We had a strange but Happy Thanksgiving week. We visited a local farmer to purchase our turkey, which had lived happily on their farm until the day before. I would not have bothered with a 20 pound turkey for just us, but Jack lobbied hard for us to have a whole turkey and all the fixings at our dinner-for-two. I predict that will be a lot of turkey tetrazzini and turkey pot pie in our future, but he says he enjoys turkey enough to make it worth it for him. Jack prepared the turkey and stuffing for us, and I confess to more than a moment of regret that he hadn't wanted me to cook, because I enjoy my cooking SO much more than his. I needed to remind myself more than once that my cooking probably doesn't taste like traditional Thanksgiving to him any more than his does to me! We skipped most of the sides we would normally have had, and didn't make any dessert at all, to avoid the sheer volume of food, and I missed those a lot. All in all, this was not a Thanksgiving menu to remember.
On Thanksgiving morning I made cranberry sauce, cranberry relish and yeast rolls to drop off at my kids' house for their Thanksgiving dinner. Also included in my delivery was a box of cocoa bombs, a quart of locally made "wake up" coffee/mocha ice cream, and four advent calendars. One of the calendars was filled with make-up for my granddaughter, one filled with cheese for my grandson, an advent doggie treat calendar for Allie, and an advent wine assortment for the adults. I am clearly making up for not being with them by filling their house with reasons to think of me. Silly, but it helps me feel a little more connected. They sent home a couple of items they were having for Thanksgiving so that we could all feel like we had shared a meal.
The next day we bought an iPad and drove it up to my brother, a couple hours north of us. With virus numbers getting worse, we wanted to have him ready and able to meet with us on Zoom or Google Meet so that we can continue to stay in faux-touch until family gatherings are okay again. His old computer won't handle virtual meetings so we decided to take action and I think he was pleased. I took along a little tabletop tree that lights up; my brother has not had a christmas tree in a decade or more but confessed to me last year that he misses it, so, although he won't be surrounded by physical family this year, at least he will have a tree and know that he is in our thoughts.
Meanwhile, here at home, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care . . . and our holiday season is ready to begin.
Jack, who would ignore christmas altogether if I would let him, didn't lift a finger to help with decorating the tree and he won't give any input on what holiday foods to make or gifts to buy. My revenge is underway -- we take turns choosing a movie each evening, and all my movies from now until the end of the month will be holiday movies. The ones we've watched so far have been awful, but I told him he has only himself to blame!
My birthday is this week, and I am planning to make myself a cake today, something I have never done before. Jack wanted to make or buy one for me but I decided that I want a cake that I will really enjoy and not waste calories on being polite, so the obvious solution is to make it myself! Honestly, I wish I had thought of doing this years ago, especially because there were many years when my birthday passed by without notice, but perhaps I was too willing to remain silent and feel sorry for myself. Jack is a big fan of birthdays and so the self-pity-plan hasn't been an option these last several years, and I've discovered that I like it! I also bought myself a quilting advent calendar and one filled with candles-- another thing I've never done, although I have bought a lot of advent calendars for other people! - so I am ready to celebrate for the next month, to make up a little for the isolation this year. Our anniversary is on the 8th (2 years!) and Jack's birthday is on the 23rd -- both reasons to celebrate but so far I have no ideas for either. Normally we would probably schedule a nice dinner out and maybe a weekend away, but neither of those are options this year. I need to come up with a menu to prepare at home for the 8th and something fun for Jack's birthday, so it's time for me to get those creative juices flowing!
2 comments:
It certainly is a very strange holiday season with Covid ( and, let's not mention that Administration full of bozos!!)surging (at least here it is we've gone from 30 cases in August in our little Town to 78 as of last Wednesday--we get alerts about it every few days...s i g h ).
We have just a little tabletop tree that is up but not yet decorated...I usually do that like you do. [I do get some directions which I tend to ignore as: "if you want it there you do it" is my mantra....]
We opted to have a small roast chicken for the two of us and tomorrow I will make us a chicken pot pie with leftovers...
Keep the faith and stay safe -- hugs from far away :()Julierose
Well, that is a huge turkey for two people. I’d miss the sides too. That’s the best part IMHO. You make me laugh with your Christmas revenge. Your stockings look so cute, and it looks very Christmassy there. Happy birthday to you both. (BTW, I haven’t had a birthday cake since the last one my mother made for me, which would have been decades ago.)
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