Thanksgiving | Golden Skate

Thanksgiving

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Before you know it, it will be here!

What are you thankful for this year.

I'm thankful we survived Hurricane Sandy & that Winter Storm Athena really wasn't a factor here.

I'm going to do the traditional Thanksgiving turkey thing. In fact, I have to order one tomorrow.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
My gpa is coming for thanksgiving. I am thankful that even though he is greiving he hasnt shut us out... Not that I really thought he would.

My mom's bff and husband are coming for tgiving too. I LOVE my mom's bff! She just came by to see how I am feeling. She's my adoptomom... Love her!

I have a whole host of things to be thankful for... So hard to list them all...
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
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United-States
I am so thankful for my family.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I just heard something additional today to be thankful for; the brother of Mrs. Boss, who had been diagnosed with a really dire malignancy, turns out to have a different class of tumor, far easier to treat, and what's even better, the doctors think they got it all during surgery. Tonight Mrs. Boss has to spend the evening calling around to her friends giving them GOOD news. She's thrilled, and I'm so happy.

I add to that my gratitude for large things and small, for narrow escapes and broad escapes, for loved ones who love me back, for the color of the sky right before it turns toward evening, for all the cells in our bodies that each do their specialized work, for the taste of chocolate and the beauty of music. And for warmth and light after a week of darkness and almost two weeks of cold!--and for the emergency workers who restored those amenities to me and my neighbors.

Turkey...I gave up meat this year so I probably won't be having it (though I make no hard and fast rules), but there's always salmon!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I get to eat it anyway. I have to have some rules I can break! (*Guards her salmon supply*)
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm typing in between basting the turkey, putting the last touches on the house, and awaiting the arrival of guests in a couple hours!
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I made 4 types of pie (all from scratch) and one gluten free cheesecake
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Impressive, Toni! Bon appetit. You too, Doris. In fact, everyone.

I hope no one is undergoing difficulties from the effects of the storm and that everyone can have a serene and enjoyable feast day.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Oh, yes, Doris; we're all fixed, with every amenity. Thanks for asking.

I also got a new recipe. I haven't tried it out yet, but someone recommended baking the cranberries to make the sauce instead of cooking them in a saucepan. We already have our feasting cranberries prepared, but sometime this weekend I might try the baking method just for fun. You can never have too many cranberries!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Too true. Never enough cranberries. I have never baked cranberries, but my fav Tgiving version is still cranberry orange relish.

Cranberry Orange Relish

4 c. cranberries (or a whole bag, which is a bit more)
2 whole navel oranges with any seeds removed
1 c. sugar (up to 2 c. if the berries & orange are very tart)
(Mom seldom used it, but 1 lemon ground, and 2 apples ground can be
added)

Cut the oranges in eighths and grind them in the food processor.
Dump the chopped oranges into the storage container. Remove
any large pieces and put them back in the food processor.

Add cranberries to the food processor and coarsely grind them
on the chop cycle.
Empty cranberries into the storage container.

Stir the sugar into the mixture. Taste. If too tart, add more.

Cover the container and store in the refrigerator to
meld the flavors for at least 8 hours. (Relish freezes acceptably,
so I make it at Thanksgiving and freeze half for Christmas)

I think a couple days in the refrigerator works better.


Another cranberry recipe that I got out of an old cookbook I bought in Alaska:

Cranberry Surprise Pie (Alaska Cookbook)

1 c. fresh cranberries
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1 egg
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. flour
6 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Grease an 8" pie pan. Spread the cranberries on the bottom
of the pan. Sprinkle the 1/4 c. sugar and chopped walnuts over the
cranberries. Beat the egg well in a separate bowl. Stir the
1/2 c. sugar into the egg and beat well with a spoon. Add the flour
and beat again. Add the butter and vanilla and beat well one more
time. Pour the batter over the cranberries.

Bake at 325 F until golden brown (about 20 to 30 minutes)

Cake on top of berries will be set
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yum to both of those recipes! I've heard of and tasted something similar to your first recipe, which is interesting because it doesn't involve cooking.

I'm sitting here after a long walk (partly errands and partly a yippee-it's-a-day-off trek), watching the tail end of the first Princess Diaries movie. Toni, I hope you plan a Princess Diaries dinner as one of your weekly feasts. It must contain pears, because that's the national fruit of Genovia. (Man, I wanna live in Genovia! What a cool country.) I had quite the repast yesterday. I am here to tell you that even without meat, you can go into a coma afterward--maybe it's a stuffing coma instead of a turkey coma.

And now they're showing Mary Poppins on the Disney Channel! Yum, just about my favorite Disney movie ever. I'm fascinated by the fact that it's not completely faithful to the book and yet totally magical all on its own. One of the most all-enveloping movie experiences I've ever had, and it remains potent for me at this advanced age. I don't know what foods you would plan for Mary Poppins night (in the book they made gingerbread, but it's not in the movie), but you could hunt around for those little umbrellas they serve in drinks and put them in the dessert you make!
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Tom Hanks is starring as Walt Disney in a biopic (?) about the making of Mary Poppins (there's the random Disney fact of the day from me!)
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I had a migraine from no sleep, barely ate. Tomorrow I am going to a community nutcracker at our theatre, and it will not be a great orchestra, but Boston's new pro is 336 for top tix don to ? the boonies. No one to go with there. I avoided blACK FRIDAY AND HOPE ALL sorry caps got stuck..and hope all will go greeen, regift, support american goods whenever possible and American crafters which are nearly extinct. May God help all those still in a mess with Sandy, and may your one gift be to red cross. I am sure everyone knows (or is) someone with everything. I'll bet they'd be touched to have a red cross gift in their name, or Heiffer project. I am behind in NHK and will head over there to see who is worth watching-who is winning. I hope Mirai is good. No sleep is a horrible thing.

