Pictures from Thanksgiving

How Thanksgiving is going

2 nights before:

~Decide to make chicken with cranberry glaze, sweet potatoes mashed, greenbeans, pumpkin pie.
~Go to grandparents to invite them.
~Get invited to grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner.
~Convince grandparents to let me cook instead.
~Discuss plan for dinner.

Conversation:


Me: I'm going to have chicken with cranberry glaze.

Gma: We already have the turkey.

Me: Ok. So we will have turkey instead. And Sweet pototoes mashed.

Gpa: Nope. White potatoes.

Me: Ok. White mashed potatoes.

Gpa: And greenbeans.

Me: And greenbeans. With the onion thingies on top. And pumpkin pie.

Gpa: Pecan.

Me: Pumpkin.

Gpa: I like pecan.

Me: Ok. Pecan pie. And pumpkin.

Gpa: What about apple?

Me: I wasn't going to make apple.

Gma: I was going to make apple.

Me: That's fine. You can make apple.

Gma: And I will make the dressing to bring over.

Me to myself: What the heck is dressing?

Me outloud: Is dressing the same as stuffing?

Gma: Yes.

Me: Ok. You can bring that too.

Gma: Do you have a turkey baster?

Me: No.

Gma: Do you have a pan?

Me: No.

Gma: Do you have turkey bags?

Me: No.

Gpa: Do you have anything?

Me: Some of it!

Gpa: Do you have cranberry sauce?

Me: No. But I was going to go to the store first.



~Load up my car with defrosting turkey, turkey pan, baster, timer, turkey bags, cranberry sauce and turkey rack.

~Stop by store to pick up everything so I don't have to go to store the night before Thanksgiving.

~Get home.

~Review ingredients.

~Realize I need a few more things, including vanilla icecream for pies.

~Decide to go to the store after work, even though I know it's the night before
thanksgiving.



Day before Thanksgiving (or Thanksgiving Eve)

~Wake up.

~Go to work.

~Be excited all day cause I'm gonna make pies with Heather after work.

~End up working til 7.

~Drive home cursing the fact that now I'm too grumpy to make pies or socialize.

~Decide to make pies in morning.

~Find pecan pie recipe.

~Discover I need Corn syrup, which, of course, I don't have.

~Decided to go to store in morning.

~Love on kittens and go to bed early.



Thanksgiving day:~Wake up.

~Play with kittens.

~Feed "starving" kittens.

~Run to store to get corn syrup for pecan pie.

~Walk to second store cause 1st store is closed.

~Walk back after purchasing dark and light corn syrup cause I can't remember which.

~Play with kittens.



~Put out all serving dishes with pieces of paper in each indicating what will go in
which.

~Be happy cause I have enough!

~Make pecan pie.

~Wonder if pecan pie is done if it's still jiggly.

~Decide it's not.

~Stick pecan pie back in a few times til I decide it's actually ready.

~Stick pumpkin pie in over.

~Do happy dance for not spilling pumpkin pie mix while putting it in oven.

~Shift laundry.



~Decide to attack turkey.

~Freak out cause turkey leaked all over me and my counter.

~Get brave and tackle turkey, ripping out necks and gizards.

~Wonder what to do with this metal thing.

~Move turkey to sink cause it leaked on me again, this time on the floor.

~Ponder calling grandma cause I can only find the neck.

~Flip turkey over and find baggie I had heard people have accidentally left inside
turkey while cooking.

~Give myself back pat and glow in another mistake averted!



~Read next step of directions :"Season as desired." Wonder what the heck THAT means.

~Decide they aren't asking Fall vs Winter. Opt for rosemary.

~Wish I still had some needles and syringes from old floor nursing days to be able
to inject flavors.

~Make turkey do a little dance.

~Giggle at kitten licking up turkey juice at my feet.

~Wish I had second pair of hands to get this stupid turkey into the bag.

~Add a bit more seasoning just for kicks.



~Run down and switch out laundry after washing hands for the hundred millionth time
today. No salmonella in MY kitchen!

~Come back, put cooked potatoes into bowl. Reach for cream to add.

~Put cream back before I realize it's French Vanilla. Not Original.

~Get original and add to potatoes.

~Mash.



~Take pumpkin pie out of oven.

~Wonder if I burnt it or if it's underdone.

