Thanksgiving
Who: Ipo
What: Post Thanksgiving meal
Where: Home
When: 'Tis about 7:15 p.m.
Current status: Full, tired and hot and sticky
So I didn't sleep last night and that's really my own fault, but I was RPing and I had to do it. I just had to. Our game is in the middle of some serious ass drama and I was working on four scenes at once last night. By the time Hamie went to bed and it was just me and atti left, my eyes were drooping. Alas, the pies were still waiting to be made. And so we did. And atti stayed up with me and we watched the sun rise together while Ipo rolled pie crust and baked cheesecakes and pumpkin and apple pies. I do this every year -- stay up late when the rest of the household is asleep and I just do it. The oven is reserved for the bird during the day so the desserts get done over night.
Some will argue that making the pie crust is insane. For the cheesecake, just buy the Keebler ready-made one. For the pumpkin, get the frozen crust and use those instead. Only, it's tradition. It kills me every year, but I'll do it every year nonetheless because it's something that was instilled in me. My dad taught me to cook Thanksgiving dinner starting when I was five. We started out with tasks that are age appropriate and yet by the time I was thirteen, I could do the entire meal by myself. And I have, for the most part. The only thing Dad will still take on is the turkey and that's fine by me. Honestly, I could enjoy T-day without the bird, but that's what the rest of them expect and like, and so we do it.
But I digress about the tradition thing. See, every Thanksgiving, I think of my grandpa. He died when he was 98. (He died in 1998, so you can see he lived through a lot of changes in his lifetime.) One of the things Grandpa inherited from his mother and grandmother was a love of cooking and baking, and he passed that on to my dad and siblings who in turn tried to pass that on to their children. Today, there's me, and my aunt Helen's daughter, Wanda, and we're the only two of twenty grandchildren who carry on Grandpa's tradition of making the pie crust from scratch. It's tedious, time consuming considering everything else that needs taking care of, and yet, I can't not do it. So five hours later, the last of the pies were in the oven and atti and Ipo wound up taking naps before waking up and taking care of the rest of the meal.
I love having atti here. I wish I could convey properly how much fun I had last night laughing as we were working on things. Just having someone willing to keep me company as I put myself through my annual personal torture was really nice, someone who didn't ask stupid questions like, "Do you need help washing the dishes, or stuff like that. No, she just jumped into it and I love that about her. It was the same way with my mom's birthday preparations and that was all in like her first week here! Just ... wow. I can't even get my sis to help out as much. And we probably developed a number of new inside jokes that only we two would get, but it was nice. Really, really nice.
So, it's Thanksgiving and we're supposed to be thankful, right? Well, here we go. I'm thankful for a friend who took a chance and flew thousands of miles to meet a stranger and trusted that I wanted her to be here. Because I did. I do. And I love her to death. She's family to me and she always will be. She's my other sister/best friend/love her more than breathing friend.
For all they drive me batty, I'm thankful for each member of my family. I am. I love my dad, who teases atti like he does all of us. He's such a wonderful man - easy going, great sense of humour.... I'm really grateful that my grandma went out of her way to compliment my cooking. She said everything was an A+. That meant a lot to me, as did sharing a glass of wine with her tonight. There's my niece, always there to provide entertainment that only a six year old could. Today's gem of the day was asking where the 'bloody' Harry Potter book was. She was referring to HBP! There's my sister, in and out all day, likely getting stoned with friends and unable to stay put or really contribute toward the dinner preparations, but there to effortlessly jump into the fray with a teasing ditty here and a comment there.
Boog, another one everywhere but home, really, helping with stuff for the residential houses at his job, but virtually useless around here at the house. And yet he went and made me scrambled eggs and a bagel with cream cheese because I said I was hungry, and he and atti teased one another for a good 1/2 hour earlier this afternoon, which is funny. Oh, and he carved the turkey, which was nice of him because I hate doing that.
Mom was out of it all day, doped up on pain killers and anti-depressants, but she came and sat with us at 5:30 this morning and entertained atti with tales of Neil Wehrsig, the boy who was in love with me in Kindergarten and a story of how she'd been in love with a boy in the seventh grade and called him every day that summer, as well as how mad she'd been that my grandmother threw out the lock of hair she'd kept of his! And then she got up and went back to sleep. My family ... never dull. And I love them.
And then there are my LJ / online friends like who I love more than breathing, whom I go through withdrawls for if I don't talk to them, and who are the most supportive, loving people I know. For all of them, for all of you, I'm thankful.
I know we're supposed to be thankful for other things, but really, for me, it's about the people in my life. I love you all.
The menu tonight:
Turkey soaked in a brine solution and then slow roasted all day
Stuffing / Dressing made with bread crumbs, onions, celery, sage, sausage and chicken broth
Gravy made from turkey drippings
Real mashed potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes
Candied yams with marshmallow crust
Rice
Corn on the cob
Rolls
Lime jello mold
Canned cranberry (because trying to get the real stuff here is harder than hell)
Olives
Wine
Cranapple sparkling cider
Pumpkin Pie
Custard Pie
Apple Pie
Cheesecake
Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.
