Thanksgiving 2019

[runematic]

Thanksgiving was pretty muted this year.  It was just my parents & brother & I.  My oldest brother lives a few states away and he & his wife go to her parents for t-giving.  We used to host a big celebration in years past, but people die (my grandparents from both sides), move, etc.   So the last number of years it has been just us.

 

This year, though, we just had to put down our 13 1/2 year old pup 2 weeks ago.  So no one was really into "celebrating."  He usually got a nice little turkey plate with us.  We miss him greatly.

 

I went to the local butcher & bought stuffed chicken breasts, so no need to make filling or roast a whole turkey.  My mother made baked corn & green been casarole (never a fan of green beens) in foil pans for easy clean up.  We also made Pilsbury southern biscuits for another easy item.    

 

I usually like this time of year, but this year was different.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Went to the mobile (don't say trailer) home park near me in Rancho Mirage (very close) where friends live. They had a turkey dinner at their huge elaborate club house that's dated, seldom used and like the park sort of in decay. It must cost a fortune to air condition it in the summer which contributes to their minimum $1,200 a month space rental for a dinky strip of "land". The dinner was pretty good for $15 and I was home in plenty of time to feed my dogs. The topic of conversation at the table was mainly about expensive Palm Springs restaurants that are way out of my league. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">When I bought my modest house I was impressed with the open floor plan, the huge kitchen island and the Kosher kitchen with two of everything...sinks, ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers etc.. I envisioned big holiday parties with friends. It really never happened and in my current condition it ain't gonna. Most friends and family have either moved away or passed away. Limited family is way up in San Jose. Still, I enjoy holidays with my dogs and prefer to stay home. They're good company.</span>

 

[mattl]

Wow, such subdued Thanksgiving's posted here.   Mine was a semi rollicking 3 generation family get together - starts about 1 or 2 pm ran till almost 3 am.  About 20 of us this year. 2 turkeys all the sides and many deserts.  Craft made beer from a very talented young brewmaster, plus a wide selection of other spirits.  We did the Saran ball game that has been a staple the last few years.  It's a 2 rolls of plastic wrap cut in half and you start with the grand prize, usually $5 of so and start adding layer upon layer of small pieces of wrap with  goodies like candy, lotto tickets and mini bottles of booze wrapped in till it's close to the size of a basket ball.

 

Then we all sit around the table, the person to you left rolls a pair of dice until they roll doubles while you try to unwrap the ball and get a prize.  No tearing or pulling you have to find the edge, when they get doubles they  grab the ball and the dice goes to the next person.  Last night with a group of about 24 it took a little over an hour to get to the prize in the center.  If you get a mini booze bottle you typically drink it, but can decline, under age folks pass it on to whomever wants it.  lots of fun.  Then about 10pm or 11 the food comes out again for a "snack".

 

Some of us were commenting that we are now the "older" generation as the last of the previous generation died about 7 years ago.  Now the youngest generatio that was there was 6 mo. old.  Time goes on...

 

BTW, absolutely no political talk...

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

An extra Turkey from last year that had to be kept at my dad's and even survived a brief power outage there...

This is all I could reasonably cut off and to have sustained being safe to eat, before the pot being left with an ocean of juice, scrappy remains and a bunch of bones... Just right for me to bring to dad for him to give to his cats...

Somehow at where I worked I was able to get a nice sized bag if potatoes (there were plenty left, despitecsomehow selling mist everything, the rest of the year before Thanksgiving is devoted to producing, just for a lot to have been wiped out!) right on Thanksgiving to mash, though only made a few just for the small portion of turkey we actually ate, and sadly not very creamy, and hastily done as in most portions not especially mashed...

Oh, and this morning, crescent rolls that are just right with just orange juice... (Both another surprise-last minute-find)

-- Dave

 

[circlew]

Went to Cracker Barrel at Fields-Ertel Rd. about 8:15 PM last night; didn't have to wait to be seated, but didn't get my first choice of server. I ordered the turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, biscuits and sweet tea. It also came with a slice of ham. I wanted a salad, but they didn't have any due to lettuce recall. It took a while to arrive, and was only lukewarm when it did. I told Kim the server - who I have frequently when there - and she heated it up. It was OK, but the turkey gravy was different than usual - seemed to not have much celery. I think they were running low, and had extended it with the white gravy. The dessert was included, which was supposed to be pumpkin pie. I don't really like their version of it, and wanted pecan, but they were out, so ended up with apple streusel pie, which was good.

Some people a couple tables away got cold food, and complained to the manager, so got their meals at no charge. Had Kim not been so accommodating, I would have asked for an adjustment, too.

It was OK, but didn't compare to what I had at Double J Cafe the day before.

 

[helicaldrive]

Cracker Barrel

For the preceding three years I had to drive to Cincinnati to spend TG with my mother in her assisted living, then memory care, then skilled nursing placements, because my sibs couldn’t, and that’d be awfully mean to let a mother go unvisited when everyone else around her in a big residential facility is getting visitors.

Anyway, Cracker Barrel’s TG service was the only reason I got anything to eat on those lonely days on the highway. Otherwise it would have been a gas station sandwich.

But I had the same experience as you. I didn’t have time to stop in until about 8pm. By then, it’s too late. The food has been sitting around cooking and keeping warm 12 hours, and it’s pooped. The kitchen and staff have endured a hellacious 12-hour, crazy-busy day when they wanted to stay home, so they’re long since over it.

Even so, I was so grateful for a way to have a traditional TG meal on an otherwise upside down and inside out TG day on the road all by myself — and feeling badly about a parent who was unhappy about losing independence and declining health.

I’m always grateful to find a CB on the road so I can have a meal with vegetables, but in the last few years, CB has let their quality slide some. Years ago, CBs were so crowded at mealtimes that you could forget about getting into a CB except for an hour before or after normal meal times. Now it’s rarely a wait. I figure their business has declined some due to the decline in quality.

 

[helicaldrive]

In all fairness

Maybe my perception about their quality is skewed by bad associations.

For three years, every week I had to drive to and from Cinti and ate at CB on the way to and the way back — and for such a sad purpose.

So maybe the associations with that sad, nightmarish time have turned me off.

I dunno.

 

[circlew]

Helicaldrive, which CB location did you visit? I was at the one on Fields-Ertel Rd. off I-71. Last year I ate at the Sharon Rd. at I-75 location, and had a similar experience. All previous years I'd gone to the one in Centerville (south Dayton), as I knew one of the servers. Food there was always good, as was service.

I eat at Cracker Barrel nearly every Thursday evening, almost always on Sharon Rd., and it's usually very good. My favorite server there (Donna) quit a couple weeks ago, so I may go to a closer location more often, such as Milford.

I'm sorry to hear your Mother isn't well; I know that's rough.

 

[helicaldrive]

CircleW, it could have been Harrison OH, or Shelbyville IN or Effingham I or rather some combination of those. I don’t remember.

I always felt badly for the servers working on TG because holidays like that are so stressfully busy and restaurant kitchens are hell on busy holidays and the cooks are irritable beyond words — and typical CB patrons tip very poorly. Been there done that — worked in restaurants many years of my life.

Thank you re Mom. She unexpectedly passed away in May. Sounds like you’ve been down that road. I’m still exhausted from all the work and road trips back and forth. Absolute nightmare. For her too, for different reasons.

Back to the subject of this thread, I had a wonderful time hosting my friends in my house as I have traditionally always done. A friend invited one of his friends from Kansas City, and she had us all laughing nonstop.