Category Archives: Whimsies

Friday Book Whimsy: Belgravia

Posted in Whimsies by

searchPeople who, like me, are still mourning the loss of our Sunday evenings with the Crawley family – Lord and Lady Grantham, the unpredictable Lady Mary and her sisters, the irascible yet loveable dowager countess, and the always loyal downstairs staff – take heart. Downton Abbey’s creator Julian Fellowes has written a book just for the likes of us.

Belgravia’s story begins on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Duchess of Richmond holds a ball that is famous for decades as the highlight of social elegance. In addition to the standard social set, the duchess invited several newly-rich industrialists, shocking many of the aristocrats. A romance that is set in place at this ball between the son of an aristocrat and the daughter of a wealthy but not aristocratic working class man and woman sets off a string of intrigue, romance, scandal, and family secrets that would make Dowager Lady Grantham blush.

Fast forward to the 1840s, when secrets are revealed that set the story into play. Much like Downton Abbey, Belgravia has both the upstairs and the downstairs drama. The story, while admittedly predictable, is still fun and dramatic and a fascinating look at the mores of the the early- to mid-19th Century, when the Industrial Age was making common people wealthy.

Belgravia won’t win any literary awards. Fellowes’ novel reads more like a screenplay than a novel. But the characters are interesting and it’s fun to get a peek into their world, and the world around them. Unlike the Downton Abbey downstairs staff, the maids and cooks and butlers are not so good and open to corruption if the price is right. Lots of dastardly deeds.

A fun read for fans of Downton Abbey.

Here is link to the book.  

unnamed

Thursday Thoughts

Posted in Whimsies by

Not-So-Frightful Weather
Well, while it was quite cold yesterday, the heavy snow that the local weather teams predicted never quite materialized. Late in the afternoon, there was maybe an inch-and-a-half to shovel. Even the temps didn’t get down as low as was predicted (though I’m not sure that there is a heck of a lot of difference between 7 degrees and 15 degrees. Nevertheless, Bill worked in his office all day wearing a warm vest, and finally came out late in the afternoon and said, “I’m pretty sure my office is the coldest place in the house.” So we did something we haven’t done in a long time: we lit a fire in the fireplace.

Bosch
I finished another book yesterday in my frantic attempt to read all of the library books that had been on hold and became available all at once. At the end of the book that I read, which was a mystery novel — most recent in a lengthy series that takes place in LA and features a detective named Harry Bosch — my book told me that Amazon had a television series available that was based on these books. I’m not even sure that I knew that Amazon produced television programs, but I think many companies now are in the TV business. Anyway, because I am a member of Amazon Prime, this program is available to me for free. So I figured out how I could watch it on my iPad, but now I need to figure out how to get it transferred to my TV so that Bill can also watch. My high-tech brain should be able to figure it out exactly never. I’ll put Bill on it!

Christmastime is Here
christms-cookie-ingredientsI have made a couple of steps towards doing some Christmas baking. I always do a couple of kinds of cookies. In the past, I have also done Almond Roca, but I think that’s a no-go this year because of my blasted low-fiber diet. It’s true that I could make it for others to enjoy, but Almond Roca happens to be one of those things that I can’t leave alone. Sorry friends and family. Yesterday I began my baking by making biscotti dipped in chocolate (and try finding a nutless recipe for biscotti!). I plan on baking some more cookies today, since the weather remains chilly…..

biscotti

Projection
At my request, Bill bought me a projection clock radio for my birthday. And also at my request, he gave it to me early. I don’t know if you’ve seen these things, but we first saw one at our daughter Heather’s house in VT. The time is projected onto the ceiling, allowing you to know what time it is any time of the night without having to turn and look at the clock, or lift your head to see the time across the room. I absolutely love it! I wake up somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 times a night, and I always have to look at the time to see if it is even marginally reasonable for me to awaken. So this makes it easy for me to see the time. What will they think of next?

Ciao!

