Well I am happy to report I made it thru Thanksgiving with nary a kitchen catastrophe, fire, or any bouts of food poisoning....(that I know of). I tried to have a lot of things done ahead of time but on the morning of turkey day I did still find myself in the kitchen most of the day. Thankfully I had made the desserts and salads the day before, so that only left me with cooking the turkey,ham, veggies, stuffing, side dishes, oh heck who was I kidding, I still had a ton of stuff to do that day. I also put off doing some housecleaning til that morning as well so I found myself trying to do a bit of catch up early on. On a bright note we did find Stink Pot's little bear, another small reason to give thanks. Now hopefully the cat will stop being a bit of a packrat and making off with my socks. She has a habit of now running thru the house with a sock between her gums flapping wildly as she runs up and down the hall. I try not to mumble too loudly in her hearing distance that she is just not quite right...poor thing.
I will have to admit though for my bragging on my cooking prowess I did have a few panic moments. First off I had a new roaster to use for cooking the turkey in, problem was it wasn't like the roasters I had used before. So I pulled out the thick manual and read the two whole pages of English over and over while thumbing thru the rest of the book of Spanish and French instructions wondering if they were giving them more instructions or if it just took a lot more words to say it rather than in English. I tried calling their 1-800 number to ask my question but I got a message they were all out to lunch, just my luck. I called back 20 minutes later and got the message they were all gone for the day. I have a secret suspicion someone was really there and just didn't want to work too hard that day. But I figured it out, got the bird in the bag and it was soon cooking away. I then tackled a can of jellied cranberry sauce that was rather persistent about staying in the can. Have you noticed how some tin cans now have a curved bottom? You can no longer open the can from both ends. I struggled for what seemed like 20 minutes trying to get the jellied sauce to slide out of it's container while still in one piece.. I shook it, and shook it, and shook the can til I thought the cranberry sauce would fly across the room and hit the wall with a thud before sliding down in a big pile on the floor. Thankfully with the help of a knife and a lot of coaxing it finally made it's appearance and I was able to slice it and serve it later without looking like too much of a hatchet job.
Feeling somewhat successful I then attempted to make sweet potato casserole. Now I have to admit I have eaten sweet potato casserole before but I have never made it myself. Somewhere I had seen a recipe I wanted to try and of course on that day I couldn't find it. I then came on-line to google for a recipe. I looked and looked and couldn't find exactly the recipe I was looking for. Several recipes had nuts, several had honey and all other sorts of things I didn't have on hand. I got to thinking what would Mac do? ...He would sneak in some pepperoni was my first thought so then I thought what would Vero do? Vero would be saying forget the sweet potatoes and did ya cart off that turkey carcass like I told you to? I then thought what would Cyn do? Cyn would say, well little tater, wing it on the taters.....so I did....and they turned out. Some people even had seconds. So thanks Cyn for the help you didn't even know you gave.
All in all it was a pretty good meal and a pretty good day. In my previous blog I had mentioned that Thanksgiving is a bit of a mixed blessing. That something bad usually happens around the holiday to remind of us being thankful and what the day is about, and without exception there was this year too. The day before Thanksgiving there was a funeral for a family member of my sister-in-law. There was two phone calls from my grandmother on the same topic... It was evident from those phone calls and another incident this past week that she is failing. There is always the good with the bad though, even with holidays.
I got to thinking today how life is like those Thanksgiving leftovers we all have in the fridge. Some leftovers aren't so great the next time around. Some leftovers are actually better the next day after they are given the chance for the flavors to meld. Some leftovers you have to add more stuff to them to make them seem more appealing. The only problem with that is, you now have more leftovers from the previous leftovers.
That is what memories are...they are leftovers. They aren't always as good as that original moment in time, but we have the bits and pieces leftover in our minds that still give us that good feeling. Some memories aren't the best and we try to throw them out before they spoil other memories. We try to remember the good more than the bad. We even will make more of a memory than what there was actually there to remember in the first place.
Memories....some are used, some are changed, some are best left forgotten in the back of our minds, much like those frozen leftover mashed potatoes. When the time is right we can pull them out, thaw, heat, and enjoy.....
or we could just call out for pizza.
It is hard to believe that in just a few days Thanksgiving will be upon us. In recent years Thanksgiving has become like a springboard for Christmas and for shopping. Even now more and more stores are staying open on Thanksgiving day to give shoppers a chance to get ahead of the bigger shopping day that follows on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a big holiday for some and not such a big celebration for others. Big extended families will gather and pull out the card table and folding chairs and set up tv trays all over the house to make room for all of the company. Couples will quietly bake a chicken, a turkey just too much for two. Some will stand in-line serving others. It's a day of joy for some, and day of sorrow for others.