~Pick up turkey in pan.

~Put turkey back down.

~Adjust shelves in oven to accomodate turkey.

~Pick up turkey and put in oven.

~Take picture of Cessa helping.

~Close oven and set timer for 2 1/2 hours.

~Breathe sigh of relief.



~Look down at bowl of neck and giblets and wonder what to do with them

~Call grandma.

~Start to simmer neck and giblets per grandma's instructions.

~Taste test mashed potatoes. They are good, but need a bit more salt and butter.

~Add said salt and butter.

~Tidy up again.

~Look down and discover I didn't put thermometer in turkey.

~Wonder if it matters and decide it doesn't.

~Shred an onion.

~Jump back as onion fumes burn my eyes.

~Add onions to neck and giblets.

~Take a kitten break.

~Take a shower.

~Set table.



~Respond to all the texts that came through since this morning wishing me a happy
Thanksgiving.

~Blog, blog, blog.

~Call mom and leave a message that Cessa likes smoked salmon. A LOT!

3rd times the charm, right?

A while ago I tried to make a dish as a thank you for one of my neighbors. I usually don't follow recipes *exactly* as they should be followed. This time was no different. I did actually read through ALL the directions before I got started to make sure I actually had the ingredients. It called for flour (check) milk (check) eggs (check) powdered sugar (check) cinamon (no check...allergic...substitute nutmeg, check) butter (check) and a 12 inch skillet (um, no check.) So I made due with a pie tin, seeing as how it was a pie/cake thing.
I started to melt the butter on the stovetop mixed with the nutmeg and sugar. Quickly, I had smoke billowing and a near disaster of fire. Turns out pie tins don't tolerate high temperature stovetops. Thank GOD I didn't set off the fire alarms.
After fumigating my home, with all fans on and windows open, oh, and after locking the kittens in the bathroom so they did not excape, I re-evaluated and opted for plan two.
Cake pan.
Cake pan went onto the stove top on high heat....I am going to pause this story right here to point out that my "cake pan" is a 9x13 inch ceramic, uh, cooking thingie. Most of you can guess what happened next. For those of you, like me, who is wondering "THEN WHAT HAPPENED?!?!" I will continue...
I did not even get the butter into the cake pan cooking thingie before I heard a deafening ***CRACK*** and looked over to see my nice, brand new cake pan broken completely in 2 pieces.
With that, I picked up one of the pumpkins I had bought to decorate with, and walked upstairs with it and the burnt pie pan, knocked on my neigbors door, and showed him what I was trying to make, (because it was the thought that counts...) and said thank you, handing him the pumpkin, which was heartily appreciated and he was thoroughly amused. He said he would also tell his boyfriend (yep, gay) that I stopped by, and thank you for the pumpkin.
But the 3rd time is the charm, and I successfully made the dish, as pictured above, in a (wait for it...) SKILLET! Of course, by then I was expecting that the handle would melt off, but it actually didn't, which was quite appreciated.
It is good to be me, with determination that pays off, and the dish was quite yummy! And, no, I didn't take my third attempt up to share. I ate it myself and basked in my success!!!

Nov. 11th

Happy Vetrans Day! Thank you Carl and Hal! Go Navy!

Homeownership

This is what I'm working on today. This is under my kitchen sink, and it is leaking just enough to bug me.

So this is taken from laying on my back under the sink looking up. The round thing on the left is actually on the cold side.


And here's a close up of the thing that is actually leaking. It does not seem to be connected to anything, and I tried to turn the wingnuts by hand (righty-tighty) and it's pretty tight.

So now what?

Halloween Night!

Happy Halloween!!! I was a pirate! Arrr!!! Like the tattoo? I love tattoos, well, fake ones at least! I was going to wear it on my arm until I remembered that my costume had long sleeves.

The beautiful couple: Zombie car accident victims David and Heather, who just celebrated their 2 year anniversary!


Dave and his wife Lauren.


Leah and Lauren dressed up as 2 characters from the popular Twilight series, which I have not read or seen, so I don't know who they are supposed to be! Ah well.

Some guy dressed up as Jean Bennette Ramsey! Hilarious!


Me, David, Heather and Dave (Lauren's husband)

It was a pretty fun night! I hope you had a fun night too!

Family visiting

Pretty much all I do lately is play with my new kitties. And show them off, of course!