Cold Noses

Posted in Whimsies by

There’s kind of a funny phenomenon around Colorado. When the weather talk turns to snow, the grocery stores start to empty their shelves.

Except it doesn’t seem to have happened this time around. Well, except for me.

The weather people began talking a few days ago about a change in weather. While we’ve had mostly a mild fall and early winter, the somber meteorologists began talking a few days ago, first, about a drop in temperature; and second, about measurable snowfall.

Rats. Bill and I had sort of hoped this kind of weather would hold off until after Christmas so that we would already be settled in nice mild-temperatured Arizona when the snowflakes made their first serious appearance.

The snow was scheduled to start falling anywhere from late yesterday morning to just before Tuesday rush hour. In fact, the first flakes didn’t begin to fall where we live until around 9 or 10 o’clock. Monday’s weather forecast said four to six inches would fall in Denver. Enough that we were going to have to pull out our snow shovel. Rats again.

Except that didn’t happen, again, at least not here. This morning when I got up, the grass is barely covered with a bit of snow. But it is as cold as a family dinner with the Trumps and the Clintons.

I made a point of getting to the grocery store yesterday morning sometime around 9 o’clock to beat the egg-and-bread hoarding crowd. The temperature was in the low 20s, but the sky was blue as a robin’s egg. But apparently the fear-of-snow phenomenon was limited only to me because the store was practically empty of people but full of eggs, milk, bread, and eggnog – all of the blizzard staples. But I didn’t care because I wanted to be at home, nestled in my easy chair when the first flakes began to fall. And I was. Long before, in fact.

There are a couple of kinds of people in the world. There are those who like sunny, warm weather, short-sleeves, flip flops, and gin-and-tonics. That would be me. Then there are those who like cold temperatures, snow falling, snow boots, and hot chocolate. That would NOT be me. And it would not be Bill. Despite both of us having grown up in the Midwest, we each groan when we hear that the temperatures will be freezing or lower. And we tear up when we hear that snow will be falling.

The only thing good about cold weather is cooking. While I love to grill, after a few months of chops and steaks and burgers cooked outdoors, I yearn to put on a pot of soup or place a tough cut of meat in my Le Creuset Dutch oven and let it simmer until it’s fall-off-the-bone tender.

I love heating up my house by baking bread or cookies or roasting meat in the oven.

Because the fact of the matter is that our house is COLD. It is a two story, built-in-the-early-70s sieve. So, during much of the winter – at least when we are here – we have cold noses and chilly toes, even when we turn up the temperature.  We have taken to really looking like old people with our cardigans or sweater vests.

When I awoke today, the temperature was in the single digits. The high temperature is predicted to be 13 or 14 degrees. But that’s okay, because I went to the grocery store yesterday. So I will nestle into my chair today, just as I did yesterday, try to stay warm, and think about the mild temperatures coming my way soon.

This post linked to Grammy’s Grid.

The Other Woman

Posted in Whimsies by

I’m sorry to have to say this, but Bill’s got another woman in his life. I don’t know her real name. She goes by Google, as in Hey Google.

Bill pretty much does the same thing every year. When the Christmas commercials for cool high-techy things start playing (in July!), they intrigue him, and he goes out and purchases them himself so that there are no cool high-techy things to give him for Christmas.

Not that I would have bought him Google Home for Christmas, which is probably why he bought it himself.

For those of you who don’t know what Google Home is, first, come back from Mars; and, second, they are those things to which people on television commericals confidently say “Hey Google. Turn on my lights,” at which time, the lights dutifully go on. Or “Hey Google, play You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” to which she responds, “OK, here it is”, after which Stevie Wonder begins crooning his hit song.

The first time I began to think that Google Home might actually replace me in Bill’s life was when I heard him say, “Hey Google. Set an alarm for me for 6 o’clock,” to which she pleasantly replied, “OK William (she calls him William), I have set an alarm for 6 o’clock.”

