I'm thankful for dark underwear for guys.
Anyone cooked turkey in a bag? Jammies brought some home and I was thinking about trying it.
Also, someone should make a cherpumple.
3: We did many years ago. In Texas! I thought it turned out great, but my wife is too nervous about not seeing the goddamn bird while it cooks. Every Thanksgiving since we have an increasingly brief arguments about trying it and even how well it turned out. It's gotten better in my mind and more average in hers. I could force it and take full responsibility but that would be fraught.
Do they even know what Thanksgiving is in Alaska?
I think it was just a grocery sack coated with peanut oil.
Moister white meat is my contention.
Do they even know what Thanksgiving is in Alaska?
I don't think you've got the hang of this Band Aid thing.
I, for one, am fully on board with the Klein/Yglesias eternal war on turkey (frex).
7: I'm in Arizona, so I wouldn't know.
3: brought some oven bags home?
My sister reliably turns out quality turkey. Maybe Klein and Matt "Walnut Oil?" Yglesias just need to befriend some better cooks.
They complain that we have to add fat and flavor to turkey, then recommend a recipe that adds about a bushel of sugar to pork. And why, in the name of all that's holy, are two Jews recommending pork?
That said, I'm fully on board with cooking whatever the hell you want on these holidays; if it ever falls to me to make Thanksgiving dinner for anyone, it sure as hell isn't going to include a whole roasted turkey.
You of the oozing proboscis, I don't think "my relative the professional chef can make good turkey" is much of a counterargument.
16: yeah, he bought some Reynolds bags on a whim at the grocery store.
At least we can all be thankful that police failed to shoot a banana-wielding maniac.
She's not a professional chef anymore!
have you met a Jew?
Someday I might. Someday I will!
The sugar on the pork shoulder isn't necessary to make it edible (pork shoulder, salt and pepper is sufficient), it's just extra-delicious.
if it ever falls to me to make Thanksgiving dinner for anyone
You'll take your kids in the backyard so they can watch you put a lamb in a headlock and cut its throat?
I have shared too much with you people.
But anyway, Stormcrow has me convinced to try it.
Yes, I think it works well in Texas. Because of the latitude.
It's like you people don't even keep up with your newsmagazines.
4. The cherpumple suffers from a fatal lack of mince pie.
Happy thanksgiving, all!
I'm making goose, which I haven't done before. I'm going to be a bit of a drama queen about it, I suspect. But it's not time to start it yet so I'm staying out of the kitchen right now.
With the assistance of an eight-year old, I made two pumpkin pies from scratch. There are funny bits that look lighter than the rest of the filling. I think maybe the eggs should have been beaten more or that I should have used brown sugar that hadn't formed chunks.
32: So very much fat comes off as you cook.
Happy Thanksgiving to all you reprobates. Because I failed to ask for an invite to dinner, I think I might be patronizing an own restaurant. I will tip well.
32: So very much fat comes off as you cook.
Really? I should start making duck often.
There had better be a lot of goose fat.
I'm going to be a bit of a drama queen about it, I suspect.
There had better be a lot of goose fat.
I discovered two Christmases ago that overflowing goose fat makes me a drama queen.
We're celebrating on Sunday, and all the food posts/talk on FB and elsewhere is making me profoundly hungry. I don't want to wait!
On the turkey front, I'm no professional chef and I've been able to turn out fantastic turkeys every time. I think pre-salting, buttering, and a quick, even cooking without stuffing/basting/opening the oven door (a la Alton Brown) produces great results without a lot of fuss.
This year, though, we're having a ham, because turkey is desired at Christmas and two turkeys in the space of a month is a bit much for a two-person household. I've got no clue what I'm doing with the ham. Hopefully it'll be good.
Wait, how much goose fat will there be? I have a pretty deep roasting pan.
That sounds fine. I just wanted to warn you in case you had a shallow pan.
44: You'll be fine. I think I mentioned at the other place that I had neglected to look at the size of my goose beforehand and it didn't fit in the roasting pan (or the oven, thus needing a knee-ectomy). I ended up having to cook it on a deep sheet pan (about 1 - 1/2" deep). Even with stopping to pour out the fat several times, it overflowed. (And pouring the fat was incredibly stressful and resulted in the drama queen behaviour.)
(But our oven is smaller than most American ovens, and our goose was incredibly long for some reason.)
Lots of fat from geese too. Realllly fine stuff. I've prepped the duck, cranberries, and am most of the way done with sweet potatoes. Rolls, bacon sprouts all that remains.
I didn't wan to fuck around with a homemade dessert this year, so we bought a lemon tart
Is this where I confess that until earlier this year I'd never heard any of "Alice's Restaurant"? (I was at the LBJ Library and they were playing it in one of the exhibits.) I think it might be one of those things you had to grow up on to really love.
I think it might be one of those things you had to grow up on to really love.
This is an understatement
our goose was incredibly long for some reason.
coughostrichcough
How do people get invited to other people's places for holiday dinners unless they are very close? Tim and I are going out, but I think that lots of people just assume that we are getting together with my parents.
Wouldn't it be funny if the only thing I posted for the next year is Alice's Restaurant? Shut up you ungrateful brats.
Mmmmm goose fat.
We are bringing champagne and not cooking at all. My ex military relative is cooking and the response to our offer to bring something cooked could only be interpreted as the cris de coeur of a complete control freak who really doesn't want anyone fucking with his menu, and I respect that. Although am nit a fan if pumpkin pie so there'll be some avoidance strategies.
Regardless of type, pies are slow enough you shouldn't have trouble.
Although am nit a fan if pumpkin pie so there'll be some avoidance strategies.
Trigger warning, pls.
My pie crust has totally failed. This is provoking an existential crisis.
Did you have a safety school in mind for it?
