Author Topic: Happy THanksgiving!  (Read 219972 times)

Offline Ellemeno

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,367
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2007, 04:15:47 pm »
Hey Everyone, I thought i'd just "report" in -

Getting ready for Thanksgiving for ten.  Listening to my enhanced BBM soundtrack (enhanced meaning I added to the official one, with "Melissa," the original version of "King of the Road" (the one in the movie), and my favorite - Desi Arnaz and orchestra singing "Quizas."  Plus a few others: a great brass version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," etc.

Anywhoo, I'm happy, I'm immersed in BBM, in my own home, in getting ready for my mother in law with Alzheimer's, my sister in law with severe dog allergies, and my nephew with dairy allergies, and the five meat-eaters, and four vegetarians, my 4 1/2 yo who will be both overwhelmed and lavished with love.  It's a sweet life, and if I can keep myself from being a stud duck (aka controlling @sshole), things should be pretty lovely.

I also, for the first time, am using my grandmother's pressed glass for dessert plates and for some of the serving pieces.  I received it two years ago, but it felt too risky with a toddler, so it's been stored away.  It's in the dishwasher now, getting sparkling for later.  ("In the dishwasher, are you nuts, Elle??"  If it can't handle our lifestyle, I'm sorry.)  :)

For anyone who's not feeling like it's a sweet life today - been there, done that.  For quite a few of my previous 47 Thanksgivings, and other holidays.  Love you.

Today's menu:
(SIL stands for sister-in-law is bringing, N stands for niece is bringing)

Turkey (SIL)
Quorn roast
stuffing (SIL)
fingerling potatoes in sage/lemon butter
turkey gravy (from a jar!)
yeast gravy (yum)
whole petite green beans (frozen)
creamed spinach (frozen)
Poppin' Fresh crescent rolls (from a can)
cherry tomatoes still on the vine
olives
pumpkin pie (SIL)
apple pie (N)
cherry pie (N)
vanilla ice cream
vanilla ice cream with chocolate ribbon
raspberry sorbet
grapes
Earl Grey tea
soy nog
sparking cider
orange fizzwa
water



Hey, just want to report "out," now that my Thanksgiving hosting is on the other side.  It turned out about as relaxedly as it could, considering the place was pretty full.  Everybody was fairly kindly towards their fellows (all family members, so that's really saying something)  :laugh:.  The one sharp word that I observed was my father in law suddenly barking, "I already TOLD you that" at his wife, my mother in law with Alzheimer's.  Now the one main certainty about communication with her, is that we've already told her that (whatver THAT is), which he knows better than all of us.  So him yelling that, shows the kind of chronic huge patience he normally has with her, and lost for a moment.

But we all had fun, and I decided to let my daughter eat the three rolls she wanted, and almost nothing else, because it was easier. I normally don't take the less quality way with her, and she has cheerfully eaten many, many, many, many bites of vegetables and protein to get the more starch she wanted, but yesterday, I just kept saying yes to her requests.  Sure made the day easier for me.  Plus, that's really one of the characteristics of Thanksgiving - right?  We experiment with just eating whatever the heck we want.  Why deprive her of that freedom?  (Though she and I both agreed that for her own mood-happiness seconds on the chocolate stuff was not a good idea.)

Another cool thing was about 15 minutes before everyone arrived, I suddenly saw a better way to arrange the furniture to accomodate everyone in a way that felt more spacious, more cozy, and more logistically easy for serving.  I've been a lot more willing to try new stuff of late, so all of a sudden, there were my husband and me doing some major furniture rearranging.  It did work well, and only took about ten minutes to do.  I like feeling flexible.

A sad note - my sister in law had a big headache, which she only admitted to about 2 hours into the day.  I right away worked with hr to gether what I could to help - she got 2/3 of the couch to semi-recline on, I brought her a cold pack, some hot tea, some cold water.  Every 20 minutes or so, I would switch cold packs for her, to keep them chilled.  Her father (the same one who was sharp earlier), said, "Boy, she's really eating up all that attention."  I felt so sad for her hard life, that that little bit of kind effort was a big deal for her.  She's the mother of two, wife of one, second in command for caring for her mother with Alzheimer's, and is a full time nurse on top of all that.  Caregivers of the world, I salute you, and exhort you to get care yourself.

I want to give the two partial half gallons of ice cream away today, maybe our neighbors will take them.  We sure don't need 'em.

