We were a few short this year, but the table was still filled with lotsa love and delicious food!
The teenager took my place as head sous chef. Definitely not complaining! I so enjoyed being the extra, extra help. Jim enjoyed showing the teenager the ropes. It was all good.
Three days' worth of prepping and cooking makes the difference in a meal. Having three sets of hands makes a difference in a kitchen! Since I wasn't head sous chef, I kept the prep area stocked with what was needed and clean as a whistle! It was a well-oiled machine, that kitchen was. We could have pulled off a TV program in there, I swear--that is, if it weren't for the language at times. We got pretty goofy. It sounded as if we were back in the hood. HA!
Our dessert this year was from Garden & Gun. My brother and I both subscribe to the magazine; and when the fall issues arrived, we called each other and said "Check out the dessert recipes -- FOR THANKSGIVING!" We decided on the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. A lot of steps, a lot of time; but it was worth it--IF you have three sets of hands in the kitchen!!! *Note: Could replace the cranberry sauce with a caramel sauce. Just saying.
It was all good. (Except the first batch of whipped cream tasted a tad cheesy. I was afraid to say anything since Jim and the teenager had worked so hard. Then Jim brought it up the next day. We all had a great laugh over that!)
Jim looking oh-so-British. A fork AND a spoon? Must be gud!
And then --dun dun dun-- we had time to play. Hit TMR on Black Friday. A quick snap out front.
I then took him over to Otis James where they hand make fabulous ties and hats out of scrumptious fabrics. Great shop!
Brutha tipping his hat to the ladies. So propa! (JK, this was staged.)
While we fervently avoid the malls at all costs, even on non-black Friday days, the brother does enjoy hitting some of the wonderful smaller, more personal shops around town. We even had the SIL in tow yesterday which was a joy. Here Jim is modeling a new style of headwear.
We found a few new shops which I hadn't spied before. Yes, we treated ourselves to some wonderful cupcakes, the gingerbread being the best. (No pics. I'm afraid they didn't last very long.)
Then we came home and made turkey sandwiches, almost as good as a full turkey dinner in this house! And then the brother got a hankering for more cooking.
We made Pots de Creme. (Will insert photo later.)
And then, as if that weren't enough, we made banana pudding. YUM! (Again, no pics, as we all scarfed it down pretty quickly.)
Before going to bed, we all had a small scoop of cranberry sorbet to clean the pallet. But of course, dawling.
Having so much fun with my family. Hope you are too.
I know Thanksgiving has come and gone; but here I am still trying to catch up. I finally went to the docs yesterday and was prescribed a Z-pac. Sinus infection that was moving into my ears and throat. Loverly. At any rate, I'm on the mend, I hope. I have cookie class tomorrow at Viking! I have to be on the mend! Many thanks to the makers of Tylenol Extra Strength that has kept me going this week.
Ok, on to Thanksgiving. Jim always makes his own croutons, stock, well everything. To tell you the truth, at this point, I don't even know what he was making here. But whatever it was, it sure did turn out well. Sigh. Perhaps this is what he actually stuffed the turkey with if my photo sequencing is correct.
Stock, cranberries and potpourri on the stove. You can imagine how the house was smelling about this time.
I love watching the cranberries glisten and then pop. The brutha makes cranberry sauce and cranberry sorbet. The sorbet is just the perfect ending to a big, rich meal. It almost settles the stomach.
The turkey comes out for a quick turning. Jim admires the big boy and wonders how he's going to get it turned over!
Champagne gravy, potatoes for mashing and green beans.
Garlic going into the green beans. They were so good.
We actually made this Friday, but if I don't throw it into this post, it will never been seen again. This is the infamous Viking upside down cake. Jim wanted to make it with fresh pineapple, so that is just what we did. We think it's better with the apple though. The pineapple slightly overwhelms the sweet cake.
I can't tell you how good the caramel is when it's home made. Oh my. Sinful.
Of course, we still enjoyed the cake. Duh.
And now some stills Jim did while I was "supervising" a couple of rounds of Pictionary. It's always so much fun downloading my camera and finding snaps from the day.
Phew. Done! Am I caught up? Sure hope so.
Each year is better than the last, which always amazes me. I'm always worried it will never be as fun as before. But, we always have a wonderful time together. I miss my family terribly and wish they were closer. Sniffle. Sending each and every one of them warm hugs from Nashville.
