We ordered Thanksgiving from a local caterer. That way we can get half a Turkey worth. They were doing the breast sous vide and the legs as confit. They supplied cranberry sauce, but it's not enough, so I'm glad that I have some cranberries, orange juice and lemon zest to supplement with my own. Green bean casserole with home made crisped onions, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts with lemon, and sour dough bread sage stuffing. Plus rolls from a good bakery.
We're horrible people. We're going to see family for Thanksgiving.
"Family" is my wife's cousin and his immediate family, a total of eight people if all their children make it. Dinner will be outdoors. It's in the 60s and sunny now, and they had some kind of heater setup planned just in case it hadn't been. I think the two families will be at two separate tables. But still, horrible.
I don't know if anything better than this can be written about Thanksgiving 2020: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/25/americans-revive-spirit-first-thanksgiving-by-carrying-disease-new-areas/
2: Natalie Dean is an epidemiologist, and she said she was traveling but would quarantine first. Her grandmother was going to sit on the porch, and they would have a socially distanced play date on whatever day the weather was good where her toddler would run in the lawn.
Make sure the tables are like 10 feet apart.
But, I agree that it's kind of horrible.
The turkey is still a little bit frozen despite the fact that I bought a fresh turkey.
Sweet of Heebie to bung in a recipe link, and I don't know why Tulla Grönberger came out the way she did. The hazelnut bread has been tested all year and still works very well indeed.
Holy moly, I just realized that although we ordered an 8-12 lb turkey, it was substituted with a 21 lb turkey. I guess a lot of people in town are having small celebrations at least? I guess I'll push dinner time back.
Can you cut it in half and save part for another day?
Keep in mind that I'm asking a question not making a suggestion I've tried before.
Happy Thanksgiving, all y'all. We finished up a family zoom and now it's just the four of us, cooking stuff and going to eat a (probably) quiet meal. It was surprisingly nice to see family faces. Then we got a condo for Friday and Saturday nights at the beach (only 20 minutes away). I think it will be good to get out of the house for a change.
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, mystery person.
Oh wow, thanks, Bg and Heebie. Thirty years of memories attached to that song for me -- I'm glad to kick in a little to help Alice.
Had a nice outdoor walk with my dad today in the 60-degree weather, then a short online gathering using a fun tool that the kids figured out faster than the adults. The online "space" was divided into rooms where folks could move around and talk; the kids figured out quickly that they could use the moveable concrete blocks to wall the adults in, and then leave taunting post-its as the adults tried to learn the keyboard commands necessary to get out. Pretty fun.
Quiet solo dinner at home later; the farmers market was out of chicken (it was their last day) so I got a turkey breast after all and it is marinating in buttermilk and herbs as we speak.
it was their last day
The chicken and the market.
Anyway, our bird is now at 140 degrees.
Arlo and Alice have become like unto the fruit basket.
Happy Thanksgiving! I have two pies all for myself. Yum!
Happy Thanksgiving! The last few years I have taken to doing my celebration at my place of work, which sounds weird but what I crave and miss about Thanksgiving as an immigrant elsewhere is exactly that odd jumble of people that can't really happen this year, and that fills the gap for me. Because I love to cook it is the food that makes the day for me, so this year it was just the three of us in our bubble, and the same amount of food as I always make (albeit a rather small turkey). My superstars this year were Claire Saffitz's Sour Cream and Chive rolls - so good! Along with my mother's cranberry chutney.
There's something about the canned tube of cranberry sauce that really makes me think of Thanksgiving. However, I didn't not buy any because it doesn't taste very good.
Someone on Twitter the other day said that canned cranberry sauce should be loved and respected as camp. And that is honestly the closest I've ever come to understanding what that word means.
17: we used to have both kinds - whole sauce and the jelly. I think my Dad's grandmother was a real cook who knew how to make the real jelly, and my sister loved the jelly kind. Cranberry relish is also wonderful.
To be clear, whole sauce was home made and the jelly was Store bought Ocean's spray. I think Dad's grandmother knew how to make jelly of all kind from scratch. She made fruit cake from scratch, and that took months. It was the only fruitcake he said was actually good.
My grandmother was a great Thanksgiving cook, but she would always serve canned cranberry sauce. When I had homemade cranberry sauce, I was shocked how good it was.
I like the canned jelly-type too. Not having any this year, though, just home-made.
