Thanksgiving in Pictures

Turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, creamed onions, brussel sprouts, FOUR kinds of pie. Marvelous.
We were twenty for dinner plus the twins. My sisters helped with prep


Sib #2 made forty eight crescent rolls fit on two pans. It is a talent I assure you.
Sib #3 helped me peel TEN FREAKING POUNDS of potatoes. We LOVE mashed potatoes!

He doesn't look like a twenty-two-pounder does he?

He got some help from an additional turkey breast and I spent a great deal of time looking for more dishes.

The Saint spent a great deal of time opening wine.




Everyone else?
Spent a great deal of time


Enjoying the wine!
All in all a very satisfactory meal!

Speechless

I have an very overweight co-worker. She told me this week how disappointed she is with her "diet". It turns out she's been "modeling" her eating habits after what she thought were mine.

?

She is perplexed as to why she has not shed ONE SINGLE POUND! We do everything the SAME! I drink coffee in the morning and so does she




Although I don't have much of an appetite in the early morning I do make myself eat cereal for breakfast and so does she

I do think fruits and vegetables are an important part of a good diet and so does she

I think consumption of whole grains is important and so does she


I think a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack is often a good idea

and to keep hydrated throughout the day.


On and on it goes. I am at a loss as to what to say to this individual. So dear readers, any thoughts?

Hope You Had

A Merry Little Christmas!

We've had:

• A blizzard
• An enormous Prime Rib
• A twenty first birthday celebration
• A concert
• Company that's been here since Wednesday
• And coming up - A quick trip to the ER to determine the status of a toe

Happy Holidays!

Simply the best

I don’t know about you but this was about the best Thanksgiving I can remember in years! There are many, MANY aspects of Thanksgiving I have always enjoyed immensely:

1. It is the holiday when we can count on most, or all, of my siblings and families being together.
2. It is about Food and Wine and Beer.
3. There are NO GIFTS, therefore NO SHOPPING.
4. It is a four day weekend, whoopee!

For the past umpteen years my family has taken the show on the road down to my parents. It was not without its own brand of stress, but generally a fun time.

I’m sure you all recall that this year my parents are living a bit….um…closer.

People it was awesome! By seven o’clock Wednesday evening everyone had hit town. My brothers, sisters, spouses, daughters, nieces and nephews. My mother had dinner for everyone on Wednesday night. I hosted Thursday and my sister had everyone for a big breakfast on Friday morning. Then we took the entire clan out for Mexican Friday night. Don’t you love a progressive holiday?

In between we ate and imbibed with whoever happened to be in our respective homes at any given moment. We mostly walked back and forth between homes as the weather was perfect! We even went to a couple of museums, played some games, spent some time at the park and of course watched a whole lot of football.

By five o’clock on Saturday all had departed to their cities of residence except my daughters. We were able to get in church and a movie on Sunday with them before they headed back to school.

I felt so energized by the whole shebang that I (with the help of The Saint) did five loads of laundry and got two thirds of the Christmas decorations up before collapsing last night!

Christmas you say? BRING IT!

Ready to Go Back

The food was great

as was the wine.

Sometimes I napped here

and sometimes out here.

We did a little tequila

and sang with this guy

which required a lot of this in the mornings.

But MAN was it relaxing!

Oh hai!

• Friday morning the Precious Daughters left for the state regional debate tournament. Precious Oldest went as a sponsor and to judge; Precious Youngest went to compete. We got he call this afternoon - Precious Youngest and and team took FIRST!
  
• The Christmas menus are planned. This is a relief.
  
• We got major gift wrapping done today. A little more baking and I'm almost ready for Christmas.
  
• Except for needing to clean my house and snap a few pics for Jen's Holiday Open House. Because I'm pretty sure no one needs to see rooms full of this:

I'm just sayin'.

GNO: A Re-Cap in Pictures

Stand down everyone! The audit is office related. I work for a Foundation; we have an audit done once a year. Yes, we PAY someone to come in and put us through holy hell. Nevertheless, much paperwork and math related nonsense must be produced by yours truly. And it sucketh mightily. Especially when you ...um... sort of forget that they're coming you know TODAY.

But fear not good people. I had the frivolity of last night to sustain me. We had a wonderful time.

There was laughter...

And food...

and um, wine...

and presents!

We all feel better now, thanks for asking.

GNO

I have my GNO girls coming over tonight. (I've written about these gals before.) We haven't gotten together in long time. Someone got laid off, someone lost their mother after a long illness, someone found out their significant other was a pathological liar. Calls have been made, cards and flowers have been sent, a few visits have occurred; but the large group has not been able to get together for months because life has been kicking the shit out of us.

I set the table yesterday. I made Chicken Tortilla Soup. And got some wine chilling. They'll bring salad, bread, appetizers and dessert. The Saint will be on hand for serving and dishes.

I believe the fellowship of a shared meal can be healing. I hope it works tonight.

Happy Winter Solstice

For a person who loathes winter I really dig the Winter Solstice. Because from here on out? The days will start getting LONGER!! I don't mind the cold and the snow too much during the Christmas season. It seems fitting and I'm not yet overly weary of boots, slush, wet dog paws, gritty floors, filthy vehicles, and rugs that have to be washed every other day. However, once Epiphany rolls around? I am DONE.

We had our office Christmas lunch at 1:00 and I'm done until December 27th. We even got a Christmas bonus this year, which let me tell ya in the non-profit world? Is almost unheard of.

I'm home to start wrapping, of which I've done exactly zero. That leaves Saturday and Sunday to make lists and do grocery runs. I'm still fleshing out the menu but here is what's shaping up:

Christmas Eve
Chicken in a Rosemary Cream Sauce
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Green Beans
?????

