I ate some chocolate out of the candy dish at work yesterday. Sigh. I must have crammed 4 cups of spinach in my pumpkin pie smoothie this AM to try and compensate.
Bill, what decision did you make? I wouldn't judge you for driving.
Saef is already in upstate NY. Is anyone else traveling today? Safe travels to all those who are.
I don't own a pet. Can I still stay here? Very amused this morning!
And I will spend the day wondering whether BillBlueEyes walked or drove. We could start a pool. I'm going to bet "walk" because he wrote about it here.
I have a busy day scheduled including making my own stuffing, even though someone else is making it for the big day. Mine is tastier and healthier. I can skip the stuffing tomorrow, without feeling deprived. I used to overeat it, as if, somehow, eating too much would make up for it not being that good.
I'm at the office today. There are quite a few of us here, though I'm sure some will leave early. I'm committing myself to moving this afternoon. Even though it's cold and windy, Emma is a lot perkier so I think she'll be up for a walk later before I make the single apple pie I'm making. If not, some yoga at home would be nice. I will whip up real whipped cream tomorrow to bring with it, and bring two bottles of decent red wine with us as hostess gift for BF's sister. I will not bring pie home with me.
My sis wasn't sure if they would travel to my parents yesterday or today. I will skype with them tomorrow, but I'd hoped if they had arrived and gotten the girls settled in we might skype tonight, too. We'll see. Her girls are still young enough that it's tough to travel with them, as they won't sleep in the car.
Allison is preparing for her feast and spending time with assorted family members today. Joy is cooking healthier stuffing - good plan! Stuffing is my favorite, too, but if it's not delicious it isn't worth the calories. Jessica is taking the day off to help DH with the girls, I think? And getting ready to go over the river and through the woods to MIL's house tomorrow. Becky is unloading a bunch of wreaths. Saef is upstate with her Mom. Did you get out to the gym yesterday?
Dagmar, hope you're having a nice Wednesday on your dogsit, too! It makes so much more sense to me to have a bigger separation between the holidays as in Canada. In the US Thanksgiving is the kickoff to the holiday season, although stores are so competitive they don't even wait for Thanksgiving to roll out their sales anymore. It makes me cynical instead of appreciating what the season is really about.
Good luck on your cooking preparations and traveling, everyone. And dental appointments and dogsits.
I have a nice separation between thanksgiving and Christmas but I have a THIRD "season" which seems to have started today. Pet sitting is notoriously busy at the holiday season and it seems I will be quite for the next 3 weeks.
Just today I booked 2 extra dogs on walks for the next 2 weeks, an extra dog sit of one night with a dinner walk the day before, 14 days catsit, double walks for 3 dogs in February, a petsit in MAY 2014, and a partridge in a pear tree.
I will constantly say "money, money" to myself tonite as I feel sorry for myself for having so much piled on me at once. I will not buy jelly beans (the once a week binge food lately) or drink a couple of beers to cheer myself up. Both things, whether separately or together , will have a hugely negative effect on my quality of sleep tonite.
Tomorrow I will realize that this is all going to be over the week BEFORE Christmas and that the actual holiday week will be nice and quiet.
Unless the living room ceiling falls down. I love my house but it IS old and there ARE things constantly breaking. I have to learn to deal with the disruption and with never having everything "done".
I walked. No way could I take the car after setting myself up here.
The wind was strong enough that I had to take down the umbrella and let the Gore-Tex hood handle the blowing water. Not a problem in execution, just in anticipation.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and First Day of Hanukkah everybody.
(I have these memories as a kid getting a lollipop when I went to the dentist. Are those memories real or a bad dream? Is that why I still have cavities?)
They are real, Bill. I used to get lollipops at the dentist too. And usually a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. Now it is just the brush and paste, usually with floss and rinse. DSS gets a sticker, but grownups don't get those from our dentist. Good job walking there.
Haven't posted here this week at all. Tonight was the first night of Chanukah, which was pretty underwhelming because we're so focused on T-giving tomorrow. We lit a candle, said blessings and Skyped with my folks, who "gave" the kids their gifts by watching them unwrap what they sent. Tomorrow. we will have DH's dad and step-mom, his brother from San Francisco, and several family friends at our table. Thankfully, we're holding it pot-luck style so we only have to make part of the meal, and step-mom is bringing the latkes, so I don't have to make them - a huge bonus since I hate both the grating and the frying. This year, for the first time, I going to try to make the turkey by spatchcocking it (what a ridiculous word that is), hoping it will both cut down on cooking time and result in more even doneness. Martha Stewart, here I come.
Thanks, neurodoc, for the new word, spatchcock. Let us know how it turns out. The even cooking part appeals to me.
I'm up early to attack the to-do list assigned to me before the guests arrive that attempts to make our house look like nobody lives here. Little things like my huge stack of unsorted mail on the kitchen table are declared unacceptable. If I knew what to do with it, it wouldn't be there, LOL.
Little things like my huge stack of unsorted mail on the kitchen table are declared unacceptable.
#strict
Have a lovely day, Americans. Feel the joy.
Quote:
spatchcock
Abbreviation of 'dispatch cook', food prepared in an emergency ... So you can use it to mean inserted, squeezed in etc. Strangely, that isn't the picture I've been putting together of the American Thanksgiving food preparations.
Last edited by silverbirch; 11-28-2013 at 06:08 AM.
Thanks BillBlueEyes for the spatchcock link, neurodoc for the new word, and silverbirch for the etymology. Julia Child called this "butterflied." I've done it with chickens but not a turkey. Can't wait to hear how this worked for you, neurodoc.
I'm off to watch a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV before our day.
I have a friend who was going to spatchcock her turkey this year, so I learned the word last week.
Bill - i have a huge wooden mail sorter to alleviate large stacks of unsorted mail. Now I have mail that has been crammed in the sorter for over a year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I didn't travel - my parents have a quiet dinner with just the three of us and I live about 15 minutes from their house, so it was a quick hop across the river after running the Turkey Trot this morning. Dinner was the exact same food we've been having for 20+ years - with the addition of cranberry sauce for the first time! I hadn't eaten at all prior to dinner today, and I probably ate about a normal day's worth of food and dessert.
neurodoc - glad you missed having to fry the latkes, I learned last year that latke smell takes a week to get out and permeates just about everything!
Happy Hanukkah and thanksgiving all! We lit the Hanukkah candles last night and I had a very blond moment. We couldn't remember one of the prayers and my dd told me to look on the box. I couldn't figure out how the matchbox was going to help! They meant the candle box which has the prayers on it!
Dh and dd are handling the big dinner tonight. It smells amazing! Younger dd and I just came back from the dog park. Going to overindulge and deal with it tomorrow. I was frustrated that my weight has been stuck for three days. I have a sneaking feeling it will be unstuck tomorrow!
for the next 3 weeks.
, will have a hugely negative effect on my quality of sleep tonite.
