Thanksgiving

[Phoebe]

Please update me on any good things you do for the Thanksgiving. I want recipes, I want positives. As we slide into the grim future of autocracy and climate change it's nice to hear about good things.

[DMDarcs]

I got to see my children on Thanksgiving day..and the THRE DAYS AFTERWARDS. Since my forced departure from my house, this four oay stretch is the longest that I have spent with my kids. And it was pretty good. We didn't do anything crazy. The biggest outing we made was to a vintage video game store where picked up a Pokemon poster for the boy child, a copy of one of the Just Dance games for them to play, and an adapter I needed. We then went took the girl child to Hot Topic, where she learned that she has to keep track of her purchases and sales math a little bit better, but that Dad will bail her out when needed. Some games of Uno, much good eating. The best part was just hearing them aroiund the house again -- I have become overly sentimental as of late.

[Phoebe]

That is lovely - I have fond reminiscences of the Just Dance era over here. These moments when the symbiosis between child and machines actually involved moving the body around periodically!

We cooked and ate many things. The cooking was not overly spectacular on my end but the difficulty levels involved in planning, execution, and transportation were so high that it was an overall success. On one of the recent days, not sure which, I drank so much juice and ate so many boiled greens that it turned into a kind of impromptu "cleanse". Unexpected and not entirely pleasant, yet probably healthy. I lost a few pounds the last week despite all the intake.

The leftover turkeys were marked down so low today, despite the ongoing events season, that I was able to procure one for 51 cents. I am presently brining it. Dog food is many times more expensive than this! I may be sick of it by next week, and nobody else in the house can deal with it, but by golly I will be eating healthy meals for a while here, for the cost of heating up the oven. Can't complain and it's fun practice - I am contemplating spatchcocking the turkey but it already fits neatly into the small roaster so... why? Might flip it upside down though, as some Internet Cooks seem to think this preserves the moisture of the all important breast. If pre-salting doesn't do that already, how will this help? I don't know but why not try?

[Mike]

Thursday
I cooked a 10 lb pork loin for Thanksgiving dinner. Each family member gets to pick a side so we had:
Macaroni and cheese and corn
Brussel sprouts with bacon and cheese
Fried butter noodles
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Snickers apple salad
Cranberry sauce
Texas Roadhouse rolls (from a fundraiser)
Cherry Pie & Pecan Pie (another fundraiser)
Ice cream and cool whip for the pies

We had three kids home plus a friend plus Grandma and Grandpa.

After the meal, we played cards for a while then the grandparents went home and the rest of us watched Paul Blart Mall Cop 2, as is tradition.

Friday
The remaining wayward child joined us for the day and brought his wife. All seven of us went out to a movie and then dinner. Good times.

Saturday
Out to Grandma and Grandpa's house for their Thanksgiving. All four of their children made it with spouses, but only about half the grandchildren showed up.

Grandma made prime rib, and there were a bunch of salads which I did not pay attention to, but I brought two sides of my own. Separately, Grandma called to ask if I'd bring my cheesy potatoes, and Grandpa called to make sure I was bringing my Bean Stuff. Everyone stuffed themselves, of course.

Then came more cards and plenty of bullshitting, but blessedly not even a whisper of politics.

Solid weekend all around.

[Phoebe]

Send the cheesy potatoes and the brussel sprouts as well as any leftover prime rib right over here!!!

[Tahlvin]

I got to see my children on Thanksgiving day..and the THRE DAYS AFTERWARDS. Since my forced departure from my house, this four oay stretch is the longest that I have spent with my kids. And it was pretty good. We didn't do anything crazy. The biggest outing we made was to a vintage video game store where picked up a Pokemon poster for the boy child, a copy of one of the Just Dance games for them to play, and an adapter I needed. We then went took the girl child to Hot Topic, where she learned that she has to keep track of her purchases and sales math a little bit better, but that Dad will bail her out when needed. Some games of Uno, much good eating. The best part was just hearing them aroiund the house again -- I have become overly sentimental as of late.

I'm so glad you got to spend time with them. Last year was the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without our middle child after she moved to Colorado, and this year was/will be the first without the oldest child after they moved to Seattle. That left us with just our youngest, who spent lunch with us and then the rest of the day with his girlfriend's family (she's the oldest in her family). So we're starting to experience holidays as empty nesters.

[Akiva]

I got to see my children on Thanksgiving day..and the THRE DAYS AFTERWARDS.

That's fantastic!

We had a pretty low key holiday, just the 5 of us. Still made way too much food--slow cooked turkey breast, peas, potatoes, stuffing, rolls, broccoli, and 2 kinds of pie. But it was relaxing.

[Phoebe]

That is not too much food; that is Exactly Right food!!! Presently eating roast turkey #2 and wondering if they still have any going for 50 cents today!