I mean, don't get me wrong. It'll still be good. But it will be less than the perfection I expect of myself.
Our only guest, my somewhat feckless brother, is now 20 minutes lateish and Lee wants to start eating without him. I've been putting her off as long as possible with logistics but she thinks his rudeness would cancel hers so I can't argue that, apparently.
But it will be less than the perfection I expect of myself.
You disappoint me.
What? That ruins your moral highground. Obviously you let the food get cold and get your eyeballs nice and hairy.
his rudeness would cancel hers
-Gandhi
a complete control freak who really doesn't want anyone fucking with his menu
I don't think of myself as a control freak, but I really don't want people to bring things. I already planned the meal I want and am happy to make it all if I can have it my way.
63 is spot on, but my impression is Lee is not a very strategic argued and I'd personally be against her becoming wily(et).
I don't think of myself as a control freak,
The worst never do...
My kid came down with a cold and thus has given me the perfect excuse to have my traditional peanut butter & jelly sandwich and some Scotch all by myself. Perfect.
If any video should be tradition on Thanksgiving it's "turkey jihad".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX5b3BUvZMA
The argument was that I'd already let the food get cold (by changing the baby promptly rather than covering all the dishes first, whatever) and so dinner was ruined and we might as well not wait. Eventually we didn't, and an hour later he just showed up. He doesn't care, but it's more than kind of annoying to spend the whole day cooking two menus (Lee's requiring pork in everything, his being meatless and onionless) only to have the meal over in about 10 minutes, but that's what happens with children and whatnot. I didn't bother homemaking dessert, will have some wine now.
Turkey jihad might be the greatest thing I've ever seen.
Pie made last night. Turkey roasting, stock reducing, bread rising. This is gonna be good. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.
Jammies and I are having a very stupid ongoing argument about how he purchases digital meat thermometers and I melt them, and complain that we should own the kind that won't melt. I used to have one, and I think it got thrown out for being a duplicate item. Grrrr.
Change of plan. No escape! Coercion! I hope dessert is good.
The girls have been dancing for the last hour. I have a lot to be thankful for and I really am. Plus now the official meal is done and we can just eat leftovers for the next million meals. I've never been all that good at Thanksgiving, but having other people enjoy it is a success.
I just remembered how last Thanksgiving Eve we had a meetup in Berkeley featuring the Worst. Traffic. Ever. Anybody up for a drink Saturday-ish?
I'm painfully aware of how much less I eat when I'm not drinking. I'm told I'm not drinking out of solidarity with somebody who needed to quit. I'm pretty sure it's not about me. When I asked about keeping secret beer in the basement, nobody objected.
We extended the leaves of the dining room table and the children keep walking into the corner. Come on now, children. Heads up.
Come on now, children. Heads up.It's called situational awareness.
76: I'd be up for a meetup, but I won't be back until Sunday night, during which I expect to be stuck in traffic driving north.
We're in Reno with my family. This year Thanksgiving falls on my aunt's birthday, which she has disliked ever since my uncle (her brother) shot himself on this date a few years ago. So there will be a gathering at my uncle's (her husband's) casino-executive fortress of bad taste, with overplayed bonhomie and massive focus on our child as the last bulwark against Time's winged chariot. I love my extended family but many of them are in a late-stage Faulkner condition and it's sad.
I am personally thankful that I get to see my sister today, which doesn't happen much.
You know, I don't think I've ever had a Thanksgiving turkey that was anything other than great. Reading the anti-turkey rants on how no one actually likes turkey is like reading how no one likes bacon. If I only got to eat bacon once a year, that would be a major holiday too.
Wow, 85 sounds sad. My story resolved well because Lee actually noticed how exhausted I seemed and encouraged me to go up and take a nap, so I got to sleep for an hour and now have the dishwasher going and dips made for a chips-and-dip dinner. I wish I could see more relatives, but I haven't had it together enough to make travel work and both my grandmothers are in failing health but too far into it to handle having the kids around, so there's sort of a catch-22 keeping me from visiting.
It's fair to say that the reason cheerleaders wear shorts and short tops is to show off the muscles in their stomachs as they move, right? ("I wish I was old enough to do that. And if I was skinny." Fuck. This is what I get for telling them not to turn the football game off while other people are out smoking, that the stupid halftime show is getting serious scrutiny.)
Walt bogarts all the thigh meat.
Here we are at the casino fortress. It's OK. There was an ice bucket full of mini prosecco bottles and the casino executive, whose family is Italian and whose walls are crammed with Italian souvenirs, claimed never to have heard of prosecco. (Lurid tried it and pronounced it bad.) My grandparents are both recovering stroke victims and getting around in walkers; the conversation briefly turned to Ferguson and I grabbed the arms of my chair because politics are retrograde up here, but indifference seems to have triumphed. The executive's brother played for the Dallas Cowboys at some point, I know not in what capacity, which makes the football game somehow personal. I have been told I have to read Dan Simmons' Hyperion. A yippy dog has made my daughter nervous, but she's having a blast being led around by my elevn-year-old cousinOtherwise everyone is drinking too much pinot noir and getting amiable, which is clearly best case and the peace everyone deserves.
There's something to be said for kids who know how to subtly coerce me without triggering my "Fuck off! response. Just back from a good meal + great dessert and company. The felines here have ferociously snarfed up half their cans of Fancy Feast and are now leisurely working on the rest.
So, still missing the missing; still finding things to be thankful for. Best wishes, y'all.
88: Thorn, IMX you can't prevent exposure, all you can do is immunize. Since my kids did not turn into Southern Baptist evangelical fundamentalists, I feel qualified to offer this advice.
92: I just wanted to have some answer that came from the women's perspective to some degree and wasn't just "Because dudes in the audience like it that way."
