BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners

Subject: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 08:29 PM

I hope everyone had a great day. I had dinner at noon with my daughter and the kids. My ex wife was there, and one thing I was thankful for is we divorced 20 years ago.

But, the fun started when I got invited to Sinsull's. Her friend, Thomas came up from NY, and I helped with the preparation. I mashed the potatoes and carved the turkey. Of course, it wasn't without mishap... Sinsull dropped the whisk that was covered in creamed onions, but my dog cleaned the floor. Then she spilled a whole basket of tomatoes on the floor. I got most of them before the dog did.
It reminded me of a song the Corries did;
"Oh your grannie's in the cellar,
I'm surprised ye can e smell 'er
Making bisquits on a rusty old wood stove,
In her eye there is some matter
That keeps dripping in the batter
And she sneezes every time she blows her nose.

HOME COOKING, HOME COOKING"

She's gonna kill me...

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 09:28 PM

You lousy bastard!!!!!

For the record: the meal was a disaster. I have mentioned before how much difficulty I am having adjusting to an electric stove. So...the creamed onions congealed into wallpaper paste, the giblet gravy never even thickened, the sweet potatoes swam in syrup instead of cooking down to a sticky mess,the turkey was cold - because some fool insisted on carving it before the other vegetables even saw the inside of a pot,etc., etc. The only one who truly appreciated the cuisine was my beloved Seamus who dutifully cleaned up every morsel before it hit the floor. I still don't know how fifty cute little grape tomatoes hit the floor but it was either laugh or cry and with great effort, I laughed.

Next year, Seamus and I will enjoy Swanson's Turkey TV Dinners and some good beer. Kendall can go straight to hell!

By the way, Captain. What are you doing for Christmas? Dinner at seven at ten paces?

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 09:30 PM

Bad as it was, a certain cantankerous old Maine curmudgeon went home with a Hefty bag full of leftovers - no, not for the dog - carefully wrapped for human consumption.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: open mike
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 09:47 PM

glad you had a mud cat thanksgiving,
despite the mishaps.
a that song was one we sang at
summer camp 40 years ago!

Grannie's in the cellar,
Lordy, lordy can't ya smell 'er
Baking bisquits on a darned old dirty stove,
(dirty stove)
In her eye there is some matter,
That keeps dripping in the batter,
And she whistles as a ("sniff") runs down her nose.

Down her nose, down her nose, down her nose,
Down her nose, down her nose, down her nose,
And she whistles as a ("sniff") runs down her nose.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 09:51 PM

Well, having just enjoyed yet a third Thanksgiving dinner this evening, with at least two more left in the refirgerator, I must say that ours, fir a pleasant change, turned out different. Ahhhh, nothing got burned, everyone contributed something, the dishes all came together at the same time, the turkey was perfect and my sons and daughter-in-laws all went home sober... Can't beat that with a stick... but.....

.....Next year we're gonna just order pizza....

I mean, we were up the night before brining the turkey and cutting vegies and all.... and then the next morning the P-Vine's kids are there at the crack of dawn choppin' this and cuttin' that which continued into the afternoon and when you add up the man hours of preperation compared to the half an' hour it took to sit down (with toasts and prayer) to consume our fill of these labors... ahhhh, figure the man hours at about $1.00 an hour.... Like I said, next year it pizza......

Yeah, that's my story and I'z sticken to it until, oh, 'round this time next year when we'll probably do it all over again...

Something about getting older... Ya' get wiser but ya' don't remember the wisdom.....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 10:09 PM

I ate two dinners at Bat Goddess & curmudgeon's house. At least two. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, creamed onions, squash, pumkin pie and it was all absolutely perfect. Except for the fact I didn't get any leftovers. You know, somebody could make a mint selling leftovers to single people who don't have families.

