children. Only downside is that the school is 22 miles away which means a two hour round trip for me in the morning dropping him off and then the same in the afternoon picking him up. (These are small country roads not motorways you understand). It should get easier once Mum’s estate is settled and he can buy a moped and commute himself (and I won’t have to get up at 6am.) Still things are getting better every day.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Given most of the mainland’s climate this time of year. Long pants would be a good idea. :)
Steeplejack (phone)
@MomSense:
I love mincemeat pie. Will be having it tomorrow.
We had a discussion here a few years ago about mincemeat pie as an endangered species.
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: I would happily be the recipient of any excess mincemeat pies you might make.
Jay
Steeplejack (phone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Right on! ✊
debbie
@MomSense:
The squash sounds awesome. Maybe when things are slower or there’s a recipe thread, you’ll share.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Preps going fine for me. Spatchcocked and dry brined the bird last night. It’s going on the grill tomorrow. We have some winter squash that’s already been roasted, frozen, and is now partially thawed. Apple and pecan pies are done as is the cranberry ginger sauce. Was going to do Pumpkin too but it’s just me and the missus, her mom and my parents, and three pies for five people seems like overkill. Will be making some poultry stock with leftover carcasses from the freezer tonight.
MomSense
@NotMax:
C’mon over! We can watch movies. Did you watch East Side Sushi yet?
@Steeplejack (phone):
@Omnes Omnibus:
I vaguely remember that discussion. It’s definitely an old timey dessert. My grandfather also put thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese on his apple pie. I still can’t figure out why, but I think that’s also an old fashioned thing.
HinTN
@ Betty C at top
We have a chunk of grouper and two pounds of shrimp; we have a house on the beach; we just finished a round of top-shelf home-made margaritas; the sun is making noises about setting in a blaze of glory; we have no schedule tomorrow to eat that seafood; life is pretty good.
Jay
@Steeplejack (phone):
never had mincemeat pie, nobody ever made it, and in restaurants, it was always rated below rasin pie.
mincemeat tarts however, everybody makes them, fall to spring. Tolerable ones are available in megamarts.
my favorite mincemeat however is a Jamie Oliver thing, a bit of excess for the holiday season. It’s not really a pie, it’s more like a roll.
jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/perfect-mince-pies/
TomatoQueen
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: A suitable beginning for what sounds like a Hollywood-quality (well, Pinewood Studios) holiday weekend. The youngish Hugh Grant plays you, and equally youngish Emma Thompson for La Contessa; everybody else by strays from EastEnders and that tall, elegant brunette from Bletchley Circle. If we can’t be flies on the wall for the process-serving, could we have a video, or a blow by blow account, with full script treatment, setting, a churchyard…And I do wish you the best, especially in the way of fortifications.
Origuy
Thanksgiving is sorted. Reservations are confirmed.
NotMax
@MomSense
Still in the queue.
Uncle Cosmo
@Martin: And those old ocean-going diesels were the Waldorf-Halfastoria compared with the German Type VII-Cs that prowled the same region of misery during WW2. Those boats weren’t designed for the North Atlantic but they made do. Cheeses & sausages hanging down from the ceiling, & of the two heads onboard, one was crammed with provisions when they left port – a cook would carefully stock it floor to ceiling so that the food could be used in reverse order without rearrangement. See if you can find U-Boat War by Lothar-Günther Buchheim (author of Das Boot) for some fascinating photos of life onboard a Type VII-C during North Atlantic patrols. (ETA: Brave if misguided men – of 40,000 who set sail in “iron coffins” only 10,000 survived the war.)
MomSense
@debbie:
I’m terrible about measurements but the gist of it is that you peel and then boil butternut squash in salted water until tender, first removing any seeds or stringy stuff. While the squash is draining in the colander I add some butter – 4 tablespoons or more to your preference – and maple syrup to the hot pan. Then I put the squash back in and mash it, adding a little half n half. Then I throw some chopped walnuts and a tiny bit of cinnamon in. Unfortunately a food processor makes the walnut pieces too small so you have to use a knife and chop them.
