May you have fair, or at least interesting, skies—enough to eat and a warm spot in your heart.
Here, we have snow melt and only rain, which means no shoveling (we’ve had so much rain if the early cold had persisted, we’d have had five feet of snow)—and no berm from a snow plow, more to the point. Our place has catch-22, meaning we have a marvelously clear main road, but up to a 2′ berm overnight from the plow,which passes 3-4 times every 12 hours, and seals our 20 foot of driveway from that nice clear road: and you can’t push a snowblower through a berm: plowed snow compacts to ice pdq. 😉
But right now, not a speck of snow or ice, and a nice Turkey day. (The church up the way has a sign saying “God loves even the biggest turkeys…”)
For the traditional dinner, we’ve opted for pepperoni pizza, mine.
And the soup turned out so well, I’ll write down the recipe.
I used sirloin for the meat, which worked out to have that really good beef flavor it’s known for throughout the soup, and to be really low-fat.
Saute and brown in skillet: thin strips of beef, 1 lb, with: teaspoon and a bit more of black pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika, teaspoon of chipotle chili flakes, teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of dried basil, with a tablespoon of olive oil. When done, pour all contents of pan into crockpot or stew pot.
Add: can of black beans; can of coarse-diced tomatoes; half a bunch of celery, sliced: I just bisected the bunch and used the top end of it—which includes the high-flavor celery heart and finer leaves; quite a lot of raw baby carrots; enough water. Cook forever. Reheats nicely. Has practically no fat. Lots of meat.
You’ll note no onions or garlic: we’re allergic to same; no thickener; it come out very savory, and the beans add a little substance; could be served over rice or noodles for supper. Also possibilities: cornbread; or toast.
That sounds very good. Hmm, I’ll add chipotle chili flakes to my grocery list, should be able to find those here easily enough. I’d likely add some onions and a bit of garlic. It sounds wonderful.
I’m home and to myself for the first time in a week, and grateful for the quiet time. (My grandmother passed away last Friday, the service is Saturday, and I’ve been swamped with arrangements.) I’m hoping I can be done with things in time for a quiet Christmas. Next year, there will be time for a happier holiday season. She had a good life and a good ending. Only the timing’s bad, for people to pay their respects and mourn. I’ve known it was coming for a long time, just not when, so much of my grieving’s happened already. But tomorrow and the next day are going to be awful. I’ll get through OK.
But — Life goes on, and I have found myself thinking of the future. I will be, in essence, rebuilding from scratch. There are hardships ahead for some months, but even so, this is a chance for new directions, trying new things, reshaping my life, I’m telling myself. My two cats have been doing their best to cheer me up.
I am greatly thankful for friends and family, including here online, who have been very supportive. I’m grateful for a chance at a new life, despite the difficulties I know I’ll face in the months ahead, before things settle down into a new shape. There might even be a new friendship (or more perhaps) by chance or by whatever grander design, if such there is. I don’t know about that yet, but the possibility of at least a friendship there is quite heartwarming, encouraging.
Best wishes, CJ and Jane and Lynn and cats, and best wishes to those out there, online and in the wider world.
I’m having a quiet day to reflect and recharge. A little bit of housework, only what I don’t want to avoid; and time for a book or video or two; and…sleep and not talking non-stop would be good. Plenty of good food in the fridge, a roof over my head (my own roof, at that), and not too warm or too cold. If budget and job search will pan out, a better outcome might be sooner than expected. Maybe. But on the whole, I’m telling myself it is OK.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks, to one and all, and Best Wishes.
Respects to your gran: the passing of a matriarch or patriarch is always to be mourned. SO much of history and memory. Hugs.
Thank you, Carolyn. :hug:
BCS — even if such a loss is expected, even as a release from disease or disability, it’s still somehow a painful surprise. I’m so sorry. I hope you can rest for a little while and let your world reshape itself.
