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17592. judithathome - 11/23/2005 9:21:56 PM My cousin, whose house we're going to tomorrow, said "Oh don't bring anything...just your presence is enough" and so I'm taking her at her word and bringing nothing but 2 bottles of wine and a bouquet of flowers for her.
Keoni and I will be the only ones drinking the wine and we'll need it...we've already made bets on: the time the healthfood lecture will start from my crazy cousin; the time my aunt will get pissed at the lecture; the time a kid will shriek and throw a fit in the floor; the time my crazy cousin will forcibly remove things from her husband's plate because they're not good for him; and the time we will have had enough and plead prior plans with friends whom we're meeting for dessert. (We're not doing this but we use it as an excuse every year so they think it's true.) 17593. thoughtful - 11/23/2005 10:33:58 PM Ah yes...there's the rockwell version of thanksgiving then there's the real holiday fun of dealing with dysfunctional families: drunks, psychotics, paranoiacs, control freaks, depressives, and the just plain belligerent.
Or you can do what mother's doing...going to my cousins house where everyone is well-adjusted enough, but no one says anything throughout the meal, except the occasional shout, as they're all too busy watching football on TV.
In my family as us kids were growing up, it was grandma the control freak, cousin w who was the druggie, cousin a who was very shy with his speech impediment, uncle w the lecher, aunt r the mouse who never said anything, uncle s's wife who had verbal diarrhea who came with her mother and aunt both of whom only spoke spanish and spent the meal eating smiling and nodding, uncle s was a mouse in his own way, dad got potted, grandpa was friendly yet incomprehensible as his english was terrible and having no teeth didn't improve it nor did the shots of whiskey, and mother always cheerful though she was not a fan of grandma and suffered her controlling ways like the martyr she always enjoyed playing. Cousin C and J were ok and my brother was usually trying to not get caught at something he shouldn't be doing. Me I tried to avoid getting stuck with the creamed onions. Ah families. 17594. Magoseph - 11/24/2005 3:12:15 PM Hello, everyone—thanks for the good wishes, thoughtful and Arky. The procedure went smoothly and the prognosis is very hopeful. I’ll know in a week if I am completely out of danger. 17595. wabbit - 11/24/2005 4:16:00 PM Best of luck, mags.
Happy Thanksgiving! 17596. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/24/2005 5:31:13 PM In boco al lupo, Mags and Happy Gobbles to all.
17597. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/24/2005 5:31:51 PM In boco al lupo, Mags and Happy Gobbles to all.
17598. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/24/2005 5:32:11 PM ??? 17599. Magoseph - 11/25/2005 1:51:41 PM Thank you, Wabbit, and to you Wiz: Qu'il crève! Hello, everyone!
Ali, do you travel a lot for your new job? 17600. alistairconnor - 11/25/2005 2:08:00 PM Only one trip to Madrid so far. Plenty more to come.
I'm travelling to a meeting this afternoon, it's across town and I'm going by bicycle. 17601. PelleNilsson - 11/25/2005 8:02:27 PM Every year the IHT faithfully reprints Art Buchwald's classical column Chacun à son goût, or why we eat turkey where he tries to explain the Thanksgiving tradition, partly in deightfully mangled French, including the central role played by Kilomètres Deboutish. I suppose most, if not all, of you have read it over the years, but if you haven't, or have forgotten, it is mildly amusing. 17602. wonkers2 - 11/26/2005 4:36:58 AM Le Capitaine Sale dit "Tres amusant!" 17603. judithathome - 11/26/2005 7:26:07 PM We're going to our friend's house today for the second Thanksgiving meal...everyone does the Big Thursday with their families and the Saturday after is for friends. Some years we do Chinese...the guys are great at cooking Chinese dishes...but this year, it's more turkey and the trimmings.
I'm bringing my mashed potatoes...this year, I'm putting herb and garlic cream cheese in them. And sour cream and butter. They are wonderful!! 17604. Magoseph - 11/26/2005 7:51:19 PM Here's Judith's recipe:
66. JudithAtHome - 11/18/1999 5:18:58 PM
Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Peel and boil til done 5lbs potatoes. (I use red skinned ones)
Drain potatoes and mash in 8ozs softened cream cheese, 16ozs sour cream, 1 stick of butter, salt and pepper to taste.
Place in casserole and cover; chill.
This dish can be made up to 2 days ahead; when ready to serve, heat in 350°oven til thoroughly hot and sprinkle with a dash of paprika before serving (optional). 17605. PelleNilsson - 11/26/2005 9:12:26 PM I just heard BBC's North Africa correspondent recount an amusing little anecdote. When strolling in Benghazi, Libya, he saw a shop which said "Bush" on the door. Going up to inspect he found that the Arabic text said "Push". Arabic doesn't distinguish between 'p'and 'b', which is why driving up to a popular restaurant in Amman, one could read the sign "Barking for guests only". 17606. Jenerator - 11/27/2005 2:43:11 AM We had a great Thanksgiving. None of us wanted to cook or clean so we made reservations at a nice restaurant. 17607. arkymalarky - 11/27/2005 4:03:56 AM We had the standard with both families, and it was nice. Mose had her 21st birthday yesterday, and had a nice gathering with 15-20 of her best friends, several of whom were in for the holiday from out of town or out of state schools, so it was a really nice reunion for her.
We didn't attend, though we knew something she didn't about the event--she's now engaged. No date. She still has a year and a half of school, which is the one concern I expressed to her b/f when he called to let us know what he was planning about two weeks beforehand. 17608. Jenerator - 11/27/2005 4:18:06 AM CONGRATULATIONS
Mose is engaged!!
She was just barely a teenager yesterday... 17609. wonkers2 - 11/27/2005 4:21:08 AM We did something which apparently is very trendy--deep fried a turkey. Despite some trepidation over the safety of the process (we did it in the back yard and equipped ourselves with safety goggles and protective gloves), we got the job done in less than an hour (not counting assembly of the propane boiler), and the turkey was delicious. After purchasing corn oil several kibitzers said only peanut oil should be used ($50 for the required 5 gallons). We went ahead and used the corn oil which seemed to me to be fine. Apparently conisseurs use peanut oil. 17610. Jenerator - 11/27/2005 4:30:11 AM Husband loves to fry turkeys (and anything else he can get his hands on). He always uses peanut oil. We have tried vegetable oil, but peanut oil really does taste better.
I love how fast the turkey cooks and was surprised the first time I had one that it wasn't greasy at all. 17611. Jenerator - 11/27/2005 4:30:53 AM The State Fair of Texas said that it's much sought after food this year was the deep fried marshmellow.
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