SINSULL, I got an ad from a local market - they were taking orders for whole dinners: cooked turkeys & fixin's. Kendall'd have to find something else to bitch about. Hardly any fun at all... Next year, try stuffing the turkey with popcorn.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 10:28 PM

"figure the man hours at about $1.00 an hour"
Bobert, who paid? The time is one of the things that make a meal like Thanksgiving dinner a big deal. You smell the turkey for hours before it's done. My mom used to make sausage stuffing, and she'd have to chase me away from uncooked stuffing so there would be some left for the turkey. (And uncooked stuffing with cooked sausage mixed in is GOOD.) I think the idea is that the sight, smells and occasional nibbles drive you to a frenzy. You circle the kitchen like a shark, ask "Is it done yet?" about a thousand times, and then, FINALLY, you EAT!

I'm thinking a nice bread, celery and sausage salad with Bell's seasoning sounds pretty good right now. (I was once far from home and bought a box of Bell's just so I could smell it. Yeah, I know I'm weird.)

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 10:43 PM

I,m very glad you all had such nice holidays. I slept mine away in hospital and when they brought my meal I waved it away. Still can't stand the thought of 'real' food........best T-iving I ever had. Also, can't help but envy you all the help. I've never had any--talk about perfect timeing.......

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 10:44 PM

Yer absolutely correct, Jeri... It's a social event as well as an eatin' event... Yeah, we had a blast... Oh, and the food was so good...

One of my son in laws, Reg, does the turkey. He bines it the night before and I gotta go out at midnight and turn it... Then he cooks it at 500 for 1/2 hour and then at 350 for 2 hours and it perfect... Yeah, the 500 browns it so that all the cookin' stays inside. He uses a thermoter that reads digitally on the outside and when the temp get to 161 degrees... its done... And Iz here to say that it is perfect. Firget them popup thingies... It's perfect....

Danged if I didn't just brag on one of P-Vine kids?!!?!?!?!....

Good eats.....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 11:07 PM

Thanks for reminding me. I made Nana Sullivan's stuffing and stuffed it in the bird. Kendall groaned. He likes his dry, crisp, and cooked separately. Please note: Thomas devoured everything EXCEPT Kendall's lumpy potatoes. He refused to whip them with milk. And before I forget, the evening started with the Captain requesting some JD on the rocks. I had white wine and Pepsi to offer along with ginger ale, apple cider, club soda, cranberry and orange juice. In two years the SOB has never had a shot of bourbon in my home.

I have always done Thanksgiving Dinner for a crowd. This is my first disaster. Oh how the mighty were laid low.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Don Firth
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 12:12 AM

Barbara and I usually go to my sister's or to Barbara's cousin's on Thanksgiving, each with their respective tribe, but this year we decided to lay low. It was just Barbara and me and two friends who are sort of orphans and don't have family nearby. We had the traditional sweet potatoes and cranberry relish, along with rice, mixed vegetables, a salad, and pumpkin pie swamped in whipped cream, plus freshly ground and brewed coffee. But we decided to forego the traditional bird this year. We had broiled salmon instead, with a nice Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc. Absolutely delicious and delectable, and it seemed to do the job pretty well. We sat around afterward indulging in the traditional burpin' and scratchin'.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 03:20 AM

Don, I could live with that dinner! As it worked out, though, we did our usual two Thanksgivings. Back a few years when we were newly divorced I asked the next door neighbor if we could blend into her crowd that year. We typically went over there every couple of years, but that year and every one since we've gone to her house. The catch? Well, her son is a chef, and he cooks for Jerry Jones's family and friends for the home Cowboy's game on Thanksgiving, so he has a horrifically long day. My friend delays her Thanksgiving until the next day, when it is the usual pot luck when you have so many folks coming from so many places. This year there were about 27 of us.

A couple of years ago I moved into this house and enough time had passed since the divorce that we decided we could manage the Thanksgiving dinner as a group, so my ex comes over on the Thursday Thanksgiving and we have the meal (this generates the leftovers we like--the kids adore hot turkey sandwiches).

We've had our share of small disasters. The dry soy protein powder can got confused with (and used instead of) the dry soy milk this year, and the potatoes tasted a bit weird, but the power of pumpkin pie spices is such that it wasn't noticable in the custard and it DID eventually set up. Last year I thought I'd obliterate the can-shape that typically goes with cranberry sauce, resulting in the ex smearing a big dollop on a roll, thinking it was jam. We all looked at him in amazement as he did this, wondering what in hell he was doing, and our expressions registered just before he stuck it in his mouth.