You know what?  For years I never hosted a Thanksgiving, because I didn't know how to roast a turkey, and didn't want to learn how.  Come to find that I can host, and not be the one who makes it.  I spoke up, and we found a solution that works.

And during the festivities, there were times when I thought, "I could go get on BetterMost for a few minutes," but knew it wouldn't be a good idea - you guys would win me over, and I'd have a hard time leaving.  :)

:-*

Offline Shasta542

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,999
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2007, 04:46:41 pm »
Congratulations on a hostess job well done, Elle!! That was NICE and laid back of you to pamper your sister-in-law and let Minimeno have her rolls!!   :)
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

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


Offline Ellemeno

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,367
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2007, 07:00:29 pm »
Congratulations on a hostess job well done, Elle!! That was NICE and laid back of you to pamper your sister-in-law and let Minimeno have her rolls!!   :)


Thanks Shasta!  How was the time at your cousin's?


Offline Meryl

  • BetterMost Supporter
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,205
  • There's no reins on this one....
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2007, 11:24:10 pm »
Thanks for the report on the doings at MaisonMeno, Elle.  You did a great job, and it sounds like the meal was super, too.  8)
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Shasta542

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,999
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2007, 11:28:17 pm »

Thanks Shasta!  How was the time at your cousin's?



;) Good!
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

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


Offline jstephens9

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,327
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #15 on: November 24, 2007, 01:16:15 am »
It sounds like you did a great job hosting Elle. One thing is for sure a Brokie Thanksgiving would be extra special. Course I don't know how all of us would get away from our real families  ;)

As far as my Thanksgiving with my family, it went fine. My sister's fiance wanted to know how I liked San Fransicko. I said what and he explained that one of his favorite conservative radio talk show hosts always refers to it as that. Apparently this talk show host lives in SF and goes around in a trench coat to see all the "weirdos" that live there  ;D I told him that I see stranger people here in Asheville than I saw in San Francisco or New York City. He said he would expect to see transgendered people walking around and people like that. He made them sound like zombies from the night of the living dead   :D I told him that I didn't actually see any. I also mentioned during the conversation about some Christmas lights on the house across the street. He told me that it was a couple of guys who lived over there that were very creative. They also had a bunch of stuff for Halloween. HMMMMMMMMM.....very creative......wonder what that means  ???

Anyway, all worked out fine.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,266
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #16 on: November 30, 2008, 11:04:48 pm »
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Together with my mother, my brother and his wife, and my sister's daughter. We were all people who wanted to be together, and we had a great time. Would like to hear about your Thanksgiving!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline shortfiction

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 271
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #17 on: December 04, 2008, 02:25:43 pm »
We had 14 people for the meal, and a pal came over in the evening.  Most people brought stuff to eat, but the cooking, setting up and cleaning up kinda got to me in the neck and back for a few days. 
Ah, well.  It's that time of the year!
"This is the most uncomfortable coffin I've ever been in!"

Offline ifyoucantfixit

  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *******
  • Posts: 8,049
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #18 on: December 04, 2008, 02:38:46 pm »



     We went to our sons house.  He made a deep fried turkey, and his wife made homemade garlic mashed potatoes.
I made the rest of the meal.  Bought the pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie.   Easy peasy Thanksgiving. 
     For Christmas we are all going to go out to eat at a nice restaurant.  NO WORK....yay!!!  We will have breakfast
at home and have dinner out..

     



     Beautiful mind

Offline Ellemeno

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,367
Re: Happy THanksgiving!
« Reply #19 on: December 05, 2008, 04:01:17 am »
We had me, Mr. Meno, MiniMeno, 5 of my in laws, and a beloved friend.  We have a vegetarian household, but on Thanksgiving, my sister in law makes and brings the turkey and turkey gravy.  She also brought the stuffing, the rolls, and chocolate sauce.  I made mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, my world class golden gravy with mushrooms, green beans, and served "boughten" tapenade and crackers, raw veggies, pumpkin pie, berry pie, and a couple of ice creams.  Pretty easy.  I served it all buffet style.  I also, for the first time in my life, I think, wrapped a fork and knife in a napkin for each person to take at the end of the buffet line.  I found it very fun to wrap them up ahead of time, and don't know why I haven't ever done it before.

We mostly just talked when not eating, but did have a pretty good time playing a kid version of charades for a while.  They stayed three hours, and it felt like it flew by, I was sorry to see them leave.  A darned good enough Thanksgiving.