Huh, they have a Rembrandt etching that they keep in the bathroom.
93: No lesbians like bare midriffs?
95: Ugh, this was right after a weepy conversation about kids in the class calling her gay and how it hurts her feelings because we're gay and they shouldn't make fun of gay people even though she's not one. And I'm not good at objectifying cheerleaders, so I'm not much good on that front.
Ugh. Sorry. Would be a harder thing to explain than cheerleaders.
96: Yes, though with the copperplate etchings there have been various prints made over the centuries, so I don't know just how astronomical is the value of this particular one.
Swipe it and bring it to antiques roadshow.
Maybe somebody should write a children's book called "Comodified Heterosexuality: A Beginners' Guide".
102 is pretty much every children's book, no?
This one would have more cleavage than Goodnight Moon.
102: I think you need the Disney Princesses to sign off on that first.
Less cleavage than The Little Mermaid.
Happy Thanksgiving. I just realized that my parents, sister, sister's husband, aunt, aunt's SO, and grandmother are spending Thanksgiving together in CA and nobody thought to tell or invite me! We never did big family Thanksgiving when I was a kid, so I'm not too attached. The boyfriend and I couldn't have afforded tickets, and it would have been odd watching my mother's demented narrative run against my grandmother's, but it still would have been nice to know we were missing it. I knew my parents were going to visit my grandmother, and I knew my sister and her husband usually dropped in for dinner at my aunt's en route to visiting friends in SF, so I guess I should have put it together.
Maybe they have bathroom art they want to protect.
Somebody paid money to suggest that I drink Strongbow cider over ice.
If the ad works, I expect to see new ones for Guinness and Mr. Pibb.
69/71: OMG, "turkey jihad" is, in fact, in Turkish, and is basically a parody of an Erdoğan-style barnstorming election speech ("vote for me and I'll give you each a car! oh citizens, I'm here for you!" etc.) Brilliant. This will join Addams Family Thanksgiving as an annual youtube tradition.
I have that name going through my head to the tune of "Paperback Writer."
My first time making a glaze and applying it to a ham! Very satisfactory, and lots left over. And oysters do seem to improve a stuffing.
I overlooked the goose a bit, but the gravy was great and the meat was at least not boring turkey. And good gravy. People brought great food.
People brought great food.
So much so that you couldn't keep your eyes off of it apparently.
112: Relatedly, Politico attempts a joke. " The president who ate Turkey. How Recep Tayyip Erdogan gorged on a whole country."
Belated Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I successfully avoided politics and especially Ferguson the whole time and thank god for football (which I normally don't watch) which kept the TV from being reflexively tuned to Fox News. And the night before I suggested we watch "Portrait of Jennie" on TCM rather than Fox so a double win for me.
I also learned to cook some family staples, stuffed artichokes, lasagna, eggplant and a couple of other things as this will be the last Thanksgiving I'm likely to have with family in a very long time.
Did you get the recipes notarized?
My Thanksgiving:
(Discovered, seated: ajay and a young lady. Enter a waiter, alert, poised, notepad in hand.)
Me: So, what can I get you to drink?
Her: Would you mind if I had a beer?
Me: Er, no?
Her: Because I know a lot of guys really don't like it when girls drink beer. (defensively) It's just a Peroni! I only drink Peroni! Not other kinds of beer!
Me: ...
Her: (desperation rising) I can order something else if that's a problem!
Me: Two Peronis, please.
Honestly. What is wrong with people (male people) sometimes?
119 Then schlep them down to the County Court to get the notary public's signature certified then to the NY Dept of State to get whole deal certified and authenticated and then...
Did I mention that when I took my MLS and all the attendant supporting documentation to the NY DoS to get them to authenticate it they put some kind of a hole punch staple through all the documents, including my diploma?
It is such a cliche, but I actually unexpectedly ate way too much (because I thought I was consciously pacing). After the main dinner I had to bail on our neighborhood walk/hike early and go lie down; couldn't even face dessert for 8 hours or so. (I'd say lightweight, but ...) I thin our issue is too many different items on the menu so even a small sampling of each is enough to slay one. We did try to drop either the sweet potato (actually yam) casserole or the mashed potatoes but both have their constituency.
I am refusing to read 121 until it is rewritten in Carolingian minuscule and countersigned by the Bishop of Rhodes.
I agreed to come to work today because I run the office on Fridays when my boss is out, but our network connection is down and we basically can't do any work. I could be sleeping!
123: Don't forget the circle and the arrows on the back.
126: what if you could turn your browser window over and see what was written on the other side.
WHOA.
It's all Carolingian majuscule over here these days.
If I held elected office I'd propose legislation that all diplomas issued by MOOCS must be written Comic Sans.
I'm in the office too -- my section has to have a supervisor covering on all nominal work days, and I'm low supervisor on the totem pole.
But at least I didn't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner; we went to friends, and all I had to do was bring pie. It's funny how strongly particular foods signify Thanksgiving: there was a turkey, and there was stuffing, and there was cranberry sauce, and everything else was really very good, but a Thanksgiving dinner with no sweet potatoes in any form, no mashed potatoes, and no yellow turnips doesn't feel like Thanksgiving. (Also, no pumpkin pie -- I brought apple and pecan, and was specifically waved off pumpkin, but the assigned pumpkin pie baker fell through.)
It's all Carolingian majuscule over here these days.
Well, you're closer than I am, obviously it looks like majuscule to you.
all diplomas issued by MOOCS must be written Comic Sans.
On a Post-It.
129 My dad bought an apple pie instead of pumpkin pie - because they were all out at Costco as his excuse- and I definitely missed it. If I'd known I would have bought one with me.
Luckily, I have a spare pie crust in the fridge (made dough for two double-crust pies, made a double-crust and an open-face pie) so I think I'll make a pumpkin (well, butternut squash, but same difference) pie this weekend.
