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Despite this Thanksgiving not going “according to plan”, we think it went blissfully well anyway!
- Woke up and watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – with Anna getting emotionally sappy and crying on occasion (come on, I cry at that Maxwell House commercial where the kid comes home from college and wakes his parent’s up to fresh brewed coffee – I’m a sucker for the holidays).
- Met Jim’s Mom half-way in Cookeville for Turkey ala Restaurante! After finding a 1 hour and 45 minute wait at Cracker Barrel – we opted for the less fabulous Shoney’s. Again, not what we had in mind, but actually pretty decent.
- Managed to get a phone call en route from Anna’s Dad letting us know that the EASTON RED ROVERS (Anna’s High School Football Team – not our dog for this part of the story), once again trampled Phillipsburg High School 17 to 6. It was the 101st annual Thanksgiving Day Rivalry Game…now one day, hopefully they’ll stream it live. PLEASE!??
- Got a call from Anna’s brother. We love him and wished he’d visit us. Hint Hint!
- Sadly did some Christmas shopping at the few open retailers…I felt awful. I truly think our country needs to let more people have the day off. The one side of capitalism that I think sucks.
- Came home and cooked our turkey! We brine it, and it went beautifully. We also added some new aromatics to the old-standbys. Succulent and juicy…we LOVE OUR TURKEY. Easton (the dog), Uli, Iris and Kira do too…and our two guest pups, Trixie & Ginny, loved it as well.
All in all, a good day. We hope you all had a wonderful day as well. Happy Thanksgiving to all our loved ones and peace on earth, if at all possible.
Well…at least it will be different. I got the unfortunate news today that my father’s significant other, the darling Dolores, went into the hospital on Friday and is dealing with some pretty steep heart-related issues. Therefore, my father will be staying by her side as surgery is the next step. While I was looking forward to spending quality time with my Daddy this Thanksgiving, I am very proud of him for sticking by a lady who’s stuck with him after the death of my Mother. Our thoughts are with them and her family in the hopes that she will get well soon…wish we lived closer.
Well first off, we want to thank everyone for their thoughts on holiday food traditions – we think we may steal some of those ideas indeed – we’ll keep you posted on the munchies we shamelessly steal.
Somehow, Thanksgiving is next week and we are slightly ill prepared for the holiday…mostly because we are both…slightly ill. Somehow, I managed to get horribly sick again (2 times in 2 months sucks), and Jim seems to have a bit of it brewing just below the surface. I don’t know where we got the germs, but everyone we meet seems to have a little “something” right now. However, this makes me realize the importance of actually getting on a regime for improving the immune system. Daily multi-vitamin and extra vitamin C!
In other news, last weekend we got to do something UTTERLY fun! We got to help our “kiddo”, whom I’ll call TCB (he’ll know what that stands for – but makes me giggle because it also could stand for Takin’ Care of Business), usher in his 16th Birthday! It was a sweet sixteen filled with silliness and sushi. Jim and I coordinated a party of 12 or so to meet and eat at Wasabi, and everyone was fully in the hibachi spirit and he got lots of goodies too! It was lots of fun, and yes there was the obligatory “attention seeking” moment of him wearing a sushi-chef hat, while being serenaded by the restaurant goers in a rousing rendition of happy birthday featuring a asian-drum-type-thingie and a Polaroid picture to add some immortality to the whole shin-dig. It was fun and most importantly our “kiddo” seemed to have a really good time…it wasn’t a lavish extravaganza but an honest sweet 16 filled with people who care about him.
Jim and I are MAD busy these days…and pretty soon we’ll be able to explain just how busy. In the meantime, go out and catch one of the great movies that are out right now. I feel that we’re well overdue for a viewing of the Darjeeling Limited, Dan in Real Life or Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (despite the lackluster reviews). Until next time…much love all!
I keep pestering Jim about creating and SETTING traditions around the holidays. We’re heading on almost 10 years of my Mom being sadly missing from our holiday gatherings, so I’ve been thinking it’s time to start solidifying our own traditions…one way to do that, is to set a tradition menu for each of the major holidays.
So…here’s what we’ve tentatively come up with:
New Years Day
- Pork Tenderloin (in honor of Pork & Sauerkraut traditions), and
Side dishes to think about.
Valentine’s Day
- Something Italian by Anna (You’d think I had a shred of Italian blood in me but I don’t…this could be anything from stuffed shells to chicken Parmesan…who knows!).
Easter Day
- Ham with Pineapple (Ham just seems to suit Easter for me and I don’t know why), Deviled Eggs (it is Easter), Seven Layer Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, and perhaps one more thing.
Thanksgiving
- Roast Turkey (Brine the night before…thanks to the Wizard who is Alton Brown), Fresh Baked Rolls, Mashed Potatoes with Turkey Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Creamed Spinach, Cranberries/Oranges, Pizza (a tradition thanks to the Cline Family) and some type of pie!
- We also have a pre-thanksgiving ritual of making German Potato salad and possibly Wacky Cake! Yum!
Christmas Eve
- We have a traditional German dinner on Christmas eve with: Schnitzel (traditional or chicken) and lemons, Potato pancakes with sour cream or other things, and German Salat mit Dressing.
Christmas Day
- Roast Prime Rib of Beef (new thought – yum), Sweet Potato Casserole, Asparagus Casserole (the tops look like little Christmas trees), Roasted Mini Potatoes or Cauliflower Gratin, Caesar Salad and Fresh Baked Bread.
New Years Eve
- Looks like the perfect time to spend time with Friends and since D & P are offering, we’re going to take them up on the offer. Perhaps I’ll make it a tradition to bring either cocktail shrimp or crab dip to their event…or a baked brie!
Wow…I’m liking this holiday tradition figuring out stuff…one problem is that it makes you hungry just thinking about it! We’re open to suggestions or thoughts to let me know what you’re thinking about doing for the holidays, we may shamelessly borrow from your thoughts. Actually, we just realized that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK. OMG…where did November go? We need to get shopping…NOW. Best of luck in your hurried holiday planning too.
Well, we had planned to have a big shin-dig in celebration of the holiday season, but we’ve got WAAAAY too much stuff going on right now to fit that in amongst other things…we’ll explain shortly. In the meantime, please mark your calendars. The next Holiday Hang will be on the 1st Saturday of December 2008.
Much love – more later!
Okay, so it sounds more elaborate than it really is right? This is our little slice of internet nonsense, which basically is our on-going effort to keep our friends and family up-to-date on our lives, our love and our continuing pursuit of pomegranates. In this modern age of movement, we’ve realized that distance is not an excuse to not keep everyone posted, so please - stop by anytime - in person or internet-ly and know that you are all never far from our thoughts.
