Saturday, November 26, 2005
How I spent my Thanksgiving.....
Actually, the preparation started Wednesday night when I made my first-ever pie. Here's the recipe:
Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Unfortunately, I had already put several ingredients in a bowl when I realized I'd left the mixer in the cabinet. Normally, I let Dan retireve it for me because it's a behemoth Kitchenaide I inherited from my mom. But rather than wait until 2am for Dan to get home from work, I did the superwoman thing and fished it out myself. Discovered that while it IS possible for me to heft the thing, it's NOT a good idea to do so because I injured my back. Sigh.
Anyway, I overfilled the pie plate a bit and singed the edges. I cooked it exactly the amount of time stated on the recipe, so next time, I'll take it out a few minutes early.
Thanksgiving day, I got up at noon and then watched a little bit of a dog show since I'm not into football. Nice to be able to sleep in because I wasn't going anywhere. I'd been invited to my stepbrother's in-laws', but I'd declined....too many digestive issues and too sick to feel sociable. Dan and I had never had a Thanksgiving dinner just to ourselves, so we gave it a shot. I kept it simple: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and the pie.
The turkey was the only thing not on my restricted diet, but it's lower fat than most meats, and I figured I could handle it if I kept the portion reasonable. I'd bought a 5 pound breast. Had planned to cook it in the rotiserrie, but when I got it out of the package, I discovered it was too large to put in the basket and too narrow to secure with the skewers, which posed a real problem. The only other thing I could think to do was to roast it, but I didn't have a roasting pan (having never roasted a turkey in my life), so I improvised by putting it in the bottom have of a broiler pan. Severely underestimated how much a cooking turkey spatters! Made a godawful mess in the bottom of the oven, which left me feeling guilty as Dan had just cleaned it. Luckily, since it was fairly small, it only took a bit over two hours to cook. Made a mental note to acquire a roasting pan before doing another turkey. Discovered also that I didn't have a proper knife with which to slice the bird. Only large serrated one I had was a bread knife, which ain't nearly sharp enough. After a considerable amount of time sawing away at the meat, I developed lots of pain and cramps in my hands. Made another mental note to acquire a carving knife someday.
While the turkey was cooking, I watched part of the 1947 version of "Miracle on 34th Street" that was showing on TV. Such a great movie.....I'm shocked I never acquired my own copy of that one. I'm guessing it's out on DVD somewhere.
The potatoes came out well. I just finally learned to make mashed potatoes a few weeks ago. Dan peeled and sliced the spuds for me, which helped quite a bit.
Decided it was at last time to use the good china. Dan inherited a set of his grandmother's china before we got married, and we'd been waiting to use it when company came. After we moved into our own house, I figured we'd have my family over for a holiday, but the first time I suggested it to certain relatives, I was scoffed at, and I never did have them over and forgot all about the china. I meant to use it when we had Dan's family or our friends over, but again, I forgot. So earlier this week, I was hunting around for a platter that we would use for the turkey, and I saw that china in the cabinet gathering dust. I took it out and washed it. It's kinda pretty...I think it might be hand painted? Anyway, our little dinner looked particularly appetizing with the floral print and gold trim on the china.
Anyway, in spite of Dan's help, I realized why I seldom make full meals: by the time I finished carving the rest of the turkey and cleaning up the kitchen, my legs, low back and feet were killing me. So I guess I won't be hosting a dinner party anytime soon. Sorry, folks.
Dan had to work at 6pm, so I had the evening to myself. Decided to work on a scrapbook. Yes, I'm FINALLY working on my photo albums! After several months of editing the images on the computer, getting prints made, putting everything in chronological order, gathering stickers and colored paper and such, I began putting the album for 2002 together last weekend. This is going to be a rather massive undertaking as I have four vacations, a wedding, a reunion, three holiday seasons and two nieces to document between then and now.
One cool thing about scrapbooking is that it is conducive to tv watching. The first thing I watched was the bonus disc from my "Harry Potter Azkaban" DVD. Then I watched "Finding Nemo" on the network. I hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it. Then, to get me in the holiday mood, I watched my DVD of "A Christmas Story". It's one of my favorites! "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was over, and it was time for bed. I slept 12 hours and awoke today feeling pretty decent. I'm fairly certain that now I can handle the busy holiday season if I pace myself. I have three birthdays and an anniversary to celebrate before Christmas. I'm probably going to allow myself to attend one holiday party as well. Haven't done any shopping yet, but that's because I haven't any income yet. I think I will attempt to put up the tree tomorrow because I don't have anything else planned this weekend. Usually, I wait until December, but I've discovered the effort of that plus the celebrations too close together is one of the things that puts me into a flare, so I'll try putting up the tree early and see if that helps. Dan's already way ahead of me....he's been listening to Christmas music all week.