I certainly didn't need any more food last night -- I'm still vaguely overfull. Dinner was late, and the afternoon was heavily alcoholic (but ladylike! Mixed drinks and wine only!), and I think I ate enough to keep a highschool football team alive for a week.
I am also at work today.
Barry, I must have missed it, but it sounds like you landed a job in your field. Yay!
Sad, but I have to admit that my eyerolling reaction to it is addressed to the woman in question as well as to the men who scared her off beer.
I blame the whole island with the possible exception of Wales.
She sounds...eager to please. A keeper!
And 120 took place in Great Beeristan! Inconceivable.
Ogged, partying commenting like its 2007.
120 is really sad.
Tragically, there are women who have nothing better to do on a Thursday night but have a drink with me. Not many, it's true, but some.
129: Thanksgiving with mashe potatoes doesn't feel right to me. I need squash for things to be right. We never ate mashed potatoes, because the Pilgrims didn't have them, although you could argue that Thanksgiving as we know it only dates back to 1867.
Here we see the difference between true WASP and immigrant Irish. Mashed potatoes are probably untrue to the spirit of Thanksgiving if you look at it like that, but you would have had to tase my mother to keep her from serving them at a holiday meal.
Wouldn't the Pilgrims have had potatoes? I mean, England definitely had them by that time. Didn't they bring any with them?
141: Even one is too many! But really, I know I've been in romantic situations where I've been so messed up by previous reactions to me that I've said things I know seemed nonsensical in the face of kindness, so I can't be as tough on her as LB is, nor as clear in blaming men.
144: well, they're kind of heavy, and the ship was pretty small.
I can't be as tough on her as LB is
I roll my eyes only in the most affirming and supportive way possible.
Admittedly, it's not very affirming and supportive, but it's what I can manage.
My brother insisted on prime rib instead of turkey, and it definitely didn't feel like a proper Thanksgiving, even though we otherwise had all the proper elements. It was still pretty good though! My brother-in-law brought lots of delicious beers, from Unibroue and Ommegang and some other breweries I had never heard of, so I was pretty happy.
We had a great time, with 18 people at the table. Subject of Ferguson never mentioned, out of a sense that it didn't belong I think although I'd be surprised if there'd be substantial disagreement. We ate close to regular dinnertime, so the game was already over and done with, not that anyone but a nephew and dad were remotely interested.
Spirited friendly discussion early in the day with kids during preparation, daughter maintaining that holiday had become tainted by commercial associations and spurious backstory re: NAs. My defense of Civil War origins, meaning of holiday not acceptable.
Paul Krugman, on his blog, is trying to upset LB. But I'd like to hone in on something else Simon notices
143: Corn is the essential ingredient.
Honestly. What is wrong with people (male people) sometimes?
To be fair, I'd probably object to her ordering a Peroni. But I berate my male friends for drinking Peroni all the time too.
re: 152
Heh, I used to occasionally drink it, until I realised what pale over-fizzy stuff it is.
I don't think I'd ever even heard of Peroni before this thread. It sounds like an aperitif or something.
149: my grandfather was an archivist and called upon to write a little summary of the history of Thanksgiving. And my mother's ancestor's brother's widow was instrumental in getting Lincoln to declare it a national holiday.
you could argue that Thanksgiving as we know it only dates back to 1867
And you'd be right!
Peroni is the generic Italian lager found only at Italian restaurants. Exactly like Tsingtao or Sapporo in their analogous restaurants.
144: According to a text I found on Gutenberg, the foodstuffs on the Mayflower were biscuits, oatmeal, rye meal, butter, cheese, salt cod, smoked herring, various forms of salted or smoked beef or pork, beans, turnips, onions, pease, cabbages, and parsnips.
Potatoes had been brought to England by 1620, but were they a standard staple yet? Sources are vague on this.
Not to be confused with Negroni, which I did for a bit.
1867
1863. Which is weird, right? People we're supposed to be grateful that no foreign country invaded the US, that the economy hadn't collapsed, and that the population was still increasing.
158: Really interesting. Thanks for looking it up when I was too lazy to do it myself.
Peroni is the generic Italian lager found only at Italian restaurants. Exactly like Tsingtao or Sapporo in their analogous restaurants.
In London it's found in most pubs these days and bafflingly priced as a premium beer. Hence my berating people for drinking it instead of the much tastier, probably less expensive beers on offer.
||
Apparently the, or a, Swedish phrase for "end of story" is "punkt slut".
|>
I think they were big in Ireland by 1620, but the Pilgrims weren't necessarily that into them. It's probably that they aren't that great as provisions for sea voyages. (They keep a long time, yeah, but not necessarily that well packed tightly in constantly moist situations.)
They might have brought some along for planting, though.
I like the defense of Peroni in 120: "It doesn't count! It's not, like, real beer!"
The male people referenced in 120 must not have been following OK Cupid's research.
From time to time I am in the humour for a Peroni, or better that other Italian one (begins with M, stereotyped Italian older chap on the label). I just think of them though as yer basic light "Continental" lager, like French or Spanish beer. In a pub sometimes the only lager choices are Carlsberg/Heineken and bottles of Bud/Miller/Coors light and then maybe one other, Tiger or Peroni or something.
I'm more surprised by the lack of Guinness.
169 to 168.
I was only describing the lager selection: I am not a Guinness drinker or Smithwicks for that matter. I like various lagers and pilsners and most Weissbier and a tiny proportion of ales, the ones which are not very hoppy, also many Belgian beers.
I am a nuisance to buy a drink for because my answer to "What'll you have?" is that I want to go up to the counter and peer at the fridge before I decide. Only my younger brother can be reliably trusted to get me the least worst option available.