Christmas Day
Prime Rib of Beef
White Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Green Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
??????

I'm sure after a glass of wine inspirations will strike. Until then, Happy Solstice!

Family Tradition

The menu has not altered for over thirty years. Set in stone. Unchangeable.
Turkey
Stuffing (Sausage/Onion/Celery, nothing fancy)
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
White Shoe Peg Corn
Brussel Sprouts
Creamed Onions
Sweet Potatoes
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I know, right? It is the only time we ever eat them!)
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

We've already started cooking. Sib#2 is in charge of pie. Thank God because my attempts at crust are more like shoe leather than pastry. I do the sweet potatoes and the cranberry sauce at home and bring it with me.

For years I labored under the impression that I didn't like sweet potatoes because I'd only had them coated in brown sugar and marshmallows. I had an epiphany about ten or so years ago and came up with this recipe:

Take about five pounds of sweet potatoes, wash, prick with fork. Fill a big ole pot with water and let them boil until fork tender. Dump them in an ice bath and the skins will slough right off. Put peeled potatoes back in pot and mash in two sticks of butter and two cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Add sour cream to desired consistency. Salt and pepper too. Place in greased 9 x 13 backing dish. (This can be done several days ahead, at this point cover and refrigerate.) Bake uncovered in a 350 oven for thirty to forty minutes.

My cranberry sauce is pretty awesome too if I do say so myself! I take three bags of cranberries, wash them and pick out any that are going soft. I zest five large juice oranges and set the zest aside. I juice the oranges and add more OJ if necessary to bring the liquid to two cups. Combine the berries and juice with two cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for ten minutes. Add the zest the last five minutes. I'm telling you people, good stuff.

Today my mother will take all the yucky turkey parts you don't eat and simmer them in chicken broth with carrots, onion, celery and a bay leaf or two. We'll use that stock for the stuffing and the gravy. Tonight we'll make the stuffing and the vinaigrette for the brussel sprouts.

First thing tomorrow the bird will get stuffed, coated in butter and put in the oven. We'll peel five pounds of potatoes. We'll make cream sauce for the onions. The brussel sprouts will get blanched, coated in vinaigrette, covered with grated Parmesan cheese and broiled.

Make the gravy, mash the potatoes, heat everything through and we're ready to eat. I'll be pouring Pinot Noir and a very nice German Riesling.

I love standing elbow to elbow in the kitchen with my mother and my sisters. Cooking, drinking wine, laughing. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Dinner is served

This is the dinner I fixed tonight:



Gemelli tossed with Alfredo Sauce (sprinkled w/ crisped Pancetta)
Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
Fresh Rosemary Olive Oil Bread




The best part of this meal?





OK - yes, the wine. BESIDES that! The Bread!

Do you know why? Because at my local grocery the 13th loaf is FREE!!!!! (And let's just say I buy a whole lot of bread.)

FREE I tell you! And why does this excite me in inexplicable ways?

1. I don't bake. There would be no fresh bread in my home without the all lovely bread bakers.

And B. If there is a better feeling than running into the market on your way home from the office to pick up that last minute something to complete the meal you are feeding your family... and it's free? Give me a prescription and I won't need my meds.

Girl's Night Out

My GNO group started very informally about seven or eight years ago. We all met during our tenure with a women’s civic organization. We joined at different times and for different reasons. There have always been eight of us. (Not the same eight - I'll tell Connie's story another time.) Despite requests, we have not added anyone else to the group. We are 40 to almost 60. We are married, single, divorced. Some of us have children and some do not. Four are Republicans, four are Democrats. Religion? All over the map. Suffice it to say we would not have met under other circumstances. Our paths should not have crossed, but they did. Now once every month or so we get together, to share a meal, catch up, lend support, get advice and so it goes.

We used to meet at restaurants but it got a. expensive, and b. loud (as in we were shushed and/or asked to leave on more than one occasion.) Now we just take turns at our houses. S. has had October for I can’t remember how long. She decorates for Halloween but we fix fondue. Heaven only knows how that tradition got started! This year she insisted on doing a Murder Mystery Dinner because we’ve been talking about it forever, but it is next to impossible to get all eight of us in one place at one time. Life? Does not always cooperate! 89 e-mails and four spread sheets passed back and forth. A date was set and the only reason to miss was death, YOURS!

It was a hoot! The setting was a Chicago Speakeasy in 1928. The invitation included the “guest list” with character background. We had: Molly, the flapper; “Torchy”, the club singer; Ernie, the gambler; Eddie “Socks” R. Gyle, the golfer; “Scoop”, the reporter (that was me, complete with fedora!); “Silky”, the madam; Billy “The Kid”, a baseball player and T. Straighten Harrow, the District Attorney. We really got into the spirit of the thing and everyone showed up in costume.

During cocktail hour we read newspaper articles claiming that "Hal Coppone" was missing and presumed dead. (The “hooch” was exceptionally delicious bourbon slush and let’s just say after a couple of snorts the Chicago accents had slipped inexplicably into southern drawls.) At each dinner course everyone had further information to read about the other characters. Directives were included as to what you should “reveal” about the other “guests”. What’s amusing is that you are also given additional background about YOUR character, but you don’t know what, if anything, the OTHER characters know!

Wine started flowing freely with the chicken spedini and fettuccini alfreo; despite my trusty notebook I was having a hell of a time trying to keep everything straight! During dessert everyone makes an accusation, and then the host opens the envelope to reveal the murderer’s identity. My deductive reasoning skills were a tad off, so my supposition was incorrect.

No matter. It was very fun and I highly recommend it if you have a group that can laugh at themselves a little bit!