Uncle Cosmo
@Origuy: Did you say “Thanksgiving is sordid” – ?
I prefer to refer to it by a more descriptive name: The Great American Pig-Out (Die grösse amerikanishe Ausschweinung)
Uncle Cosmo
@Uncle Cosmo: “amerikanische”, verdammt!
Steeplejack (phone)
@Jay:
My mom made great mincemeat “hand pies,” sort of like this. I miss those. (She is still alive but “retired” from cooking.)
Steeplejack (phone)
@Uncle Cosmo:
That reminds me: Das Boot is on TCM tonight, I think.
Miss Bianca
@bemused senior: Oh, damn it, I just printed this off and got the ingredients I was missing! So much for my simple “let’s just make baked sweet potatoes” plan!
Martin
@Jay: I’m guessing they were trying to get the recruiters, which is a legit problem, but why drag the students through the additional cost and stress?
But ICE, so who the fuck knows.
TomatoQueen
@Ruckus: If you want brown bread, and sometimes you do, B & M is the only kind. There was a substitute date-walnut loaf from the kosher bakery that Mum loved, but for me it never quite did the job.
debbie
@MomSense:
Thanks!
Ruckus
@Yutsano:
Best weather ever was at twilight one day, sitting on the fantail, the sea was flatter than one could imagine, actually serene and for as far as on could see.
Worst was a storm that lasted about 8 days, seas running about 35-40 feet, we took green water up on the bridge for most of that. There were only 4 or 5 of us that didn’t get seasick. We ended up north of our home port about 600 miles. Good times.
Sab
@Steeplejack (phone): I make something kind of like that. The cookie is an oatmeal dough, stuffed with mincemeat. I think it comes from a cookbook my mother got as a newlywed in 1950, put out by a women’s club in Connecticut.
Steeplejack
@Sab:
I didn’t see the “gluten-free” caption when I posted that picture from my phone. I was just going for general shape. And her crust was the same as her usual (delicious) pie crust. She also did apple ones that were equally delicious. Like a slice of pie in a convenient, portable format.
Mel
@Gravenstone: Immunosuppressant meds – I learned the hard way that cellulitis is not good times, so I tend to go a little cray-cray with the alcohol and hand sanitizer.
Oh, well. At least now I know to let it dry before playing with fire. Progress!!
Mel
@Steeplejack (phone): My grandmother used to make three kinds of hand pies around Christmas time. Apple-Raisin, Mince, and Pear and Ginger. I had to tell her a joke she’d never heard before, and then I’d get to have first pick of the pie tray.
Seeing that picture gave me a little twinge. Miss the holiday tradition; miss her so much more.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
I haven’t, but I’ve mostly been on my phone. I’ll try to check from my laptop this weekend!
tomtofa
Did the stuffing from scratch – diced dried fresh bread, fresh spices, etc.), au gratin scalloped potatoes (an addition to the mashed DiL is bringing, gravy (again from scratch – roux, bone broth, drippings to be added tomorrow) today, cleaned the place, got the grandkids’ table ready.
Tomorrow spatchcock and oil rub the turkey, cook it (for about half the time as the traditional way), finish the side dishes (about 10 minutes more apiece). Feeling very little stress, and looking forward to the additions others are bringing (green bean casserole, yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin/pecan pies.
Didn’t have the ingredients on hand (and didn’t feel like shopping) for Indian pudding, but no one but me would probably have appreciated it anyway.
Mary Ellen Sandahl
Wonderful bird profile portrait, BC — just like an ancient Egyptian image. May ibis-headed Thoth, god of writing, be beneficent to us.
I’m feeling almost desperately thankful for the writing of the Constitution these. days. What the framers didn’t know about human frailty isn’t worth discussing.
Good holiday to you all