I'm feeling better today even after being awaken at 3 a.m. by the neighbor calling about the dog barking. Oy. Poor mom doesn't know if it's day or night these days. And, I don't believe she understands what I say to her anymore. She lets Frankie out at ungodly hours and of course he starts barking. Last night, I took NyQuil and didn't hear him barking and thus the phone call. Poor neighbors. There's nothing worse than being awoken from a sound sleep for any reason, but a dog barking has to be the worse. Lordy. I called and apologized this morning and explained the situation and they were very understanding, thank goodness. We're trying something new tonight to see if it works. Mom can't remember, at this point, how to unlock the deadbolt. So, if I go down before I go to bed and let Frankie out and back in, then latch the deadbolt, the hub will go down when he leaves for work in the morning and let the dog out. Let's hope this works. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Every day is a new day when you're dealing with dementia.
At any rate, here I am trying to catch up once more. Once my brother arrives, it's all about the music (and food, of course). As soon as he gets to the house, he brings out his cds and loads them into the player; and the music doesn't turn off until we go to sleep and begins as soon as the first person is awake the next morning. We attribute this behavior to my parents who were always avid music fans. My mom had her little transistor radio in the kitchen where it played all day. It was mostly on country music stations because they knew a lot of the DJs and singers of the day. And so, the tradition of music playing has been carried on by the kids.
We awoke Wednesday and Jim began telling me about some new bands he had been listening to. There's always someone new that one of us finds and shares with the other. He had made the batter for the best-ever waffles (made with yeast!) the night before. They are the Krispy Kremes of waffles. They just melt in your mouth. Yum. These were for the kids.
This was our breakfast! The hub, Jim and I decided to roll over to Dodson's for a good country breakfast while everyone else slept in.
(In actuality, this was on Friday morning--but who's checking?)
After everyone but Jim and I headed out on their own, we decided to go downtown and hit Grimey's, a local music store that we had missed during his visit this summer. When I went online to get the address, there in bold letters was a band he had just told me about! JJ Grey and Mofro. I had never even heard of them before and there they were, making an appearance at the store that afternoon and then playing at a small venue here on Friday. How weird is that? Well, when it comes to my brother and I, not too weird at all. These things happen to us all the time. I told him when we get together, the planets align and special things begin to happen! It's uncanny. We got to the store and asked about JJ and unfortunately, he had cancelled the appearance, but the show was still going on at the Exit/In on Friday. Both of us picked our cds (mine at the top) that we wanted and went on to our next adventure.
Leave it to us to do something crazy--again, planets aligned just right, I suppose. We wanted to go into this antique shop but the sign on the door said they would be back in 10 minutes. Jim checked the door and it opened, so we went on in. Little ol' Nashvul. The chime starting chiming and I looked at him after no one answered his hello's and said "it's the alarm!" Oh my. We high tailed it out of there and before making it a couple of steps, indeed the alarm did go off. Ooooof. We put a little speed in our steps until we made it to the next store and slid inside. We were cracking up! We stayed in there until the alarm finally did stop sounding, at least 15 minutes! I told him I hoped they didn't have a camera on the door--busted! But, when we returned, I looked around and there were no cameras. Phew! It was absolutely hilarious!
Needless to say, Jim decided he wanted to go to the show Friday night. No one else wanted to go so just the brother and I went. It was the best time ever!
The dressing room door.
The audience from the stage.
The opening band was Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. They were excellent! The last song, they all switched instruments and played on. It was amazing and quite a feat.
After their show, the guys came back to where Jim and I were and I had to snap a pic of Jim and Shorty--who is not short at all! We do have our fun, don't we!
Then it was time for JJ and Mofro. You just can't beat live music. It was such a great show. I am a new fan, of course.
Now, I need to go back down to Grimeys and get me some JJ Grey cds. (I did pick up this poster at the show.)
This is one of my favorite songs he did from the new album Orange Blossoms. You can get it at Amazon if you're interested. It is sooooo good!
Three days' worth of prepping and cooking makes the difference in a meal. Having three sets of hands makes a difference in a kitchen! Since I wasn't head sous chef, I kept the prep area stocked with what was needed and clean as a whistle! It was a well-oiled machine, that kitchen was. We could have pulled off a TV program in there, I swear--that is, if it weren't for the language at times. We got pretty goofy. It sounded as if we were back in the hood. HA!