One of our favorite holiday movies is the Jean Shepherd story in the movie A Christmas Story. The part where the Bumpus's dogs run through the kitchen and steal the turkey is priceless (along with the subsequent trip to the Chinese restaurant for roast duck).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 05:20 AM

Well for once, I'm not ashamed to say, I'm glad I'm not American. I loathe turkey!

It seems like you all had a grand day, I hope you enjoyed it, and remembered what it was for.

We once had a pheasant for New Years Day dinner - roasted to perfection, I was a little concerned about the popping sounds I'd heard coming from the oven but just reckoned it was the fat & juices spitting. When we carved the bird, we found its crop full of popcorn.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 07:28 AM

No ship is big enough for two captains. No kitchen is big enough for two cooks.I like to time everything to be done at the same time, and baking one roll at a time upsets my sense of logic and order. LOL.

I have to admit, it was fun. It's hard for me to understand how a dish of sweet potatoes that are not perfect can be called a disaster though. Just think, if all had gone according to plan, we would have no story to tell.

I probably wont get invited back, but if I do, I'll volunteer to do all the cooking.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 08:11 AM

SINS... if you've got a video camera, I'd pay good money for the tape of that ! Especially if you DO have some whiskey on hand for the cook.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 08:28 AM

Well, Kendall, if you don't git invited to Sinsalls, yer perfectly welcome to join our crowd of less than functioanl misfits and.... yeah, knock yerself out with the cookin'....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: LilyFestre
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 09:25 AM

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving!!! Our 11-year old went to Grandma's house the day before Thanksgiving and learned how to bake pies. On Thanksgiving Day, she was anxious to learn how to cook a turkey!!! That was lots of fun for the adults hovering around the sink as she pulled out all the cold, wet guts from inside the turkey...the faces she made were priceless...PRICELESS!!!!   LOL!!!!

Our extended family came over, we left the china in the cupboards, wore comfy clothes and not an ounce of pretention was to be found anywhere!!! We cooked, we ate, we visited, we visited, we played music and had a really good time!

Michelle   =^..^=

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 01:05 PM

Kendall,
I will be sure to get in another Swanson's TV Dinner next year and you are free to heat it up but I promise I can manage the microwave. And there will be JD. Lots of it.
For the record, I did not bake one roll at a time. I burned all six of them at once.
So...Thanksgiving at my house next year and Kendall is cooking. Who is planning on attending? Put in your reservations now. I suspect it will be a sell out.
Found another tiny grape tomato in the basement today. The cats like them better than catnip.
I am away for two weeks. Have fun while I'm gone.
Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 07:46 PM

By the way folks, very few people can get away with calling me a "Lousy bastard"

She has come a long way from when she thought I was intimidating.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 10:10 PM

Hey Sorcha,

They let you out of the germ farm yet?

We had a kind of funny paper-plate TG dinner in an old-folks special house in Arizona where about 8 or ten old folks suffering from Parkinsons or Alzheimer's are maintained. Some of them are smart and articulate and some are pretty much not. Most of them can sit up at the table with their visiting families.   All sorts of people showed up there bringing dishes and we all helped the staff run up a big buffet deal.

I gave them a little gig after dinner and they were all singing along heartily which was very nice to see and they seemed to enjoy the hell out of it. It wasn't the Nuclear Family Standard Drill dinner but there was a LOT o' heart in it.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 10:26 PM

Good on you, Mate!

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 08:22 AM

Amos - isnt' that what the original Thanksgiving was all about? Sharing what you have and giving thanks to those (deities included) who provided it?

It seems to me (an ill-informed Limey) that Thanksgiving is going the same way as Christmas and many other festivals & celebrations. All are now so far removed from their roots and reasons, that if the originators of those festivals could see how we remember them, they would not recognise them. And yes, I'm probably as guilty as most, but at least I know I'm guilty.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: harpgirl
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 08:33 AM

...gee whiz kendall, it's a good thing you ate at your daughter's home first before going to Sinsull's. Otherwise you may have starved!