I thought to myself, he must be happy to ask her to do something and she immediately agrees to do it. He is more used to saying, “Kris, would you please set an alarm for 6 o’clock,” and me replying, “You don’t need me to set an alarm for 6 o’clock. Why do you want to get up so early anyway? And you know I’m always up by then so I could wake you if you aren’t already awake for reason. What are thinking?” Unfortunately, I would never simply say, “OK William, I have set an alarm for 6 o’clock.”

While she calls anyone who requests something William (she’s nothing, if not loyal), she will respond to anyone, as long as you start your request with Hey Google. But just about the time that I was getting really fearful that he might begin divorce proceedings against me so that he could devote his time to someone who actually does what he asks, our daughter Heather reminded me (when Bill was introducing her to Google Home via Facetime) that while she appears to be quite obedient, she can’t cook. At which time, Bill asked Google Home if she could cook. She responded (and I’m not making this up), “I enjoy reading recipes. I find them very suspenseful.” These days my cooking results are rather suspenseful, so I think once again Google Home hit the nail on the head.

But as the days have crept by, I have noticed more and more instances when Google Home doesn’t really have the answer. When I commanded, “Hey Google, play Mary Did You Know? by Pentatonix,” she responded, “I’m sorry. I’m not able to perform that function.” Thinking perhaps she was simply being the indignant mistress, I had Bill ask the same question, and he received the same answer. (I must admit I was kind of glad; otherwise it would have given me the creeps.)

She is unpredictable. Ask her this question: “Hey Google. F(x)F(x) is a fourth order polynomial with integer coefficients and with no common factor. The roots of F(x)F(x) are –2, –1, 1, 2. If p is a prime number greater than 97, then what is the largest integer that divides F(p)F(p) for all values of pp?”  She will respond, “Any idiot knows the answer is 360.”

On the other hand, say “Hey Google. What teams are playing Monday Night Football tonight?” and she is liable to respond, “I’m sorry, there is no possible way I could know the answer to a question that complicated.”

I’m only slightly exaggerating. And I mean SLIGHTLY, because I really did ask her that question, and she really was unable to answer it.

Court was over the other night with the kids, and Bill introduced them to his new friend. The kids were excited, and immediately began asking Google Home questions. The questions started out simple: “Hey Google, what’s 2 plus 2?” Then the questions became a bit harder. “Hey Google. What is the fastest animal in the world?” Fifteen minutes later, the entire conversation had deteriorated to something along the lines of “Hey Google, booger pooky globbity poop poop gloop,” followed by giggles (from them, not her).

Bill ended the questioning the simple way; he unplugged her.

So there, Google Home. I can’t be unplugged.

bill-kris-google-home

So now he just needs to decide which wife he likes best. And soon, because Christmas is coming and while she may not need a present, I do. Oops. That may be a strike against me.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

Friday Book Whimsy: The Invitation

Posted in Whimsies by

28118525A lush and sultry novel that takes place partly in Rome and partly on a boat sailing the Italian Riviera? How can it go wrong?

The Invitation, by Lucy Foley, indeed not only does NOT go wrong, but it hits the mark by a mile. I selected the book because of its Italian location (in particular, the time spent in the Cinque Terre, which is my favorite spot in Italy), but I was surprised and pleased to find an elegantly written novel of love, intrigue, and survival in the days following World War II.

Hal is a struggling journalist who moves to Rome to try and forget what happened to him in World War II. One night, after crashing a socialite’s party, he meets the mysterious Stella. They have a wonderful night together, though she shares nothing about her life with him. This is part of her allure. They part the next day, never anticipating meeting again.

Later, the Contessa, who was the person who held the party and who took a liking to Hal despite the fact that he crashed her party, invited him to join her and friends on her boat that was going to make its way to Canne, where a film she financed was going to open. She asked him to be the journalist covering the story. Much to his surprise, he learns that Stella and her husband – a rich and powerful man who also is financing the film – are part of the group.

His interest in her is sparked once again, but this time he sees that she is a different person when she is with her husband. As the novel progresses, we learn Stella’s story, as well as just what happened to Hal in the war that impacted his life in such a profound way.