To be fair, I'd probably object to her ordering a Peroni. But I berate my male friends for drinking Peroni all the time too.
I had the same basic thought - if you think you're going to take flak for drinking a beer, at least drink a tastier beer! But that's just because I don't like lagers much.
She must have run into a really weird guy(s) at some point. (Or perhaps just as likely, read a silly magazine article.) I've only ever received admiration for drinking beer; the burping afterwards, maybe less admired.
Potatoes had been brought to England by 1620, but were they a standard staple yet? Sources are vague on this.
I don't believe they were yet common. The French were struggling to have them accepted in the late 18th century and I think the English time line is similar.
. I just think of them though as yer basic light "Continental" lager, like French or Spanish beer.
Which is exactly what it is. It's not actively bad, it's just really bland and usually way overpriced.
In a pub sometimes the only lager choices are Carlsberg/Heineken and bottles of Bud/Miller/Coors light and then maybe one other, Tiger or Peroni or something.
And out of these choices, I do in fact always order the Peroni.
As would I, given those choices, and I wouldn't berate anyone for doing so. Not that I'm often in places with a selection quite that dire.
174: Apparently some kind of Pittsburgherisch speciality.
md 20/400 @135 I did indeed. And combining both fields I've studied which was unexpected but worked out really nice.
What's wrong with Peroni? I'll admit I know squat about beer but I've tried it and would drink it again.
Thanksgiving went okay. Ferguson was discussed only obliquely. The good part about being the family anarchist is that everyone else is usually worried about setting me off, and thus avoid bringing up political topics.
I made the pumpkin pie -- used the fancy-pants pre-made crust from the co-op. It tasted pretty good. Only doubled the spice, probably should have quadrupled it. I really like spicy pumpkin pies.
I think everyone in my white, English, Danish, protestant family would be outraged to not find mashed potatoes served at any holiday meal. Maybe you could get away with it on the fourth of July, but even then.
From time to time I am in the humour for a Peroni, or better that other Italian one (begins with M, stereotyped Italian older chap on the label).
Moretti.
I have no idea why I know this.
Seems as if the work is only half done at bedtime on Thursday. We'd had to leave all crystal and some heirloom dishes until the morning, no dishwasher for them, and all the pots and pans and cutting boards. Got it finished and breakfast made by the time the kids got up.
I've left the tablecloth in place to use the full layout and dining room light from a full bank of windows—Chicago Bungalow— to find and treat stains. Vacuumed it rather than shaking it out. Now stain treatment: white vinegar for wine, hydrogen peroxide for fruit stains, like cranberry and lingonberry, and also cherry pie. Napkins will need it too.
129. LB, sorry to hear that. We had potato/sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, pureed turnips (actually rutabagas, tbh -- slightly milder taste). And there was pumpkin pie, pecan and apple, too.
Our friends brought over a Marionberry pie, and the group could absolutely not decide whether the store was selling it as a joke or not. The cross-weave top layer of pie crust was covered by a whole lot of sugar crystals. It was delicious.
I think the main problem with Peroni is that it's always overpriced -- I mean, it is only ever served in placed that need a huge markup on their beer.
Fuck. I just finished a lot of work and earlier today looked round the house of a dead but clearly pious and literate old lady, being sold by her executors. It was melancholy to see the carers' notes about how to wash her still in place above the bath. I may well try to buy it and will then have to spend a lot of money extirpating the traces of her age and neglect. I think I would have liked her though.
This exact pie, although with more sugar crystals. Nevertheless, the web presence makes me suspect it is not a jokey pie. As of last night I was swearing up and down that it must be a joke.
Why a joke? Because it sounds like the recently deceased politician?
Weave. Crystals. You don't even see cultural signifiers.
Marionberries are a real thing. Somewhat common in California, probably more so in Oregon.
Most of us had never heard of them, and our friend says "I brought a pumpkin pie and a Marion Barry pie." Of course it sounds like a joke!
188: No one made the weave connection, you racist.
So you really thought it was a joke because of the berry name and sugar crystals?
A post-Thanksgiving thread! I joined my adoptive family, so speak, for the first time in several years, and was slightly apprehensive about it. All good overall.
Ferguson was discussed only obliquely.
Some new members of the adoptive (adopted?) family were introduced, and the new fiancee of the nephew had some derisive things to say about looters: "Oh, right, looting and burning things down always solves everything, right, uh-huh. Smart people there. I'm sure they have the answer to everything."
I held my tongue, given that the nephew was gazing at the fiancee adoringly at the time (she's so smart!), though evil me wants to observe that perhaps that's why she's getting C's in her (online) college classes, which she'd told me at length was bothering her very much, what with needing to procure recommendations for future advancement.
The good part about being the family anarchist is that everyone else is usually worried about setting me off, and thus avoid bringing up political topics.
I wish I knew whether anyone in that family recognizes me as as the resident bleeding-heart liberal. Don't know.
In any event, I've avoided that family in the last few years because of the three blond daughters, tossing their hair, batting their mascara'd eyelashes, and generally projecting the air that the proceedings at hand are barely tolerable; but as my housemate pointed out to me going in, they've grown up somewhat now. Indeed they have, and they have actually discernible personalities.
Two are now just into college, and my how that changes things. They can focus on adults now, and have conversations. Also the oldest one has dyed her hair jet black and is basically goth. Huh!
And no one was interested in my apple nut bread, more fool they. But then, the peanut butter pie, with oreo cookie crust, of which the youngest daughter (aged 14?) was quite proud, was rather gross. Win some, lose some.
Lastly: is anyone familiar with something called the Big Green Egg? It's sort of a Weber grill on steroids. I'd never heard of it myself, but it's a thing in certain circles.