Great Dog show on NBC-so nice NOT TO see footballpro, college, ANY. Sorry, I wwish there were better sports ALWAYS on TV like skating. I feel so gyped every mo with cable bill

Here is my made up one dish recipe good for two, or alone or to bring to someone who you know isn't gonna have a real bird and 5 side dishes.

I get ground turkey, pepperidge farm stuffing onions, and wholeberry cranberry sauce. I make it like a meatloaf, and put in loaf pan. It has all the flavors of the best of the dinner-stuffing, turkey, cranberries. Then if you want you can make a side of mashed potatoes, or squash etc. frozen, boxed or fresh. It is easy for elders and disabled, and it is delicious, better than regular meatloaf and less fat than hamburg meat. And you can easily bring the loaf and let the person or elder decide on their favorite side to have. Lots of older/sick people don't eat a ton. The leftovers heated up make a great sandwich, though the stuffing is already plenty of carbs. I also invented a lamb/liver loaf with bacon, but that is not everyone's favorite. I prefer meatloaf in glass or pyrex loaf bans, but you can do this is the dollar aluminum pans and just forget about needing to pick up a dish that is expensive these days(what sin't).

Well, I love turkey, and I didn't eat much. Maybe at Christmastime. We'll see. I think roasted turkey is so delicious. Sounds like some great meals were had at Doris' house. Gee, who's coming for Christmas, LOL?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
That loaf sounds like a great combination of flavors. I saw an ad for a turkey and stuffing sandwich around here, so I think you're onto something that a lot of people would appreciate. I'm sure the flavors work just as well for leftovers--better than plain turkey breast. And you're right: the texture would be much better for people who are older. I don't think a sandwich with stuffing in it would be all that sinful in terms of carbs. How many times a year do you have Thanksgiving, anyway? It sounds like a delicious dose of comfort food.

Your idea of giving something from the Heifer Project for Christmas is a smart one. Every year a site I'm a member of raises money to give to a similar organization to get animals for farm families in Asia. One year I think we actually managed to give a water buffalo. The members are mostly younger kids, so nobody gives more than a few dollars, but it doesn't take much to endow a few rabbits or some chickens. Rabbits are great because they're economical in terms of space and fodder, and they breed like--well, like rabbits. So a mating pair can set a family up for sustenance and also for meat to sell. This year I'm thinking of suggesting to adult loved ones that we only give presents to the kids.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Before giving presents to charities in other people's names, please consider the following:

1. People are very individual about the charities they support. Please if you're going to do this, be sure to donate to a charity that you know that the person you are "giving" this to actually approves of the charity in question. I, for example, would never give a nickel to the Red Cross or United Way. And if you are donating to a church fund in my name, I would prefer it would be to a charity attached to the church I attend, not the one you might prefer. I also like Habitat for Humanity, the ACLU (which is not a charity), my local foodbanks & soup kitchens, and the Salvation Army.

You see the pitfalls.

We had 20 years of back-biting in my family when my well to do evangelical Protestant sister in law decided to give our less affluent, but devout, Catholic relatives "gifts" of donations to the evangelical Protestant church she attended. It would have been better if she had just given them a nice card and nothing else.

As it was, she was accused of trying to get credit for an $100 dollar gift, when it was actually $62 when you took into account the tax deduction she got, and of selfishly gifting her own church to look better in the eyes of the church PTB, all the while being uncharitable and cheap to her own relatives.

Not to mention, the question of whether the church in question was a blot on the national landscape (similar to the Westboro Baptist Church), heretical & anti-Christian.

If she wanted to be really nice, she could have given them a check in the card and left them to determine whether they needed it more, or whether they wanted to donate it to a charity of their own choice (and if they itemize, getting the attendant deduction themselves).

2. When you give money to a charity in someone else's name, you get the deduction, because you are the one who gets the letter that can be given to the IRS as proof of the donation. Anyone who itemizes knows this and is apt to think you are a cheap so and so.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Hmmm. I never thought of those points, Doris. Definitely important to consider.

Another aspect: someone I know gave a donation in my name to an organization that I was fine with (especially because it mattered to him), but since then I've gotten donation requests from them.

I guess I have never been gifted by anyone who supports organizations I really loathe. The church you allude to, if it's like Westboro, would strain my tolerance quite a bit, I agree. Of course, since I have a pretty strongly ethnic last name, such a church might send the donation back....serve them right, too.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Then there's aggressive gifting.

My father in law once claimed to have given a check to the NAACP in the name of a prominent racist in our town.
He claimed the enclosed card message (from him) read: "You are now an honorary ******".
It made him chuckle every time he thought about it.

This was in the 60's when people threw around slurs but wouldn't say curse words. It was a different time.
 
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