Author Topic: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version  (Read 3915 times)

Offline shortfiction

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 271
Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« on: November 15, 2007, 11:53:40 pm »
Last year, I took my mom to my cousin's house.   Big mistake.  Cuz has become such a lazy slob that there was nowhere to sit in her home.  We had to sit out on the back patio and cover up in blankets because it was cold.  Ridiculous.  I won't put mom through that again, and the mess upset her.

Anyway.    This year my brother is bringing his fam to mom's house and we have already ordered chow from Marie Callender's that we can just heat up.  Then he will take the fam to his wife's sisters' homes.   
Cousin had called and asked if we wanted to do Thanksgiving brunch at a country club with them.   Fortunately we already had plans.

"This is the most uncomfortable coffin I've ever been in!"

Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2007, 08:17:49 am »
This year, my parents are coming here. I have my new dining room furniture (purchased in April) so we'll all be able to sit around the table in the dining room. Yahoo! Great way to continue to celebrate my lovely furniture.

Last year, we went to mom and dads. The year before we went to my sister's house in Massachusetts, but dad can't make the trip anymore so we won't be doing that again. That trip was memorable, as many here have heard, because that is when I first heard about Brokeback Mountain. The obsession started then.

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline jstephens9

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,327
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2007, 03:36:40 pm »
This year I will be doing the same thing for Thanksgiving that I did last year, going to my sister's house. That is really not what I want to do, but it's the family obligations things I have mentioned before. I know that I should be very thankful to have all of them and things will be fine. But seriously, I would absolutely love to spend it with friends where I have been invited, meaning Linda and the group, but that would not just go over with my family. Oh well, I know I will end up having a fine time.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2007, 05:31:31 pm »
Last year, my mother visited me for Thanksgiving and we had in attendance my husband and me, my mom, my two children, cat and dog. This year, no one was home except the cat!! My mother wouldn't visit because it is too cold, my daughter is in Ireland, my son is in Wisconsin, and my husband and I went to visit relatives for the big dinner, taking the dog. On the way home, I had to stop at the store and pick up a turkey and all the fixins to cook because I couldn't stand the idea of being without Thanksgiving leftovers!!

"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Shasta542

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,999
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2007, 05:34:02 pm »
Poor ol' kitty! I hope he gets a bite of the "leftover" turkey!  :P
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Offline Ellemeno

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,367
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2007, 07:06:37 pm »
Leslie, congratulations on your two year Brokie anniversary!  And on continuing to enjoy your beautiful new dining room furniture.

Jack, not my business, of course, but I bet you might be surprised about the results if you did go do what you really wanted for Thanksgiving.  For one thing, you would probably have a good time with your friends, and for another, if it's very unusual for you to split from what the family expects of you, it might garner you some alert respect for your preferences!

Lee, your hosts didn't send you home with leftovers??  Isn't it an unwritten rule that all leftovers get divvied up among attendees?  I bought large Zip Loc bags in preparation ofr that very thing.



Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2007, 07:28:45 pm »
Thanks, Clarissa. We ended up having a very nice day. We roasted the turkey on the grill and it came out perfectly. Tony carved it according to the instructions of the butcher/surgeon in the New York Times (see the main dishes & side dishes thread for more info on that) and it really was great. I made golden creamed onions (also on the main dishes thread) and fresh cranberry sauce. I also made 'Minimalist Dressing' (from the New York Times) and it was a huge hit. I'll post the recipe on the main dishes thread for everyone to read. Lance made pumpkin pie, Hannah baked a cake and my mother brought sweet potatoes in orange cups topped with marshmallow. We had a ton of appetizers: olives, brie, shrimp, pate...amazingly, we still had room for dinner.

Today, unfortunately, I have been suffering from post-Thanksgiving let down. I didn't help my mood by going to see "Lars and the Real Girl." Although that movie is getting lots of good reviews, and Ryan Gosling did a good job, it is not a good movie to see if you are in a mildly depressed frame of mind! Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara says...tomorrow is another day!

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Ellemeno

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,367
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2007, 02:32:13 am »

it is not a good movie to see if you are in a mildly depressed frame of mind! Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara says...tomorrow is another day!

L


We met some friends for dinner at the Macaroni Grill tonight, their very favorite restaurant.  (Turns out it sure isn't mine.)  Then they suggested a fun walk in the (as Truman calls it so aptly) maul.  I hadn't been to the mall in months, so I thought okay.  UGH.  What a depressing place that is.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.  An hour later we left and I had all this physical tension, and sense of loathing.  Ugh.  I don't usually use the word "toxic" to describe stuff (unless it's, you know, arsenic or sumpn), but that place felt toxic.  I felt HATE walking out of there, and I'm usually pretty kindly.  Anyway, I am not going back until I (once again) have forgotten how gross it is.

I don't feel this way about all malls.  Really upscale ones can be fun, but have their own set of weirdness they do to me.  Like instead of loathing the mall, I wind up loathing my body and financial circumstances.  All in all, I'm better off hitting the thrift stores a couple of times a year, and supplementing with the online Land's End catalog.

Sorry to dump.


Offline MaineWriter

  • Bettermost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,042
  • Stay the course...
    • Bristlecone Pine Press
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2007, 09:46:28 am »

Sorry to dump.


Dump away. You know, you have to worry when someone picks a national chain restaurant as "their favorite." Favorite restaurants to me are supposed to be unique, one of a kind, chef owned places. I guess it is the difference between saying, "In Portland, this is my favorite restaurant, and in Boston this is my favorite..." vs. "Macaroni Grill is my favorite and I can eat at my favorite no matter where I travel to." For me, I prefer the former.

With that in mind, a few weeks ago when we were in Chicago, we went to Cafe Bernard, which had been my favorite when we lived there...30 years ago! It was good to see that the restaurant was in the same location, looking more or less the same, menu replete with French favorites, and it was still GOOD. It is nice to know some things don't change!

http://www.cafebernard.com/

L
Taming Groomzilla<-- support equality for same-sex marriage in Maine by clicking this link!

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,287
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Last Thanksgiving vs. this year's version
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2008, 07:04:02 pm »
[Lee, your hosts didn't send you home with leftovers??  Isn't it an unwritten rule that all leftovers get divvied up among attendees?  I bought large Zip Loc bags in preparation ofr that very thing.


You sound like a considerate hostess, Elle! I agree that leftovers are one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law used to make these sandwiches after Thanksgiving, consising of turkey, dressing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. We used to pack them in our parkas and eat them on the ski lift. I loved those sandwiches...especially the cranberry sauce!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"