November 20, 2005
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Preparing for the Holiday
I have started planning my menu for next Thursday, checking the
larder to make sure I have everything I’ll need. If all goes
according to plan, the whole family will be here for
Thanksgiving.….
*sound of insane laughter*
As
soon as I wrote that last line, the thought came to me that I really
should invite Charley, to make the “family” circle complete.
Maybe I have enough new readers that some explanation is in
order. Charley is an old friend of mine, my ex-husband, my son
Doug’s father. I would, if I could, include Charley in more of my
activities just because I enjoy his company, but that’s not always
practical.He resents having to go outdoors to smoke, so I usually see him at his
place or on neutral ground, preferably outdoors where I don’t have to
breathe his second-hand smoke. Also, Charley still drinks
sometimes, and it’s really likely that Thanksgiving would give him all
the reason he needs to get shitfaced and obnoxious. Not that he’d
ever be deliberately obnoxious (He wouldn’t!), but what drunk can
actually control that?There’s also the fact that he’s seriously restricted in what he can eat
because he has no teeth, and he would be scornful of all my attempts to
eat healthfully with sugar-free and gluten-free foods. Even if he
doesn’t already have other plans, he probably wouldn’t much enjoy
eating with us, even if it were not for that one final deciding factor
that made me see how absurd it would be to invite him. Both
Greyfox and Doug have active animosity verging on open hostility toward
him. Sorry, Charlie….Anyhow, our little nuclear family will all be here (and Greyfox and
Doug will just have to deal with their hostility toward each other), if
Greyfox makes the drive up from his place in Wasilla as planned.
The idea wouldn’t have occurred to him, but I invited him when he told
me that the public libraries were going to be closed on Thursday and
Friday, and he’ll be doing another show/trade fair on Saturday, causing
him to fall way behind on those forums he moderates, because he depends
on the libraries for all his computer time.He had already brought us the free turkey that Fred Meyer gave him for
purchasing a ton of cat food and supplies for Doug and me. It
seemed only reasonable and fair to invite him to come up and use my
computer and eat turkey with us. I plan to prepare the bird with
gluten-free celery and sage stuffing, bake a pumpkin pie with the last
of Winky Jack’s frozen flesh and wheat-free, gluten-free pastry for the
crust, and do another pie using canned juice-pack peaches sweetened
with Splenda and thickened with tapioca.I have a can of cranberry sauce and one of yams, for the enjoyment of
those who can safely enjoy them… not for me, in other words.
Greyfox has offered to bring some Martinelli’s sparkling cider, a
favorite holiday treat of Doug’s. I suppose that Doug or Greyfox
might comment again on how “weird” the gravy is when it’s thickened
with corn starch, and not flour as I used to do it. Nobody will
lament the absence of Jello, fruit cocktail and marshmallow “salad”,
one of my mother’s Thanksgiving favorites, because both of my guys have
better taste than that. If Greyfox brings fresh greens, I’ll make
a real salad.Nobody will be uncomfortable afterward from overeating because we are
all responsible adults here, who have learned our lessons about
overindulgence in things of all sorts. And, since we won’t be
glutting ourselves on Thursday, Greyfox can take sliced turkey home
with him for sandwiches later on, and I will be able to enjoy some
future “reruns” of the turkey dinner thanks to my microwave.I enjoy Thanksgiving, because I enjoy cooking and like to eat
turkey. Note that I said “I” will enjoy leftover turkey
dinners. I served Doug so much turkey in his childhood because it
was cheap and nutritious, that he doesn’t like it much now. He’s
the same way about burritos, too, and for the very same reason.Either this thinking about food, or the fact that breakfast was a long
time ago and lunch was a few tortilla chips munched as I worked on the
latest reading at KaiOaty,
has made me hungry. Maybe it’s a bit of both. I did have
something else to say, on an entirely different topic. Maybe that
would best be done in an entirely other post. Seeya.
Comments (15)
I wish my son could come home from school in Connecticut for turkey day but it costs too much .. well see him Christmas though…so at our hose it will be real simple..just me ,my guy and some of our offspring..and a crazy dog..and some cats….and I wish I liked to cook….. anyway stay warm and enjoy your family….
It does not matter who we are or where we are … we are trying to find a TG meal that can be accpeted and enjoyed by all.
Challenging, that…. making a Thxgiving dinner wheat/gluten/sugar free…. sitting between 3 hostile men wouldn’t be my choice of company either. That’s one advantage of no longer having any men in my life…mwahahahaha
…it really seems you will have not a “boring” Thanksgiving in any way….
:goodjob:Interesting post! Just dropped in from another site! Will have to catch up with your story! Very interesting! :wink: Happy Thanksgiving!:sunny:
Thoughts through my looking glass:heartbeat:
Karolyn
well my mom always thickened the Thanksgiving gravy with cornstarch….so I personally don’t think that is strange at all….however her stuffing is loaded with gluten….but she does make the best darn stuffing…that is my 2nd favorite part of Thankisgiving….the 1st is the green bean casserole….don’t ask me why…and it isn’t like it is hard to make other times of the year either.
Sounds delicious…….
I usually wind up having to use cornstarch for my gravy, simply because I have a very limited amount of time to finish the gravy once the turkey and stuffing are done. The family just WON’T wait any longer than is absolutely necessary!
Your comment on my site cracked me up! :fun:
Hope you have a good holiday.
Ya know? Ya could step outside whenever Charley smoked………….
Don’t kick my ass yet….. I’m not done yet…..
And I don’t like fruit salad in my Jello ‘cept for dessert…. OMG That shit was wicked….. Mostly when it went the way of having grated cabbage and carrots in it….
Is ok to get uncomfortably stuffed once or twice a year….
Hopes ur family has time to share together and an extra seat at the table always……..
mitch
Hi sweety–I gotta say, I have trnscended that hostility you mentioned. There have been times when I would have dropped in to say howdy to Charley, but there was either time pressure or the roads were not good. And Doug–hey, Doug is still wearing the Mighty Mouse costume from the moose incident, in my mind! I kinda feel bad sometimes that we have so little to talk about, having so few common interests, though.
well he can still eat mash potatos and soft stuff. and I bet he would like to have compine on thanks giving. I was not sher about somthig you sead. you sead I would if I could. whot do you meen by that do you meen you have no way of contacting hem or you just cant handel to much of his sarcasom?:lookaround:
I’ll be doing a bunch of cooking too.. vegan cooking and a turkey! we have a nice mix of friends like that. and the way you talk about charlie reminds me of my dad.. mom would probibly invite him for dinner but she cant stand the drunken obnoxiousness. she always makes sure to take him a plate full of thanksgiving goodness though. have a nice holiday!
Thankyou for righting me back so soon. There is mor that I rote on there. Mom needed to use the computer erlear when I was wrighting so if you can git back to it if you wont. I also have asma and moms sigs git to me dering the winter and no ventilashen in the apartmint. And It can be a real pane.
I love hearing about all of your colorful characters. I am an old reader and so I knew about Charlie but don’t recall seeing a photo of him before or knowing that he’s still in your area. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and hopefully, we can hear all about it later.