The turkey was roasted in a Big Green Egg, outdoors, for 2 hours, and came out absolutely terrific. It'd been brined beforehand. But in the cooking, no basting needed, no fussing. Though it was not technically smoked, it had a slightly smoky flavor, along with notable moistness presumably from the brining. Recommended -- not that I'd invest in a Big Green Egg myself.
Did I mention that when I took my MLS and all the attendant supporting documentation to the NY DoS to get them to authenticate it they put some kind of a hole punch staple through all the documents, including my diploma?
But at least the degree makes it more likely you know where to find a paper conservator to repair your diploma.
196: One of my rich, gadgety friends has a BGE. Really likes it, but frankly I'm not sure what the precise attraction is. Sounds like a lot of hassle for a result you could get from a conventional oven easily enough.
I wish I knew whether anyone in that family recognizes me as as the resident bleeding-heart liberal.
The patchouli probably tipped them off.
198: You can't smoke food in a conventional oven.
My brother won a Big Green Egg in raffle or something a few years back. He loves it. I've thought about getting one but haven't quite been able to bring myself to shelling out that kind of dough.
Oh damn, now that I've read about them, I kind of want one. How much are they?
But to be honest, I even stopped grilling. The oven is just so convenient.
196, 198: The turkey was not actually supposed to come out smoked, is the thing. It did, in the end, but the basic idea of the BGE just seems to be that it's a massively glorified Weber grill -- if you're gadgety, and rather meat-oriented, and outdoor-cooking entranced (plus have money), awesome.
fwiw, there are apparently knock-off brands of Big Green Egg which are almost entirely identical, although they must not be painted green, and my sense, from the discussion, was that they're not exactly knock-off (as in cheesier), just that they're alternative brands.
204: Teach your sons how to cook like a man. I have our grill in the concrete area just outside the basement door. The deck is above that area and keeps the the snow and rain off. I grill year round out there.
Yeah, I was grilling pretty steadily for a while; I don't mind the cold--I'm just very lazy. That's manly too, right?
Mostly I want a smoker, and I can get one of those for under a $1000.
I'm sure someone here knows where to find an html conservator to repair holes in comments.
I'm grilling exclusively lately because a breaker in our stupid electrical box is bad or something and our electric stove is suddenly only getting 110 and not 220. Actually hasn't been that big a deal. My wife and older daughter are both gluten intolerant so we don't do much baking anyways. We make salads and grill meat and vegetables and buy those awesome bags of cooked and peeled hard boiled eggs.
buy those awesome bags of cooked and peeled hard boiled eggs.
This is a thing? Really? It seems so terribly, terribly wrong.
If those eggs are wrong then I don't want to be right. I have to settle for the little half dozen bags at the supermarket. In So Cal my sister gets much bigger ones at Costco. I'm not sure why our local Costco doesn't have them. I'm going to see if they have a suggestion box.
I wonder if it's one of those 'past the sell by date' things -- supermarket eggs hit the date on the carton, and they send them to be boiled and bagged rather than throwing them out. Like rotisserie chicken or the cooked food at Whole Foods.
But I swear I've never seen a bag of peeled hardboiled eggs for sale in my life. Has everyone else heard of this?
This was apparently discussed on food blogs around 2008-2009. They're a real thing--people report seeing them at Trader Joe's, Costco, and Publix.
And someone reports seeing them at Whole Foods. Here's a review.
215: Way too common for that. Plus, I remember seeing giant bags of boiled eggs when I worked at McD's in the 80s. They were for salads.
Are they cheaper, more expensive, or about the same price as raw eggs?
Seem to be more expensive, at least according to that linked review.
They're more expensive, like 5 bucks a dozen. Just so damn convenient.
The bags of soft boiled eggs are really hard to come by.
Here's a review.
" They tasted stale, the whites were rubbery, and the yolks were pretty hard." SOLD.
I've never seen them at any of the above mentioned stores around here, so I'm thinking it's a self-indulgent west of the Mississippi thing.
Bagged hardboiled eggs? Such a thing was never heard of!
Moretti is what I would have come up with if you'd asked me "X is to Italy as Tsingtao is to China." I don't think I've ever heard of Peroni. But I'm not a beer person.
Moretti is what you get when you take thousands and thousands of mid- to low-range beers and attempt to make something really revolutionary out of them.
That joke could possibly have used a little more work.
You should try Iron City instead of IC Light if you wish to remain not a beer person.
It's the only thing I've tried that is worse than PBR.
But if you're already heating up the grill, why not just boil eggs yourself? It doesn't sound any harder than using a range to do it (fire is fire), and you've already made the fire.
The hassle factor can't be putting the eggs in a pot, it's got to be about the peeling them. I never minded it myself, but I guess if you really hate peeling eggs, the preboiled ones might make sense?
gswift has two kids and several guns; it's hard to imagine that getting them to peel a dozen eggs every now and again is that difficult.
Sometimes I do something wrong and the egg won't peel except in pieces the size of mustard seeds.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
227: Dude, yep, I was like "who is Tsingtao? I just don't read anything anymore."
I was going to comment "Not [Firstname] Moretti, his brother, Birra," but I'm not really sure I know who nosflow and lk have in mind. Franco?
I bought the preboiled preepeeled eggs at Trader Joe's for Thanksgiving's deviled eggs because I hate deviled eggs but apparently make decent ones and it's so much work even if you start with the preboiled prepeeled ones. And then Lee and Nia and my brother each ate a dozen deviled eggs, etc.
Is Adventure Time for children or stoners? I can't tell.
This is the Thanksgiving where I learned the hard way that, if you've been leaving catch-and-release mousetraps around the house, don't trust your significant other when she tells you she shut them all before heading out of town. Or maybe trust, but verify. So, so gross; poor little ex-mouse.
