Fernley House Thanksgiving
Nov. 25th, 2016 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeSince my grandfather passed away some years ago, and with my sister essentially permanently disabled and confined to a nursing home, my family has stopped gathering for Thanksgiving. Thus Lisa and I have been having what we now consider our traditional meal on Thanksgiving.
A turkey is too much for just the two of us, so Lisa cooks a duck in a honey glaze (of which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
travelswithkuma approves), along with sauteed mini portobello mushrooms, fresh-baked bread, stuffing, and corn. This is more than enough for a big meal, including some leftovers, including the duck carcass from which we will possibly be able to make a duck soup if we can pull it off again. (It's harder than you might think, based on my experience last year. Ducks have a lot of little tiny bones, and getting rid of them is a challenge.)
This was our first Thanksgiving since we moved here that we had a working kitchen sink (with the very useful professional-type spray head) and dishwasher. We rarely use the machine inasmuch as we don't generate enough dishes to use it, but I was thankful to be able to do so last night. Lisa cooks the meals, so it only seems fair that I do the washing up. The new tools in our kitchen make this much easier than it was when I had to use the forward bathroom sink.
After setting the dishes to clean in the dishwasher, a long walk was indicated before we could eat the pumpkin pie that Lisa had baked. While we'd been eating, we heard booming sounds that had me asking, "Who's jumping on our roof?" It turned out that our neighbors, who are regular attendees of Burning Man, had invited many friends, and had set up a Flame Turkey (a metal sculpture of a turkey with flames fed by a small propane tank), and the booming we were hearing was a propane cannon built into the thing. We walked by and they set it off a couple of times. I would have taken pictures, but I don't think my camera phone would have resolved it properly in the dark.
Today the weather has dawned bright and sunny, but cold. I wish this was Sunday's weather! The latest forecast suggests that if Caltrans can work their usual magic over the summit that I may be able to sneak through mid-day on Sunday, but if not, I may not be able to get to the Bay Area until Tuesday night. I keep checking the forecast and re-evaluating my plans accordingly.
In general, we had no plans for engaging in Mass Consumerism Friday; however, Big R down the road is doing a one-day sale that would include a number of things we've been considering getting anyway, so we'll probably break down and go have a look.
A turkey is too much for just the two of us, so Lisa cooks a duck in a honey glaze (of which
travelswithkuma approves), along with sauteed mini portobello mushrooms, fresh-baked bread, stuffing, and corn. This is more than enough for a big meal, including some leftovers, including the duck carcass from which we will possibly be able to make a duck soup if we can pull it off again. (It's harder than you might think, based on my experience last year. Ducks have a lot of little tiny bones, and getting rid of them is a challenge.)This was our first Thanksgiving since we moved here that we had a working kitchen sink (with the very useful professional-type spray head) and dishwasher. We rarely use the machine inasmuch as we don't generate enough dishes to use it, but I was thankful to be able to do so last night. Lisa cooks the meals, so it only seems fair that I do the washing up. The new tools in our kitchen make this much easier than it was when I had to use the forward bathroom sink.
After setting the dishes to clean in the dishwasher, a long walk was indicated before we could eat the pumpkin pie that Lisa had baked. While we'd been eating, we heard booming sounds that had me asking, "Who's jumping on our roof?" It turned out that our neighbors, who are regular attendees of Burning Man, had invited many friends, and had set up a Flame Turkey (a metal sculpture of a turkey with flames fed by a small propane tank), and the booming we were hearing was a propane cannon built into the thing. We walked by and they set it off a couple of times. I would have taken pictures, but I don't think my camera phone would have resolved it properly in the dark.
Today the weather has dawned bright and sunny, but cold. I wish this was Sunday's weather! The latest forecast suggests that if Caltrans can work their usual magic over the summit that I may be able to sneak through mid-day on Sunday, but if not, I may not be able to get to the Bay Area until Tuesday night. I keep checking the forecast and re-evaluating my plans accordingly.
In general, we had no plans for engaging in Mass Consumerism Friday; however, Big R down the road is doing a one-day sale that would include a number of things we've been considering getting anyway, so we'll probably break down and go have a look.