What: Post Thanksgiving meal
Where: Home
When: 'Tis about 7:15 p.m.
Current status: Full, tired and hot and sticky
So I didn't sleep last night and that's really my own fault, but I was RPing and I had to do it. I just had to. Our game is in the middle of some serious ass drama and I was working on four scenes at once last night. By the time Hamie went to bed and it was just me and atti left, my eyes were drooping. Alas, the pies were still waiting to be made. And so we did. And atti stayed up with me and we watched the sun rise together while Ipo rolled pie crust and baked cheesecakes and pumpkin and apple pies. I do this every year -- stay up late when the rest of the household is asleep and I just do it. The oven is reserved for the bird during the day so the desserts get done over night.
Some will argue that making the pie crust is insane. For the cheesecake, just buy the Keebler ready-made one. For the pumpkin, get the frozen crust and use those instead. Only, it's tradition. It kills me every year, but I'll do it every year nonetheless because it's something that was instilled in me. My dad taught me to cook Thanksgiving dinner starting when I was five. We started out with tasks that are age appropriate and yet by the time I was thirteen, I could do the entire meal by myself. And I have, for the most part. The only thing Dad will still take on is the turkey and that's fine by me. Honestly, I could enjoy T-day without the bird, but that's what the rest of them expect and like, and so we do it.
But I digress about the tradition thing. See, every Thanksgiving, I think of my grandpa. He died when he was 98. (He died in 1998, so you can see he lived through a lot of changes in his lifetime.) One of the things Grandpa inherited from his mother and grandmother was a love of cooking and baking, and he passed that on to my dad and siblings who in turn tried to pass that on to their children. Today, there's me, and my aunt Helen's daughter, Wanda, and we're the only two of twenty grandchildren who carry on Grandpa's tradition of making the pie crust from scratch. It's tedious, time consuming considering everything else that needs taking care of, and yet, I can't not do it. So five hours later, the last of the pies were in the oven and atti and Ipo wound up taking naps before waking up and taking care of the rest of the meal.
I love having atti here. I wish I could convey properly how much fun I had last night laughing as we were working on things. Just having someone willing to keep me company as I put myself through my annual personal torture was really nice, someone who didn't ask stupid questions like, "Do you need help washing the dishes, or stuff like that. No, she just jumped into it and I love that about her. It was the same way with my mom's birthday preparations and that was all in like her first week here! Just ... wow. I can't even get my sis to help out as much. And we probably developed a number of new inside jokes that only we two would get, but it was nice. Really, really nice.
So, it's Thanksgiving and we're supposed to be thankful, right? Well, here we go. I'm thankful for a friend who took a chance and flew thousands of miles to meet a stranger and trusted that I wanted her to be here. Because I did. I do. And I love her to death. She's family to me and she always will be. She's my other sister/best friend/love her more than breathing friend.
For all they drive me batty, I'm thankful for each member of my family. I am. I love my dad, who teases atti like he does all of us. He's such a wonderful man - easy going, great sense of humour.... I'm really grateful that my grandma went out of her way to compliment my cooking. She said everything was an A+. That meant a lot to me, as did sharing a glass of wine with her tonight. There's my niece, always there to provide entertainment that only a six year old could. Today's gem of the day was asking where the 'bloody' Harry Potter book was. She was referring to HBP! There's my sister, in and out all day, likely getting stoned with friends and unable to stay put or really contribute toward the dinner preparations, but there to effortlessly jump into the fray with a teasing ditty here and a comment there.
Boog, another one everywhere but home, really, helping with stuff for the residential houses at his job, but virtually useless around here at the house. And yet he went and made me scrambled eggs and a bagel with cream cheese because I said I was hungry, and he and atti teased one another for a good 1/2 hour earlier this afternoon, which is funny. Oh, and he carved the turkey, which was nice of him because I hate doing that.
Mom was out of it all day, doped up on pain killers and anti-depressants, but she came and sat with us at 5:30 this morning and entertained atti with tales of Neil Wehrsig, the boy who was in love with me in Kindergarten and a story of how she'd been in love with a boy in the seventh grade and called him every day that summer, as well as how mad she'd been that my grandmother threw out the lock of hair she'd kept of his! And then she got up and went back to sleep. My family ... never dull. And I love them.
And then there are my LJ / online friends like who I love more than breathing, whom I go through withdrawls for if I don't talk to them, and who are the most supportive, loving people I know. For all of them, for all of you, I'm thankful.
I know we're supposed to be thankful for other things, but really, for me, it's about the people in my life. I love you all.
The menu tonight:
Turkey soaked in a brine solution and then slow roasted all day
Stuffing / Dressing made with bread crumbs, onions, celery, sage, sausage and chicken broth
Gravy made from turkey drippings
Real mashed potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes
Candied yams with marshmallow crust
Rice
Corn on the cob
Rolls
Lime jello mold
Canned cranberry (because trying to get the real stuff here is harder than hell)
Olives
Wine
Cranapple sparkling cider
Pumpkin Pie
Custard Pie
Apple Pie
Cheesecake
Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.