happy (black) friday!

it's the day after thanksgiving and i'm not shopping (thank goodness!). i'm at work. i have much to do to meet my deadlines, so am here in the pin-drop quiet to get some writing done. but first, a recap of thanksgiving.

we started it off with a thanksgiving-eve hockey game.

we got to see one of his best pals, winston.

they're like brothers. they've been friends since they were nine months old.

other best friend ryan was also in the arena, but we weren't able to find him once everyone got seated.

the next morning we started cooking. mashed potatoes with butter are always first on my list. everything else is expendable in my opinion.

i called an audible on the green bean casserole and went for simply fresh green beans with butter and sea salt. perfect. no other accoutrement necessary.

and savory sweet potatoes. again with the butter. are you sensing a theme here?

and hubz got his chicken legs. i bought some tofurkey slices in case i get a hankering for turkey sandwiches this weekend. normally i don't miss having meat in my diet, but turkey sandwiches ... oh boy. i don't think hickory smoked tofurkey slices are going to cut it.

and there was sweet potato pie. i didn't have this growing up, but being an honorary southerner now (sort of), i had to incorporate it.

we were done cooking by noon. so ate our feast for lunch.

it was good.

then, naps for all.

after naps, we baked pies.

hubz made apple ...

and blueberry.

and i made tiny pumpkin tarts.

as the boy would say, deee-wishus!

then, as is my usual custom, i drug out the boxes of christmas decorations. time to put up the christmas village. i have about 20 different houses, trees, lights and fake snow.

and the nativity scene, hand carved in israel.

now, i really should start thinking about christmas shopping ...

but first, deadlines await.

happy black friday!

thanksgiving memorabilia.

for as long as i can remember, there have been turkeys in my life. my grandparents owned and operated a turkey farm and i grew up amongst these smart and chatty birds.

here's my grandfather with the turkeys at the original farm. my cousin and his family run the operation now.

i like getting out my grandmother's relics this time of year.

i'm not sure on the exact use of this. i am guessing it is some kind of hors d'ouvres platter, and you're supposed to put toothpicks in the holes in the turkey. if anyone knows, please chime in.

in any case, i love the retro '70s green.

here are two more turkeys. again - the proper use of them eludes me. one seems to be for holding cream, and the other has those ubiquitous tooth pick holes.

i'm working today. and tonight, we have lower bowl tickets to the predators hockey game, so i guess i won't be shopping for my thanksgiving comestibles until thanksgiving morning.

guess that's one of the benefits of living in a loft apartment that is attached to a grocery market.

pray they're not out of tofurkeys.

peace, and enjoy your day. i'm thankful for each and every one of you!

thanks-giving is coming. and it's a house divided.

i found this cool image somewhere on the internet. i can't remember where just now.

but isn't it great? i'm going to try to make these for thanksgiving.

so far there is no concensus in our family as to what to have for our thanksgiving feast.

hubz wants chicken legs. no turkey. just chicken legs.

as a vegetarian, i won't be partaking of that, and frankly, he's going to have to cook those himself.

the boy says this in regards to what he wants for thanksgiving:

"i like the food we have at school, mommy, especially the pears. and the barbecue sandwiches. and the bread rolls. they have really good bread rolls. i also like chicken nuggets from mcdonalds but if we can't have those i like the chicken nuggets you get at the store and toast them in the oven. oh, and apple crisp. like the kind we have at school."

[side note: should i be sad that he loves the institutional food he gets at daycare and seems to have no memory of anything good i've ever made? scary.]

what i want is creamy, buttery mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie and pumpkin tarts and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

perhaps a tofurkey is also in our future?

stay tuned.

happy potato day

yes, sure, it's turkey day. but what i'm most thankful for are the mashed potatoes. i found this perfect recipe online from one of my favorite bloggers, stephmodo. have a great day, and remember to be thankful. i am thankful for each and every one of you!

headin' home

The boy's exhausted and so are we. Traveling with a child is always more hectic than you imagine it will be. But it's always great seeing Auntie Dawn and crew.

sleepy

Lazy day.

Sorry, Muddy's

We hoped to visit with Kat at Muddy's the day after Thanksgiving but she very kindly gave her employees the day off. See you next time!

More donut pics

Yum.

I'll be thinking about these for awhile.

I'm already dreading leaving Donutso, a.k.a., Gibson's Donuts and its delightful owner Don DeWeese when we go back to Nashville. What a character! He made us feel like family. And his donuts are rockin'. If you're in Memphis, look this place up. One visit and you will be a customer (and friend) for life.

And a portrait of Mommy

So I look like a slug. Still brilliant.

Jack Henry's self portrait

My kid's a genius.

The day after

Sadly, Muddy's Bakeshop was closed, so this morning we ended up at this Memphis original, Gibson's Donuts. The owner treated us like family, and kept bringing us more donuts to try. My oh my.  The pumpkin spice was amazing. Our thanksgiving dinner yesterday was classic Southern cooking with all the trimmings, so it's been a 24-hour culinary free-for-all. I'm going to have to live in the gym for a month to pay for all my sins.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkeys and me go way back. This is my grandfather at his turkey farm in Illinois where my dad grew up. When my parents got married they built a home just a few miles away, so I grew up playing and working on the turkey farm. Each spring, when the 3,000 chicks arrived from the hatchery in Iowa (usually at about 3 a.m.), my cousins and I would all be summoned to the farm to help lift the fuzzy birds out of their boxes, dip their beaks in a water trough and set them loose in the sawdust-covered pen. When they were a few weeks old, we'd reconvene at the farm to do a now obsolete process of "de-beaking," which meant trimming the turkeys' top beak with a tiny red-hot guillotine so they wouldn't peck each other. During the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, people drove from all over town and from far-flung locations to get their fresh, home-grown, corn-fed Thanksgiving turkey. My cousins would help the adults at the cash register and answering phones in the "sales room," a renovated garage next to my grandparents' country farm house. The smell of percolated coffee and doughnuts filled the air. My cousin runs the farm now, and even though the birds are raised at his farm, they still sell them at the sales room, just like the old days. Here's an article about the farm in the Pekin Daily Times.

Have a good Thanksgiving

Please eat responsibly!