Condolences to you and your family, BCS, for the loss of your Grandma whom I know you were close to. There will be a hole in your day and in your life for a long while, even as life gets easier in some ways and fuller in others. I’m glad she had you around.
BlueCatShip, I am sorry to hear about your grandmother. Even when we know to expect it, it’s still a shock. I know from reading your posts that you took wonderful care of her. Be gentle with yourself as you take on different tasks.
I have a relatively-healthy frozen dinner waiting for the right time: squash ravioli. (I had a different one for birthday dinner recently: salmon with basil and orzo. Also delicious. Usually I have salmon for Thanksgiving, so I can give thanks for something that I love but rarely have.)
A happy thanks giving to all on the leftside of the pond.
Allergic to garlic! Oh, you poor women. 🙁
I had thought that small amounts of fresh garlic were acceptable, that it was the preservatives in the granulated or powdered stuff that gave their household the pip. If even the fresh stuff is off the table, I agree: oh you poor people!
Yes, we can have a very little on rare occasion: no powder. A little onion will have us very unhappy, even incapacitated; garlic at the detectible level only mildly unhappy. And it’s rarely worth it.
We did a turkey on the grill. I will freeze a lot of it for future meals. Also took the opportunity to roast a lot of squash….again to freeze for future use A very leisurely day for Proge and me. Warmed up a bit with lots of sun after more than two inches of rain yesterday.
A Happy Thanksgiving to friends near and far.
My mom performed her usual culinary magic and we had the traditional holiday board with cornbread stuffing, green beans, punkin pie, etc. Long time friends and their son, and my friend since 7th grade shared the festive board with my parents and me. My dad turned 89 this year, and is so frail. I was very thankful for one more holiday to spend with him. We had gorgeous weather — sunny, warm, — and calm! (rare for the TX panhandle). Canada geese serenaded us periodically on their way hither from yon. We ate too much and drank too much and laughed a lot. It was a good day. Glad your day was good too.
BCS, my condolences on your grandmother’s passing. We know it’s coming, we just don’t know when, and when it does, it’s almost always a surprise to us. Best wishes for a happier holiday season.
My parents and I were invited to my younger brother’s for dinner. So, I drove them in their car the 50 miles or so to Marysville (OH), and had a great time with Sam, Tamara, Jonathan, and Jeremy, and got to meet their newest cat, Shackleton, who is an American Shorthair, silver and black tabby, although the patterns of his stripes were not what I expected in a tabby. They got him from somewhere in Washington, but I don’t know the particulars. Extremely handsome cat, kind of aloof, but not shy. I was a good boy, ate mostly vegetables, especially the carrots which came from their garden (there were 3 varieties of carrot, orange, yellow, and white). I didn’t feel bloated or overly full when we were done, so the trip back wasn’t too bad (except for my restless legs syndrome), and I got them home safely at 6:30PM.
Grilled a turkey and did the fixings. Shared with two older people – my neighbor Mary and a neighbor’s cat sitter (Llyod) who I didn’t really know – after my invited guests bailed out for various reasons (decided to get a divorce for one couple, death in the family for others, one just a no-show with no explanation).
They reminisced about the past growing up – Mary had grown up picking cotton in the Central Valley, Lloyd had been raised in rural Maryland -it was wonderful hearing history from two who had experienced so much. And a reminder about how hard it was growing up in the Depression.
An unexpected day…but I was thankful to share it with others who otherwise would not have had a Thanksgiving dinner. I made a note to add them to next year’s guest list if I do a dinner.
Today, dissect the carcass and start the turkey stock!
Thanks everyone, for well wishes. Since I’ve been posting elsewhere, I didn’t want to divert the Thanksgiving greetings.
You know you’re in our thoughts.
BlueCatship,
Our condolences on the loss of your gran. I know you’ll miss her, but now you can live your own life for a while.
I just wanted to say, if I haven’t before, that I so appreciate your giving out recipes and thoughts on food. I haven’t had a chance to try this soup (yet!) but I plan to. It sounds divine, and wonderfully comforting.