I have a Smoky Joe Weber Smoker, 14" across and about 3' high, on which I've smoked brisket for Passover, a major holiday meal about the same size as Thanksgiving with a similar size guest list, in cool/cold weather. And I've grilled whole turkeys on my ordinary 22" Weber, using the Texas-mop technique or just basting regularly from a drip pan.
But I'm glad I wasn't trying this year, as the temperature dropped like a stone during the day, and we had a lot of other things to do. Even when I do the brisket, I smoke it the day before and we finish it in the oven on the day.
Deviled eggs gave my wife unusual trouble this year, but came out ok in the end and were all eaten quickly.
245: Isn't knowing they died enough. Do you have to see the terror in their eyes first.
I needed to make a milkless custard pie, so I replaced the butter & buttermilk in a sweet potato pie with coconut cream and made the spices a little more tropical: dried citrus, green cardamom, nutmeg, coriander. It turned out really well, more popular than the Insanity Rose pumpkin pie.
I had a while to wonder what character flaw makes me so annoyed when people say "what fun we're having!" or equivalent. Didn't come to a conclusion. It was fun.
244 is correct. I can confirm that my actual child thinks it's awesome.
Mine does also. But I'm not sure if he's stoned or not.
They're all stoned, I'm pretty sure.
Regular Show, however, is only for stoners.
You know, I don't think I've ever had a Thanksgiving turkey that was anything other than great. Reading the anti-turkey rants on how no one actually likes turkey is like reading how no one likes bacon.
I hear you. I am baffled, and unaccountably irritated, by the anti-turkey rants. 'Treat your family and guests to a pork roulade this Thanksgiving because, after all, nobody really likes turkey.' What?! Yes, they do like it, they like turkey very much, and they want a damn turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.
I'm a vegetarian, and a Canadian, and I always cook a big turkey dinner for (American) Thanksgiving (I also cook a medium-sized turkey dinner for [Canadian] Thanksgiving, which is about six weeks earlier). Because tradition, and because the people I'm feeding actually love a roast turkey dinner. Though we're not so traditional that we would forego mashed potatoes because the Puritans had venison and succotash instead, or whatever. A family feast without potatoes wouldn't really make sense to me.
I can't figure out what Uncle Grandpa is for either.
I affirmatively like turkey as wellm. Juiceboxers be crazy.
I affirmatively like turkey as wellm.
I'm underwellmed.
they do like it, they like turkey very much
I confess I'm a doubter. I think what people like is something they can slather gravy on. The turkey last night (not prepared by me) was perfect and juicy, but even juicy turkey is a bit dry. That's not to say a full "turkey dinner" can't be great, because it does in fact include gravy and lots of other good stuff, just, let's not go crazy defending turkey here.
Eh, I like the mild gameyness--available in volume because turkeys are huge--and ample dark meat. I really only eat the breast in sandwiches.
Well I love it too, and always have, whether in October in childhood or November after-Gettysburg-and-Chattanooga here. My wife and I have gotten much better at it, I think, than either of us grew up with in terms of strict culinary competence, yet it remains fundamentally the same.
Who knows or much cares about the accretions to the particular or general tradition? Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes are very standard. Cranberry sauce is, and in my family we always had both homemade and the jelly that slides from the can and holds its shape. My wife has added rutabagas, traditional in my family and always called just turnips in Canada—the small white turnips which were all we found when we first came baffled us—but uses a superior recipe with fried shallots.
My wife's family celebrated the holiday on first arrival in the US from Germany in 1939, and in the family lore, and the way it's treated Thanksgiving has a very similar vibe to Passover.
I'm back in Anchorage now. Thanksgiving in Phoenix with my dad's family went well; I haven't seen these relatives in a long time, and they were all very happy to see me, so I'm glad I made the effort. It was 80 degrees out, because Phoenix, so we ate outside but in the shade. (Here it's currently 23, but at least we're supposed to get some snow tonight and tomorrow.)
Talk to me about this superior rutabaga recipe with fried shallots. We just mash them with butter and lots of pepper, and I'm not wedded to that method.
242, 249-252 I watch both Adventure Time and Regular Show and I'm not a stoner. My brother, also not a stoner - well, he would be if druthers were to be had but he's a pilot, so no - and his kids watch both of them too. They got me an awesome Adventure Time t-shirt for my b-day a couple of years ago that I always make sure to wear when we go on our annual canoe trip.
I'll admit that a well-roasted turkey can be very tasty, even the white meat (though even well-roasted white meat tends not to survive reheating). But a pork shoulder doesn't need caveats; pork shoulder is delicious and very hard to screw up. The kind of people who would defend white meat on turkey are the same kind of people who would complain that their slice of pork was "too fatty." I have no use for these people.
It's also obviously the case that serving pork (and no turkey) on Thanksgiving would create a controversy to last several decades in most families. It's a sad thing.
I watch both Adventure Time and Regular Show and I'm not a stoner.
Sure, man, whatever you say. [Aside:] Stoner in Aisle 5.
I'm not a particular fan of Thanksgiving as a holiday or of the food involved, but I don't think you can just substitute in things like that. I mean, when you have a specific traditional holiday where the only standard ritual/practice involved is a big meal you need that meal to be distinctive otherwise there's nothing there but hanging out with family. If it isn't it's like trying to have Christmas only without the singing or the tree or the presents or something: it's just 'oh look the members of my family that I tolerate how fun'. There's nothing that says that meal has to be turkey, obviously, but if you're going to have something be one of the distinguishing features of the holiday you have to take seriously that it's distinctive. Which in this case would mean not eating pork shoulder all the time.