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 10:35 AM

Liz, I disagree about Thanksgiving changing from what it once was. I suspect that families cycle through the way they observe it, depending on the presence and age of children, how far people have to travel, etc. There are things that most certainly happen around the same time, trying for the "coattail" effect of the long weekend, such as sporting events and big pre-christmas sales (all stuff I ignore). When it comes right down to it, this is my favorite (and admittedly most tiring) holiday because it is in essence good friends and family getting together to cook a big meal and enjoy it together. It is strategic, in that we don't make as much of the same fattening stuff that we did when I was a kid, and because my children are in their teen years, we aim for a hefty set of leftovers to keep everyone happy with lunches for the week following the holiday.

Thanksgiving is the hardest holiday in terms of getting over the deaths of both of my parents. In 1997 my father died in mid-November, and I was back at his home working on his estate when Thanksgiving happened, so I went to my sister's house where my mother and brother and a few friends were there. I hadn't had a Thanksgiving with them in probably 15 years. My mother died in May of 1998, and this year is the first in which I got up on that morning thinking about what desserts I was going to make that both kids like, and not crying in my tea that Mom wasn't there to call. (Dad was often times off somewhere with friends, so I usually called him later in the weekend, like on Sunday afternoon before he headed out to Song Circle).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 11:02 AM

geesh! T-giving dinner is such an EASY one...(well - if you use a "safe" stuffing so the turkey can be done overnight.)

My sister was sick and my B-i-l decided to schedule an appointment Wednesday evening - when we usually co-operativly work on the dinner - so I did it all meself - and I had everything cleaned up and the turkey in the oven by 10 pm...browned it up in the morning - popped the rest of the stuff in the oven as they needed it; relaxed - served on the Dot of 2 pm - everything was great -we were at the table until about 4- and I even had the dishes done and the carcass in the soup pot by sundown!

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Homeless
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 01:31 PM

Dang! and I missed it. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Hrothgar
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 03:27 AM

Reckon the smart move is next year at Kendall's, Sins.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 08:00 AM

The main reason I don't like my stuffing cooked inside the turkey is because of salmonella. If it doesn't reach the bacteria killing temperature, you are dead. Besides, when you cook it inside the bird, most of it comes out all slimey like snot.
Another thing, I DID use a little milk in the mashed potatoes just to quiet the foreigner, and they were not lumpy either.
It's not easy being a better cook than most restaurant chefs.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Cluin
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 09:50 AM

Thanksgiving: A Canajun fact!

Did you know that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving near the beginning of October, while the Americans celebrate it cloese to the end of November?

Since the Canadians celebrate it first, they must have invented it, eh?

It's a Canadian fact.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: kendall
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 01:29 PM

Abe Lincoln declared it a holiday.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 01:53 PM

Why didn't I think of this?

An old man in Phoenix calls his son in New York  and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are  you talking about," the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any  longer," the old man said. "We're sick and tired of each other, and I'm sick of  talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." And he  hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting a divorce," she shouts. "I'll take care of this."

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" And she hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and  turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."

BELATED HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY  :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 01:53 PM

Canadians claim precedence because they have been celebrating thanksgiving since 1578 when Martin Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. But there must have been harvest festivals and rites of thanksgiving everywhere for as long as there have been harvests.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 02:10 PM

harpgirl, Captain came back for seconds.

Nana Sullivan's stuffing has been a staple of restaurants and the sullivan family for three generations. No Salmonella poisonings.

MMario, will you marry me?

I am on a break during training and managed to get into the Cat. Sure would like to come home to a sip of JD.

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 02:51 PM

Mary - I would in a second - If I thought I'd survive long enough for the ceremony. The number of guys who would be out to kill me the second we got engaged! Not much chance of surviving...

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 04:14 PM

Is that a "No"?

Kendall, If it makes you feel better, I am still occasionally intimidated but smart enough not to let it show. Back to work.
M

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Hollowfox
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 05:30 PM

Sins & Kendall, just keep repeating: "It tasted good and nobody died."

Subject: RE: BS: Two Thanksgiving dinners
From: Amos
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 05:49 PM

Guest:

Thanks for a good grin!

A