Wii still works. Thanksgiving fencing, hooray!
oops, 10 was me popping in between watching the oven and making the dressing and gravy
although we ordered an 8-12 lb turkey, it was substituted with a 21 lb turkey
That's a big bird! How did it go, heebie, and how many hours did it take to roast that thing?
Happy Thanksgiving!
I bought a brined turkey, and it cooked faster than I expected - 3 1/2 hours at 325. Turned out truly outstanding. I will buy a brined turkey again.
It could be moose.
McPhee relaying a list of meals in Alaska. The menu features much moose.
"It Could Be Moose" brand turkey brine solution.
I'm getting confused, but apparently the Ravens all got covid, so the state of Maryland sent an incomprehensible text warning to the whole state.
Please tell me that some paper went with the headline: Corvids Get Covid!
There's whole counties in Asia with lower numbers of Covid cases than the Ravens.
Not exactly Asia, but both New South Wales and Victoria, the two most populous states in Australia, have had zero new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases in the last week.
Victoria has had no new cases in the last 27 days and is on the verge of declaring 'elimination', after having had about 700 new daily cases in an outbreak at the end of July. Which was more new daily cases than the UK had been recording a week or two earlier. Compare them both now. I feel that the hard lockdown in Melbourne (in Victoria) might have had something to do with it.
Right, but they didn't need to find a way to avoid playing a 10-0 team.
Well, we do need to remember that there are fates worse than death. It's all that separates us from the animals.
Takeout Chinese! Just the four of us in our substitute house (a tree fell on our actual house; we may get back in January). It was nice.
To be clear, whole sauce was home made and the jelly was Store bought Ocean's spray.
My family does or rather did this too. As a child I always went with the store bought stuff but home made all the way now.
Happy thanksgiving everybody. What a crazy year; I have spent the holiday feeling emotionally drained and exhausted (but healthy, and still employed, and basically fine). It is a good day to appreciate everyone and remember that everybody is stretched a little thin these days.
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This is amazing: https://twitter.com/jholbo1/status/1332235277801201668
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Food swap with our friend was successful, and we also made some baked goods and brought them to Amadea's family in Wasilla in exchange for some ham. We stayed there a little while but not for the whole dinner.
If the people from the valley exchange excess cereals for the excess animal products of the people from the steppe, both could be enriched and raiding avoided.
So, I made a pumpkin pie today. The recipe called for clove, which we had only in whole form. So, I found a mortar and pestle and ground it. But, rather than measure a quarter teaspoon and figure out what to do with the extra, I just dumped it all in. It turns out clove is really strong.
I just dumped it all in.
Oh. Oh my.
It turns out clove is really strong.
Yes. Yes it is.
42: I put poppy seeds in our spicy Indian-ish chicken. (Poppy seeds are next to Black Pepper on our meticulously curated spice shelves, and in nearly identical bottles.) It turned out okay because poppy seeds don't have much flavor compared to cumin, coriander, red pepper, black pepper, and garlic.
It was probably only double the clove. Not completely overwhelming, but certainly makes clove the dominant flavor.
My olive oil and honey jars are very similar in size and appearance. I keep thinking I ought to do something proactive to prevent disaster.
I didn't know olive oil was available in jars shaped like bears.
I recently read that the door of the refrigerator is too warm for milk, so I switched the milk and the orange juice cartons. Hijinks did not transpire, but they came close, to the point of my raising the wrong carton over the coffee cup before noticing.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's rejection today of the latest effort to mess with the election makes a fine dessert.
The contention was that the law allowing mail in voting is unconstitutional under the Pa constitution. Leaving throwing the whole thing out and letting the legislature pick as the only option. The decision: JFC, you can't wait to see how you do in the election, and then try to get the thing thrown out. This part was unanimous -- the court split 5-2 (against) on whether even without messing up the 2020 election they should look into the constitutionality of mail in voting.
Justice Wecht, a Pittsburgh guy, wrote a worthy concurrence: http://www.pacourts.us/assets/files/setting-7862/file-10782.pdf?cb=067b04 including about how the whole legislative substitution scheme is bullshit.
The decision: JFC, you can't wait to see how you do in the election, and then try to get the thing thrown out. This part was unanimous
I assume the Pine Tar Incident provided the overriding precedent here?
It's like when the cargo cultists built "airports" out of palm trees, except the cultists didn't have guns and people issuing death threats.
51.last: And yes, he is Cyril Wecht's son.