I never quite know how to feel about Thanksgiving when it rolls around every year. I have fond memories of gathering at my grandparents with cousins, aunts, uncles, great grandparents, and an occasional odd guest or two. It was usually a madhouse. Times change though and the house won't be as crowded, but there will still be family celebrating with memories of past Thanksgivings and thoughts on future turkey days.
I have a bit of apprehension though when the day gets closer. For a time of being thankful of all that we each hold dear, it has also been a time of year that there has been sadness with not so pleasant memories. For all the good things associated with the holidays I have become a bit superstitious, waiting for the bad news to drop. At times it seems as if life tries to even out the happiness of the celebration with sobering reminders that moments are fleeting, as well as people.
Some years, in fact most years, Thanksgiving has become synonymous with having the flu. Someone always seems to be suffering from the affliction and passes the bug to someone else and they in turn pass it on, til you aren't sure by the week-end if you have caught the flu, or if it was food poisoning from the turkey and it's leftovers.
I am feeling pretty good and haven't caught the flu yet - knock wood. This year I am in charge of the dinner and I will be cooking the turkey. In fact I even have one turkey and one turkey breast already bought from awhile ago. I have to admit I haven't cooked that many turkeys. I do know some of the basics about not letting the turkey thaw on the counter, and that you can thaw a partially frozen turkey in cold running water. I have taken the precaution to get those disposable plastic cooking bags to cook it in, and I have even gone so far as to take the frozen turkey out of the freezer in preparation for Thursday.
I couldn't help but stare at my little frozen turkey though and secretly wish I was Martha Stewart. Martha would make a beautiful turkey, she wouldn't use plastic cooking bags. She would have a golden brown turkey cooked under a wine-soaked cheesecloth and basted with a honey-butter-sage-mango sauce....(okay maybe not the mango part of it). Martha knows everything about turkeys. Martha would be able to tell me,... that after spying the expiration date on my turkey,... whether or not a year old frozen turkey is safe to cook....and eat....
....I guess time does pass quicker than we realize....so I checked the other turkey in the freezer for it's expiration date.
Maybe we will just have ham this year.
This blog entry, courtesy of Farrell. He has accused me of causing a web-wide case of writer's block. So just for Farrell I will stymie the epidemic and write something,... anything my mind can think of to jump-start the rest of you and your own personal case of writer's block.
Actually yesterday I had thought about writing a blog, had even googled for some images and for all good intentions and purposes was going to post it late last night. Even then I would have been pushing the time limit as Veteran's day was technically on Sunday, observed on Monday, and all about forgotten on this Tuesday. It really wasn't going to be much of a blog, most of you had done something better, written more eloquent words, and you had accomplished to make that day be about what it was to be, a day of remembrance. I remembered, I just didn't say it or blog it.
So today I am off on a new subject, any subject, whatever happens to pop into my head to appease Farrell. It's difficult to sit in front of a screen without a thought or idea of what to say, and just force yourself to type anything,... just to blog for blogs sake. I tried to catch up with several of your blogs earlier this morning. Sitting here with jumbled thoughts of Sue's mom, JD's bugs, Mahvin being back or at least appearing to be Mahvin (I have visions of him really being a large ventriloquist doll for Bubs) and Mac's blog on cabbage, I think all of you have hit the high points for the week and it's only Tuesday. I know I could take the easy way out, post a blog on recipes, poems, jokes, or a few quotes. In fact I have a little book of quotes by my computer that I was looking in earlier for my "blast" on 360. Nothing seems to be catching my eye or mind today.... Yes, my mind is a blank, though I am sure many of you already suspected that a long time ago.
Hmmm, I could mention what all I have accomplished this morning....dishes, a load of laundry, checking my real mail box, and feeding the cat. I could tell you that we (the cat and I) have somehow misplaced her tiny stuffed bear. It's a sickly color of flesh tone pink with a little green knitted hat stitched on it's head and it's gone missing. I know it most likely has been devoured by dust bunnies under a heavy piece of furniture and it's just waiting for me to crawl around on the ground peering into the dark depths to find it. I am not in the mood though, so unless the cat finds it on her own, she is stuck today with batting around wadded up pieces of paper.....poor kitty.