I loved the location, but I also loved the story and the characters. Hal seemingly bears the weight of the world. The Countess is wise and kind. Some of the more peripheral characters are interesting and funny. We learn Stella’s back story little by little via flashbacks, and see why she is so fearful of her husband. We even gain an understanding of what makes her husband seem so cruel.

The ending was, in my opinion, spot on. The Invitation was a great read that I can highly recommend.

Here is link to the book.

unnamed

Thursday Thoughts

Posted in Whimsies by
images

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as the werewolf in 1941 Wolf Man. He doesn’t use a laser hair removal system.

She-Wolf
As I drove to meet Court for lunch yesterday, I was listening to Christmas music on Denver’s easy listening radio station. An advertisement came on, and it was one of those testimonial commercials, this one from a woman. This particular commercial was for a laser hair removal system for women. The gist of it was something along these lines: Our lives are so busy what with getting kids to and from school and practices and performances, keeping up with house work, and doing our paid jobs. Our busy lives result in so much stress. So use this hair removal system to lessen the stress in your lives. And then, friends, she went on to enthusiastically proclaim, “Ladies, using this product has literally freed up at least a half hour every day.” I nearly drove off the road. Seriously? She spends 30 minutes a day shaving her legs and plucking her eyebrows? Is she a werewolf? I bet I don’t spend 30 minutes a MONTH on hair removal. And that’s counting haircuts!

Would You Like a Cherry on Top?
And speaking of Court, he told me a funny story at lunch. Night before last, Alyx was working (she drives Uber). Court said the kids had all had their baths and were in their jammies. They were making a batch of a cranberry/pomegranate salad with marshmallows and homemade whipped cream that the kids – and Kaiya in particular – like. They were all sitting on the countertop (well, actually, Court probably wasn’t), when suddenly Cole fell off of the counter onto their kitchen floor. He was unhurt, though it scared the daylights out of him. But the funny part was that he had been holding onto the bowl of whipped cream, and the cream ended up all over him as he lay on the ground crying. I asked Court if he had a picture. He didn’t because he was too busy comforting a crying 2-year-old and cleaning up a big whipped cream mess.  Priorities, Son. If he had had the good sense to record such an activity, it could have been a winner on You Tube. Another bath was in order.

Book Avalanche
I have mentioned that I read exclusively using my Kindle app on my iPad. I also rarely buy a book. Instead, I borrow e-books from the library. Since I am a member of two libraries – Mesa Public Library and Denver Public Library – there is rarely a book I can’t find as long as I’m willing to wait. There is almost always a wait list, especially for newer books. But I don’t mind because I’m retired and am generally not in a hurry. For a few months, however, I have been eagerly awaiting for my turn on quite a few books. In the meantime, I have had the need to purchase a couple of books until such time that it would become my turn. Which, of course, it did……and at the same time. For the past few weeks, nearly every day I have gotten a message that such-and-such a book was ready to be downloaded. I seriously currently have five books that I have downloaded, and one that is available but I haven’t yet downloaded. Denver Public Library allows borrowers to keep an e-book three weeks, but Mesa Public Library only allows two weeks. So I have been madly reading. I have had to lose a couple of books, because even being retired, I can only read so much. I need my beauty sleep and I have to cook meals once in a while.

Must See TV
So, I am absolutely HOOKED on This is Us, the truly wonderful drama that is on NBC on Tuesdays nights. If you haven’t watched it yet, please treat yourself and do so. (Admittedly, you should start at the beginning because it follows a sequence.) There isn’t an episode at which I haven’t shed a tear. And not really from sadness, but only from the beautiful family dynamics that take place. I really love all of the characters, but am most drawn to the dad in the flashback scenes. Fellow viewers: isn’t he just the most wonderful dad you could ever imagine? What beautiful writing, such lovely stories, and such tremendous acting. Such a welcome relief from programs such as How to Get Away With Murder, which has not one redeeming quality, truly evil characters, and such darkness. And yet, I can’t seem to stop watching it because Viola Davis is such an amazing actor. I have promised myself, however, that after I watch these last few episodes, I will not record it from now on. I don’t need such darkness in my life.

