Seven Years
This is our eighth Thanksgiving in Fernley House, as the sale closed on November 1, 2011. (Because of a prior restriction on the deed, we had to rent the house for 2 1/2 months after moving in after the 2011 Worldcon before we could actually buy it.) For the last several years (basically since my grandfather died and my sister went into the nursing home), we've spent Thanksgiving Day here at home. The last few have been about the same, and anyone who has been following me for a while will recognize these photos.
This year's spread consisted of deviled eggs, a roast duck with maple glaze, stuffing, baby portobello mushrooms, corn, and scratch-made biscuits (not visible in this photo because they were sitting on the wood stove out of shot to the right warming up).
It was indeed a filling meal for two people and a stuffed bear. Kuma Bear complained that my being so full affected my ability to take pictures, and he was probably right.
Lisa does the cooking for these dinners, and I'm responsible for cleaning up, which I think is a just dandy division of responsibilities, especially with the nice big commercial kitchen sprayer and a working dishwasher. This is one of the few times of the year (Christmas being the other) when we generate enough dishes to justify using the dishwasher, but it's very handy to have. I just wish it had a "power saver" feature that would allow it to not heat-dry the dishes. I consider that a waste of power, especially in our dry climate, and I have to listen for it to stop washing so I can go turn it off manually and allow the dishes to air-dry.
The remaining duck is now in a pot and I expect to try again to boil it down on the wood stove, de-bone it, and use what's left to make duck soup in a few days.
I am thankful that I have a good home and a job that makes it comfortable. I've been very fortunate, and I know it.
This year's spread consisted of deviled eggs, a roast duck with maple glaze, stuffing, baby portobello mushrooms, corn, and scratch-made biscuits (not visible in this photo because they were sitting on the wood stove out of shot to the right warming up).
It was indeed a filling meal for two people and a stuffed bear. Kuma Bear complained that my being so full affected my ability to take pictures, and he was probably right.
Lisa does the cooking for these dinners, and I'm responsible for cleaning up, which I think is a just dandy division of responsibilities, especially with the nice big commercial kitchen sprayer and a working dishwasher. This is one of the few times of the year (Christmas being the other) when we generate enough dishes to justify using the dishwasher, but it's very handy to have. I just wish it had a "power saver" feature that would allow it to not heat-dry the dishes. I consider that a waste of power, especially in our dry climate, and I have to listen for it to stop washing so I can go turn it off manually and allow the dishes to air-dry.
The remaining duck is now in a pot and I expect to try again to boil it down on the wood stove, de-bone it, and use what's left to make duck soup in a few days.
I am thankful that I have a good home and a job that makes it comfortable. I've been very fortunate, and I know it.