Pandemic Week 37: A Simple Thanksgiving
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| Dinner in the Sunroom |
We made the most of it and used the opportunity to pull out the trusty Cooks Illustrated to prepare our own Thanksgiving feast. We decided to share with our neighbors (Jean recently had surgery and they help us out with Storm, so it seemed like a great way to return the favor). Preparations started the day before Thanksgiving with brining the turkey. This took some thought before we realized we could put the turkey in a cooler, which would fit in our spare refrigerator. Theresa made pumpkin pies - with two different recipes. She decided she wanted to try the Cooks recipe, which included some sweet potatoes in addition to the pumpkin. Since the neighbors would be the recipients, she also decided to make the traditional Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe. During the course of this exercise, Theresa concluded she has not made pie for a while and needs some work on her crust (baking levels have fallen off during the pandemic since it is hard to share any treats with anyone if you are not going into the office). While the Fagella family voted for the Cooks pie, the neighbors gave higher marks to the Libby pie. No pie went to waste.
Anna helped prepare dinner on Thanksgiving. She made the stuffing and the gravy. Theresa made homemade dinner rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and her mom's sweet potatoes along with the turkey (the brining worked - it was one juicy bird). The surprise hit of the meal was the cranberry chutney. The traditional cranberry side at our house is the canned jellied. In addition to this, Theresa decided to try another Cooks recipe for cranberry-pear chutney. This was so good that Joe declared it better than the canned cranberries (this is indeed a high compliment). The neighbors asked for the recipe. We will be making this one again. We boxed up Thanksgiving dinner and delivered it to our neighbors' front porch. We then enjoyed our own dinner in the sunroom with the doors open because it was a balmy 70 degrees with sunshine. We took an after dinner stroll (well, Joe & Anna strolled...Theresa opted for a 60 minute walk) where we could smell deep fried turkey at various points around the neighborhood.
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| Anna prepping dinner w/ Storm on cleanup |
The holiday turned out to be much simpler than we anticipated when we lost our internet service. After some quality time diagnosing the issue, Joe concluded it was a problem with the service provider. The first available time for them to check out equipment was Sunday. This meant 2 1/2 days with no internet service. If asked to chose between running water and internet, it would be a very tough call. In the absence of internet, we were forced to do other things. We played board games. We watched broadcast tv (the commercials are mind numbing), that is until we decided to watch DVDs. We pulled out old CDs for music. Anna found a Walkman and put her headphones in to listen to the radio. Fortunately the repairman arrived Sunday morning (if it were not for social distancing requirements, Joe may have given him a hug), and we are operational again.
Other highlights from the week:
- Caught up with family members via Zoom on Thanksgiving.
- Make turkey soup.
- The neighbors across the street at last moved back in. The fire was in March. Those renovations took a while.
- Took advantage of the nice weather (along with many other neighbors) and hung outdoor Christmas lights.
- Found a new local trail to hike on Sunday at Fred Crabtree Park (who knew)
- Spend Sunday afternoon at the field by the pond with our friends Fefzi and Klara and their boys to practice archery
Happy Thanksgiving!
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