Giving thanks
Friday November 26th 2010, 12:20 am
Filed under: Family,Food

John’s home, John’s home! He even put up with doing a little birdwatching with me while I tried to explain why the Bewick’s wren flipping itself around by the tail was so cute.

The other bird watching: he and I got up this morning and decided to get that turkey going together. (My husband usually wrestles the yearly bowling ball, but we beat him to it and let him sleep in.)  I was going to roast it in a turkey bag, in part because it was only halfway thawed and that would help speed it up and even the cooking out, I thought. So, John held the flimsy thing ready for me–and twenty pounds of bird slipped straight through it to the floor.

So now we know why they put two bags in a box: one for the Julia Child moment, one for doing it right. I think we better move to over the pan, honey.

I later read some of the more infamous Butterball hotline questions: if I use a chainsaw to carve the bird, will the oil make it taste bad?

Or the college kid who used a cookie sheet under his because that’s all he had and it splattered and sparked and caught on fire in his oven, so he called the hotline.

The person at Butterball who answered that one was his own mother.  I bet they’ll be telling that one at their Thanksgiving dinners forever after!

We skipped the chainsaws and the fires and enjoyed a lovely time in a warm house on a cold day with good food and good family, feeling how keenly blessed we three were to have the time together. One-on-one time with an adult child is a rare thing.

And then for the first time in days I actually sat down, put my feet up, and knitted!


12 Comments so far
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I chuckled at your minor mishap, but overall it sounded like a wonderful day, especially being able to relax!

Comment by LynnM 11.26.10 @ 1:44 am

I just can’t imagine a bird giving you a hard time, but in case the others were watching, you certainly showed them how you handle such cases so I doubt it will breed insubordination.

And I wonder if that mother felt appalled at her child’s lack of turkey roasting savvy or was thrilled to know her son was trying to roast one? I hope more of the latter. 🙂

Comment by twinsetellen 11.26.10 @ 6:33 am

I’m happy your day was full of good fun, food, good times, relaxing and your son. I agree about one-on-one time, it is very rare.

Comment by Chery 11.26.10 @ 6:34 am

Judy did the desserts. She got up early, tied her “it doesn’t matter if it gets messy” headscarf on and dug in.

I love having grownup daughters.

Comment by afton 11.26.10 @ 6:38 am

ok, more rolling on the floor in laughter with my daughter this morning as I shared your “Julia Child” moment with her —- and YES, I’m treasuring these one-on-one moments with my adult child

glad you had a good Thanksgiving

Comment by Bev 11.26.10 @ 6:50 am

Jack Prelutsky wrote a poem about a turkey exploding out of the oven. (Do not read with a mouthful of milk. The keyboard does not like this.)

http://humor.luquette.org/the_turkey_shot_out_of_the_oven.htm

Comment by Lynn 11.26.10 @ 6:51 am

LOL!!!!! I don’t use the bags for that reason. They’ve failed me once too often. Glad you had John around to man-handle the runaway bird.

Comment by Channon 11.26.10 @ 7:10 am

The things that happen when you don’t have a camera handy.

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 11.26.10 @ 7:51 am

Glad you had such a wonderful day, even if the turkey gave you a bit of a hard time. At least it didn’t bounce!

Comment by Don Meyer 11.26.10 @ 11:19 am

I was blessed with the adult children doing the clean up. Our turkey day had no mishaps for once, unless you count the cat hacking up a fur ball under the dining room table right as we sat down. She really wanted sympathy and turkey meat.

Comment by kris 11.26.10 @ 2:38 pm

Alison, your turkey story was so funny I read it to my husband, he laughed over that one. I also sang him “The Turkey Shot Out of The Oven” song that Lynn posted. So very funny! I’m so glad you had time with your family. They sound like a lovely bunch.

Comment by Mary 11.26.10 @ 7:01 pm

Daniels home, too! Yippee skippee!! Our turkey was well-behaved, and all have been good, save for the minor detail of exactly zero knitting since Tuesday eve. Enjoy your son…Daniel goes back to school earlier Sunday than I was hoping…ah well; Christmas IS coming.

Comment by Ruth 11.26.10 @ 9:05 pm



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