It's windy, chilly, and sunny all at the same time today. Leaves are still hanging on, falling off, and in some places just completely gone. Housework, yardwork, and other work, just another day, another Tuesday. A day like many, for many. So there it is.....my blog for Farrell. I know that it will cause your creative juices to flow, you will be blogging with a fiendish passion that you never knew you possessed before....and if it doesn't....(shoulder shrug)...I tried.
Here it is already the 4th of November, time flies when you are in a leftover Halloween candy induced coma. I am happy to report I didn't scare off too many trick or treaters or make any little children cry, but then there is always next year.
I remembered to change the clocks back last night. After last week-end I was in a bit of a dither. My calendar said to change the clocks, even my computer had changed it's clock for the last Sunday in October. So for a week my computer and I have been behind, but today we are all caught up, or at least trying to catch up.
It's been a pain over on Yahoo blogging lately. Eaten comments, pages not loading, it made me wonder if I even wanted to attempt writing a blog on Yahoo today. I will give it a whirl though, and my apologies to those of you who have stopped by to read my blog and find yourself unable to leave a comment. I think I should warn all of you, or at least let all of you know that I am considering tightening up my circle of friends and my blogs. I know some have had concerns over the security of Multiply.com and having your name and addy showing. I am considering making my blog entries only available to those on my friend's list both here and on my other blog site. I have always had my blog open before and welcomed comments. This is not to make those of you who lurk at my page rush to join my friends list. But I have been thinking of the networks we make of friends and contacts on here and if it would be more personal having it closed. Lately I have been getting a little bit of spam as well in my inbox, it may not cure that problem completely but it's something I am considering.
I have been lax, and lazy, and just plain busy. There are some on my list here I haven't stopped by to check to see if you are still breathing on your blogs. I hope to do better in the future. Hopefully Yahoo will cooperate and I will be able to let you know I was there and to say howdy.
I tried to do a bit of decorating in here today. I googled for turkeys and all kinds of things to go with a Thanksgiving theme but came across the current background tile of M&M's. The more I thought about it the more I thought it was appropriate. After all I am extremely thankful for the yummy lusciousness of chocolate and chocolate candy, and the thought of burying myself in piles of M&M's would be pure bliss...
...If you put your ear a little closer to the monitor you might even hear the faint sounds of..."gobble, gobble"... Stay safe, play nice, and happy trails of M&M's to you too...
Mirror, mirror on the wall.....I am afraid to ask who is the fairest of them all....I am afraid you will crack,... you will crack up with laughter.
Have you ever thought what in the world we would do without a mirror? We use it daily to check our appearance, check for imperfections, things that need working on, and sometimes for backing up. No I am I not here to tell you that the object in the rearview mirror was closer than I thought and I ran into something. I do have mirrors on my mind today, and more importantly the reflections we see in them.
There are all kinds of mirrors. Vanity mirrors, compact mirrors, fun house mirrors, rearview mirrors, full length mirrors, so many mirrors it would seem we never tire of looking at ourselves. I have tried to do that today, see reflections both mine and others. Sometimes our mirrors tell us things we don't want to see or know. Sometimes we look in a mirror and see things nobody else sees. I guess that could be considered another kind of mirror, a two way mirror. Some reflections are fleeting, some are cloudy, some are invisible, and some are so distorted we wonder if it is the mirror's fault or our own.
If only we all could be happy with what we see in our own individual mirror. What you see in yours, I may not see in mine. Standing side by side looking in the same mirror would we both see the same reflection? Or do we see what we want to see reguardless of what the mirror is really telling us?
Everyone wants to look good, there is a reason we have vanity mirrors and why they are so named. I use a mirror every day to comb my hair, put on my make-up, make sure I look presentable for the rest of the world. Seeing the same face every day staring back at you, you wonder do I really look like that? Do mirrors lie? or is it just people and our minds? A mirror shows everything, every wrinkle, grey hair, pound gained or lost, it can be our best friend and worst enemy. It's just there though, to try and tell us the truth. What we put in that mirror reflects back on us.
A lot of things we have in our lives are a reflection of us. Our family, our friends, the people we surround ourselves with daily. They reflect a lot about our personalities, likes, dislikes, and things that matter to us. It would be nice if every person came with their own mirror. We could see not only what that person looked liked but what they reflect back to us. That reflection might be beautiful, it might not be so attractive, it might even be empty. But there would be just one view, ...the same view. It would be so handy. The only problem with that theory is no two people see the same thing. You may try to reflect one thing, but someone sees it or you differently. Mirrors don't lie, but people can,.. and do. People and their reflections can disappoint you in many ways, just like your own mirror.
Today I looked in the mirror and I saw a woman with tired dark eyes. When you looked in the mirror today what did you see?