Ciao.

 

Talking Turkey

Posted in Main Course, Meat Dishes, Recipes, Whimsies by

The other day on my blog, I was writing about all of the meals using leftover turkey that follow the main event. Turkey chopped salads. Turkey ala King. Turkey club sandwiches. Turkey tacos. But in the blog post, I specifically mentioned “the inevitable turkey tetrazzini.”

Never being one to be shy, my sister Jen asked me outright on Thanksgiving Day if I really made turkey tetrazzini as one of my Thanksgiving turkey leftovers, or if I was once again using “literary license.” She used air quotes and said it with a bit of a snicker. Literary license, by the way, is my excuse for not always being entirely factual if being a tad, well, not factual is more interesting. Wikipedia calls it artistic license and defines it as distortion of fact…..by an artist in the name of art. So see? It’s a real thing. It only requires a bit of a stretch of the imagination by calling what I produce “art.”

By the way, saying that my sister snickered was also literary license.

But back to turkey tetrazzini.

I admitted to my sister that I had, in fact, never made turkey tetrazzini using my turkey leftovers. I have made turkey noodle soup. Turkey pot pies are a common post-Thanksgiving meal that I make.  Bill loves when I simply throw the leftover turkey into the leftover gravy, and serve it over a slice of white bread with a side of leftover mashed potatoes.

But no turkey tetrazzini. I mentioned “inevitable turkey tetrazzini” because I always saw it as the leftover turkey meal of choice in Redbook and Good Housekeeping. I think it’s been around for decades. My mom might have even prepared it with leftover turkey. It just has a 1960s feel to it, doesn’t it?

Hold that turkey tetrazzini thought, because I want to digress to something only marginally related. The matter of the turkey carcass.

Somewhere near the end of our Thanksgiving meal, a discussion ensued about what was going to happen to the turkey carcass. Or, in our case, the turkey carcasses. There was a point when I thought we might be moving to the living room to perform feats of strength with the carcasses being the grand prize. Thankfully, Allen and I took the high road and backed away, leaving the carcasses to Court and Alyx’s mom Manith. I suspect that two superb pots of soup have recently been made from those bird skeletons.

But back, once again, to turkey tetrazzini.

A day or so following Thanksgiving, I finally had time to begin perusing my Food Network Magazine that featured their Thanksgiving ideas. Lo, and behold, what should appear but a recipe for turkey tetrazzini. Yes indeed, in something as fancy schmancy as Food Network Magazine.

I took a gander and liked what I saw. This was not your mother’s turkey casserole featuring cream of mushroom soup and cheddar cheese and baked at 350 until the turkey is so dry it gets stuck in your throat. In fact, it didn’t go into the oven at all. And in place of cream of mushroom soup, the recipe called for  — wait for it – a cup-and-a-half of heavy cream. As I perused the recipe, I noticed that I had every single item in my pantry and/or my refrigerator.

I will never again poke fun at turkey tetrazzini, because Bill and I almost licked the pan clean. How do you go wrong with something that includes cream, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, and wine?

turkey-tetrazzini

Turkey Tetrazzini with Spinach and Mushrooms

Ingredients
Salt for cooking noodles
8 oz. wide egg noodles
3 T. unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 t. chopped fresh thyme
¼ c. dry white wine
1-1/2 c. heavy cream
3 c. chopped leftover turkey or chicken
8 c. baby spinach
½ c. grated parmesan cheese

Process
Cook the noodles in the salted water as the label directs. Reserve ½ c. cooking water, then drain. Toss with 1 T. butter and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 T. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 min. Add the mushrooms, thyme, ½ t. salt and a few grinds of pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft and lightly golden, 6-7 min. Add the wine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4-5 min.

Stir the turkey and spinach into the sauce and cook until the turkey is warmed through and the spinach is wilted, about 3 min. Stir in the reserved cooking water and return to a simmer. Remove from the heat, and stir in 1/3 C. parmesan cheese.