I mean, it's not that odd that the really distinctive parts of most holidays are things people don't particularly want to do too regularly, right? If you had to listen to Christmas carols in stores all year, or do whatever it is that makes Easter a thing (go to church?), it would be intolerable. Turkey is pleasant once or twice a year but if you had to eat it all the time it would be horrible, which makes it perfect for this sort of thing.
whatever it is that makes Easter a thing
Egg hunts. Which are utterly pointless from, say, age seven up but preposterously cute with younger kids.
It's odd, when discussing Thanksgiving turkey, that everybody seems to ignore that turkey is quite popular as a deli meat. "Most people eat turkey once or twice a year," is really "Most people eat [a home-roasted] turkey..." I'm not sure why deli turkey isn't unbearably dry, but there seems to be some proprietary deli slime that keeps it... appetizing?
would create a controversy to last several decades in most families
It was probably 35 years ago and she's been dead for 5, but we still talk about the time we made the mistake of letting my aunt host a seder one passover and she served lasagna.
I think what makes it work really just is the cooling down process - white meat the next day in a sandwich is pleasant in about the same way that deli turkey is. (If you heat it up again I think it goes back to seeming dry.)
If that's what it is that's not that strange, right? Lots of things change when you cool them down after cooking - fried rice doesn't work well unless you do it, potatoes and pasta end up higher in fiber, and chocolate cake usually gets moister if you freeze and then thaw it.
my aunt host a seder one passover and she served lasagna.
The answer is probably that it was just regular lasagna, but I'm kind of hoping it was some kind of psychotic matzoh-based kosher for Passover lasagna.
Pasta is already pretty close to not being leavened.
Turkey is the perfect cranberry sauce delivery mechanism, and cranberry sauce is the true meaning of the holidays.
267: Thanksgiving is the best harvest feast manageable, and you invite travellers and incomers and make them feel welcome, and each person gives thanks for the year. It's a coherent holiday with or without the turkey. (My Southern grandmother always had a ham too and usually a platter of trout; whole salmon used to be common in the PNW, they're running now.)
How did the bag turkey come out, h-g?
Pretty good? It finished too early, and had to sit out a while before everyone ended up eating. So it was basically unremarkable, but I didn't have to baste it or anything, at least.
I think for people who aren't actually intimately involved in harvesting things you do have to get specific about what's involved in that feast, though. The closest thing I do to harvesting is buying food, but I don't think that little caesar's would make for a proper thanksgiving meal (even though it's better food than most thanksgiving dishes).
215: The cooked food at Whole Foods is absolutely revolting. They put it away at the end if the day and then bring it out the next morning. Your green beans may have been through that cycle over 2 or 3 days. Yuck.
I love roast turkey, but I do not like having an identical meal at Chriatmas. So, Christmas is roast beef or maybe goose, but we always had roast beef. I had smoked pork one year, and that was delicious. (southern). On Boxing Day or New Year's we often had cold ham and cold smoked turkey.
Roast beef without mashed potatoes and gravy does seem very wrong to me.
271: Sorry, just regular lasagna. May she rest in peace, it clearly had not occurred to her it might be a problem, I imagine for reasons along the lines of 272.
I'm kind of an expert on half-assed interpretations of Jewish dietary law.
Roast beef without mashed roast potatoes and gravy does seem very wrong to me.
FTFY.
263: poach rutabaga and celery root in milk (separately); puree and mix together with lots of butter.
Shallots optional.
284: Do you sauté the shallots?
MOBY I AM DRINKING A RUSTY NAIL. THAT'S ALL.
Sorry. Smoky Nail, my husband corrects me.
I don't know what that is? Scotch and liquid smoke?
I just took possession of my rental car. They gave me a Mustang instead of a Focus.
I think it just means a peated whisky.
289: Hope you got the keys without the speed governor.
I mean, when you have a specific traditional holiday where the only standard ritual/practice involved is a big meal you need that meal to be distinctive otherwise there's nothing there but hanging out with family.
And this is a problem why?
They gave me two keys. How do I tell which is which? They look the same.
284: Do you sauté the shallots?
I actually don't include shallots at all.
294: Usually when you start the car with the governed key, you get a warning below the speedometer that says "Speed limited to 70 mph." Also, obviously, it'll warn you at 65 mph. One key is probably not governed and won't have the warning. Happy driving.
Thanks. The speed limit on the road I will take Monday is 75.
The car I rented in Philly last week was capped at 80. Of course I got the warning beeps . . .
Huh. Is that a very new thing? I've never noticed a rental being speed-limited.
First time for me. Well, U-Hauls had a low top speed 30+ years ago, but I'd never had it on a real car.
I guess I'll find out when I go to the airport.
We've had a few Mustangs that were speed limited over the past five years. I assume it's more common on the fun makes and models.
Anyway, I'm not enough of an asshole to make somebody drive me sixty miles to the airport at 5:00 am unless a rental car costs more than $50.
Seconding 293.
I think for people who aren't actually intimately involved in harvesting things you do have to get specific about what's involved in that feast, though.
You might want to make a rule, but generically speaking, it's not necessary. If one concentrates on the hospitality and the gratitude, a menu will present itself based on the food available to the group's skill and resources. That is the harvest.
My Facebook feed is full of fieldwork and postdoc and grad student people in unfamiliar climates with nugatory kitchens making good feasts and sharing them with near-strangers. My icy little cockles are warmed. (In one case the feast did not turn out at all, is true.)
A lot of friends of my mother and her parents still work in Saudi Arabia and other oil countries, and one of them carries around a picture of the cryptic Thanksgiving-and-Christmas menu arranged by the polyglot-mostly-Indonesian cooks for the mostly-USian compound cafeteria. They weren't allowed to cook an explicitly Christian meal, and the available ingredients were local, and some of the dishes were best guesses and one of them was based on a false-friend homophone (misspelled too, and an awful menu choice), but it was a gesture of hospitality and cameraderie and it made the people who ate it happy.