'tis the season, and I'm very nearly jolly.....
Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Unfortunately, I had already put several ingredients in a bowl when I realized I'd left the mixer in the cabinet. Normally, I let Dan retireve it for me because it's a behemoth Kitchenaide I inherited from my mom. But rather than wait until 2am for Dan to get home from work, I did the superwoman thing and fished it out myself. Discovered that while it IS possible for me to heft the thing, it's NOT a good idea to do so because I injured my back. Sigh.
Anyway, I overfilled the pie plate a bit and singed the edges. I cooked it exactly the amount of time stated on the recipe, so next time, I'll take it out a few minutes early.
Thanksgiving day, I got up at noon and then watched a little bit of a dog show since I'm not into football. Nice to be able to sleep in because I wasn't going anywhere. I'd been invited to my stepbrother's in-laws', but I'd declined....too many digestive issues and too sick to feel sociable. Dan and I had never had a Thanksgiving dinner just to ourselves, so we gave it a shot. I kept it simple: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and the pie.
The turkey was the only thing not on my restricted diet, but it's lower fat than most meats, and I figured I could handle it if I kept the portion reasonable. I'd bought a 5 pound breast. Had planned to cook it in the rotiserrie, but when I got it out of the package, I discovered it was too large to put in the basket and too narrow to secure with the skewers, which posed a real problem. The only other thing I could think to do was to roast it, but I didn't have a roasting pan (having never roasted a turkey in my life), so I improvised by putting it in the bottom have of a broiler pan. Severely underestimated how much a cooking turkey spatters! Made a godawful mess in the bottom of the oven, which left me feeling guilty as Dan had just cleaned it. Luckily, since it was fairly small, it only took a bit over two hours to cook. Made a mental note to acquire a roasting pan before doing another turkey. Discovered also that I didn't have a proper knife with which to slice the bird. Only large serrated one I had was a bread knife, which ain't nearly sharp enough. After a considerable amount of time sawing away at the meat, I developed lots of pain and cramps in my hands. Made another mental note to acquire a carving knife someday.
While the turkey was cooking, I watched part of the 1947 version of "Miracle on 34th Street" that was showing on TV. Such a great movie.....I'm shocked I never acquired my own copy of that one. I'm guessing it's out on DVD somewhere.
The potatoes came out well. I just finally learned to make mashed potatoes a few weeks ago. Dan peeled and sliced the spuds for me, which helped quite a bit.
Decided it was at last time to use the good china. Dan inherited a set of his grandmother's china before we got married, and we'd been waiting to use it when company came. After we moved into our own house, I figured we'd have my family over for a holiday, but the first time I suggested it to certain relatives, I was scoffed at, and I never did have them over and forgot all about the china. I meant to use it when we had Dan's family or our friends over, but again, I forgot. So earlier this week, I was hunting around for a platter that we would use for the turkey, and I saw that china in the cabinet gathering dust. I took it out and washed it. It's kinda pretty...I think it might be hand painted? Anyway, our little dinner looked particularly appetizing with the floral print and gold trim on the china.
Anyway, in spite of Dan's help, I realized why I seldom make full meals: by the time I finished carving the rest of the turkey and cleaning up the kitchen, my legs, low back and feet were killing me. So I guess I won't be hosting a dinner party anytime soon. Sorry, folks.
Dan had to work at 6pm, so I had the evening to myself. Decided to work on a scrapbook. Yes, I'm FINALLY working on my photo albums! After several months of editing the images on the computer, getting prints made, putting everything in chronological order, gathering stickers and colored paper and such, I began putting the album for 2002 together last weekend. This is going to be a rather massive undertaking as I have four vacations, a wedding, a reunion, three holiday seasons and two nieces to document between then and now.
One cool thing about scrapbooking is that it is conducive to tv watching. The first thing I watched was the bonus disc from my "Harry Potter Azkaban" DVD. Then I watched "Finding Nemo" on the network. I hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it. Then, to get me in the holiday mood, I watched my DVD of "A Christmas Story". It's one of my favorites! "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was over, and it was time for bed. I slept 12 hours and awoke today feeling pretty decent. I'm fairly certain that now I can handle the busy holiday season if I pace myself. I have three birthdays and an anniversary to celebrate before Christmas. I'm probably going to allow myself to attend one holiday party as well. Haven't done any shopping yet, but that's because I haven't any income yet. I think I will attempt to put up the tree tomorrow because I don't have anything else planned this weekend. Usually, I wait until December, but I've discovered the effort of that plus the celebrations too close together is one of the things that puts me into a flare, so I'll try putting up the tree early and see if that helps. Dan's already way ahead of me....he's been listening to Christmas music all week.
'tis the season, and I'm very nearly jolly.....
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