Add the noodles to the turkey mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.

 

The Season is Upon Us

Posted in Whimsies by

At some point on Thanksgiving Day, Court said (as I think I have heard him say every Thanksgiving Day since he became an adult), “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There’s no stress about presents and decorations and outdoor lights. It’s just food and family.”

And as I have every year when he has said it, I silently agreed.

But when and why did Christmas become so stressful?

Oh, who am I kidding? Christmas has always been stressful, at least as long as I have lived. It’s true I didn’t find Christmas terribly stressful when I was a child, but I would bet my mother did. With four children for whom to shop, and having no sisters around to help her prepare Christmas Eve dinner or the Christmas Day turkey dinner, I’m sure she was stressed as well.

And Christmas season at the bakery was incredibly hectic, what with Christmas sugar cookies, candy, and butter braid added to the already busy mix. Now we didn’t just close up the bread bags. We added curly ribbon.

What I do know about my childhood Christmases is that the season started later, and the now-seemingly-unending marketing campaign wasn’t nearly as prevalent back then. And, of course, there wasn’t the Elf-on-the-Shelf to worry about as well. (I wrote about the Elf last year. Trouble-maker. Tattletale. All-around pain the in the behind.)

One of the main differences, I think, is that there is just so much more AVAILABLE these days. When I was little, I had a Tiny Tears doll (who was remarkable because she cried “real” tears after you fed her water in a bottle), a bride doll (who did nothing but sit on my bed as a decoration), and when I was a bit older, a doll that I called my big doll (she was maybe two feet tall) and who accompanied me to the hospital when I had surgery at age 7. I just don’t think there were that many options available.

Nowadays the number of available dolls is nearly endless. I won’t even try to name them all. However, Jen bought her granddaughter Lilly a Baby Alive doll when she was in AZ recently, and it was a complete FAIL. Two-year-old Lilly immediately shoved all of the so-called food into Baby Alive’s mouth, and Baby Alive – whose sole function, I believe, is to poop out that food – didn’t. To Walmart’s credit, they accepted Baby Alive (who by then should have been called Baby Puke because food was coming out of her mouth as opposed to, well, you know) no questions asked. Jen replaced her with a dolly with plastic hair, and Lilly seemed to like her every bit as well.

As is true with almost everything, however, we can make Christmas season as simple or as stressful as we choose. This year as Bill and I put up our Christmas lights outside, I made a decision that next year I was going to forgo the lights in favor of simply setting up angels or a Santa and reindeer that do nothing but sit on my front yard and light up. I won’t like it quite as well (I am embarrassed to tell you just how much I love to see my colored lights on my front bushes), but it will be infinitely easier.

But the real answer, I think, is that we just need to consciously make our holiday simpler. In the past few days, I have mentioned my angel tree that we keep in our living room in front of the window. For years, I also put up a Christmas tree in our family room with all the ornaments I collected over the years. A few years ago, I decided that was too much work because we take down all of our Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve so our house is neutralized before we leave for AZ on Christmas Day. But last year, I decided that I missed those lights in the room in which we actually spend time, so I went out and bought a little tabletop tree. I can put it up myself in about a minute-and-a-half.  It makes me very happy as I put on my favorite ornaments that I’ve collected over the years….

little-christmas-tree

Despite all I’ve said above, I admit that I love all of the festivities surrounding Christmas. I will, therefore, bake Christmas cookies as usual. I will sing along with my Christmas music. And I will enjoy my days with my loved ones. I will just make a bit more of an effort to remember why we celebrate Christmas at all.

This post linked to Grammy’s Grid.

Guest Post: Feeling Thankful

Posted in Whimsies by

jennifer

Nana’s Whimsies is happy to feature my sister Jen’s thoughts about our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner….

By Jennifer Sanchez

When I arrived first thing in the morning Bill was busy in the backyard with fall clean up. The backyard looked beautiful. Kris and granddaughters Kaiya and Mylee had set a beautiful table earlier in the week, including turkey place cards.

thanksgiving-2016-table

Kris and I had debated which dishes to use since her good china has to be hand washed and we had a lot of people coming. The Christmas ware was on the docket for a few days but then I got a text from Kris earlier in the week including a picture of her good china saying, “Bad news, Sis. I made a decision and I’m sticking to it. I never get to use my pretty dishes.”

When I arrived, Kris prepped the oven turkey and I decorated a cheeseball.

kris-basting-turkey-2016thanksgiving-food-table-2016
I saw this cheeseball  on Pinterest and had to give it a try. Kris declared it looked like ET. When the grands arrived, they were not overly impressed. Mylee’s only comment was who gets to eat the candy corn. Grandkids are always thinking.

While prepping the turkey, Kris and I wondered how it came to be that we are now the grandmothers cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Weren’t we just 30-something and going to Mom’s Thanksgiving dinner?

Every year we do an oven turkey and a fried turkey. Kris made Ina Garten’s roasted turkey this year. The cavity is stuffed with lemons, onions and thyme and basted with herbed butter while it bakes. This was the result.

thanksgiving-2016-turkey

While cooking, we were listening to Christmas carols and alternated between football and the National Dog Show on the kitchen television.

Dinner was scheduled for 4:00 and early afternoon the guests started to arrive. First was Court and his family. They brought a cranberry salad, a corn casserole, and a sweet potato casserole. Court had also volunteered to fry the turkey which he had never done before. I love watching him cook!

court-frying-turkey

Before the rest of the guests arrived Kris and the grands decorated the angel tree. There was much discussion about each ornament.

kaiya-mylee-cole-angel-tree-2016

cole-with-angel-ornament-2016

Next Allen and Emma from Paris arrived. Emma is Allen’s girlfriend. Why do I refer to her as Emma from Paris? Because 1) I’m obsessed with Paris; and 2) she was born and grew up in Paris and has only lived in the US for a few years. They brought their food assignment which was a cheese plate and crackers for our appetizer. And as a bonus, Emma had made and brought delicious butternut squash soup.

The final guests to arrive were Alyx’s daughter Jada, as well as Alyx’s mother Manith and stepfather Tony. They brought the green bean casserole. Soon, the turkey went into the fryer and we all were reheating the dishes we brought. I was assigned Mom’s stuffing and dinner rolls. I tweaked Mom’s stuffing just a bit, and as I write that, I can almost hear the gasps coming from Bec’s family. It was delicious!

The next few hours can best be described as “all hell broke loose.”  Honestly, it’s a blur. The heating of casseroles and getting everything on the table. Water in the goblets. Wine bottles open. Lighting the candles. Carving the turkeys.

Manith patiently carved both of the turkeys.

Manith patiently carved both of the turkeys.

What I do recall from the whirlwind just before dinner is Mylee sitting alone at the table, in her assigned spot, devouring an entire turkey leg. Man cannot live on candy corn alone.

mylee-turkey-leg-cropped

A few thoughts on our dinner:

* Tony (Alex’s stepfather) said a beautiful prayer before dinner.

* The food was amazing. But why do we all bring such a huge quantity of the dish we are assigned? There are so many dishes and everyone serves only a small spoonful to taste.

* Having to pass that many dishes around the table is crazy. What is the answer to that dilemma? Serving the food buffet-style?

* Sitting next to and explaining the dishes to Emma was fun. She was a big fan of sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Oh, and I heard her ask Allen at one point why we deep fry a turkey. Allen responded, “Welcome to America.”

For dessert we had coffee, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. Every year that I can remember, Court has whipped the cream before we served the pie. This year he passed the baton to Kaiya and it was a lovely rite of passage.

kaiya-whipped-cream-cropped

My final thought is: ALL OF THE DISHES WE HAD TO WASH! We had many, many helping hands and yet ALL OF THE DISHES!

Thank you Kris and Bill for hosting. It was a lovely day filled with food and love, and for that I am very thankful.