Hey, er’rybody. Today is my birthday. I’m 63, although I seem to recall from my birth certificate that fact won’t be precisely, scientifically true until around 5 this afternoon. No matter. I’m 63, and I just finished a Zoom boxing class, which is both silly and deeply appreciated. The other morning I was shadowboxing away in my basement and saw police lights flashing through the glass-block window. They’d come to confirm the death of one of my neighbors. I don’t really know these neighbors on anything other than a wave-while-walking-the-dog basis, so I’m not sure what the cause was. She had been sick, I know that much. Ultimately I guess she died of what gets us all: Time’s up.
Another neighbor, who I really don’t know because she doesn’t wave, lost her father to Covid a few weeks back. (How do I know this? How else? Facebook.) So when I say my Zoom class is both silly and appreciated, it’s because it feels dumb to punch at nothing alone in my basement with a trainer telling me to correct my head position, but I’m very glad to be able to do it because: Consider the alternative.
My birthday always falls around Thanksgiving, which meant pumpkin pie for birthday cake in the past and in recent years, considerations like the above.
This has been a hard year, easier for some (which includes us), much worse for many others, devastating for still others. It’s important to be grateful for what you have, to share if you can, to take a moment to consider the alternative. And we have a lot to be thankful for this year, both personal and on the wider stage. We’ve rid the country of Trump is the big one. Obviously, Trumpism will endure, but he’ll no longer be able to command — not just draw, but command — the attention of the world. Many will continue to do so, but it’s like the ending of “A Face in the Crowd.” And yeah, we’ll have his demon spawn to deal with, but their power will be similarly diminished. There’s some punishing chemo to follow, but the biggest tumor has been taken to the incinerator.
There’s a Covid vaccine coming, that’s even better news. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be more than we have now. Life will return to something that resembles normality. We’ll be able to travel again, eat in restaurants again, maybe even hug one another. That’s something.
You have something in your life to be grateful for, some blessing to count. Count it tomorrow. Or today. Your call.
Me, I’m taking the rest of the week off. I’ll wear my birthstone jewelry. And I’ll have a very small Thanksgiving, with two friends who’ve already had Covid and been medically cleared. Alan has to work. We’ll bring him a plate.
If you haven’t had your fill already, here’s the big Politico tick-tock on the Michigan election drama. At least one better-sourced political reporter is pointing out that a couple of bad guys are obvious sources for it, and that the underground river running through it is the split between crazy and non-crazy Michigan Republicans, so be advised.
I now will accept your birthday tributes. The line forms to the left, with appropriate social distancing.
Deborah said on November 25, 2020 at 9:03 am
Birthday greetings from a 70 year old. Hope you have a happy 63rd, may you have many more and as always thanks for what you do here.
132 chars
alex said on November 25, 2020 at 9:10 am
Happy happy!
Pumpkin pie as a birthday cake isn’t the worst thing in the world. My mom was born a few days after Christmas. And she was a child of the depression. So birthdays for her were always leftover food and some socks and undies one time a year instead of two like her siblings got.
She’ll be 91 this year.
319 chars
basset said on November 25, 2020 at 9:11 am
HB2U indeed, lifting a virtual glass in your direction. I’m 65 and deteriorating some.
Meanwhile, YouTube is reacting appropriately to OANN:
https://www.axios.com/youtube-temporarily-suspends-demonetizes-oann-420e8ea9-66c1-4eab-9754-6e3b708483c9.html
254 chars
Dorothy said on November 25, 2020 at 9:22 am
Happy birthday from a fellow 1957-er! Hope it’s a reasonably happy birthday celebration.
We had very happy news in my family yesterday. My niece had her twins between 3:00 and 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Fiona and Emma – their mama is a red head and Fiona seems to be one, too. Emma’s is a little darker. I’ve only seen two pictures of each but the joy it brought is so comforting during this scary time! My sister wants to be called Granny and her hubby is going to be Big Poppa, both of which make me smile. I prefer for the grandkid(s) to use a name they decide rather than declaring ahead of time what the new moniker will/should be. I’m Mimi and my husband is Zah Zah to our little one, and we love the names she calls us.
729 chars
Bitter Scribe said on November 25, 2020 at 9:24 am
From someone who turned 64 in August: Happy birthday, youngster.
64 chars
basset said on November 25, 2020 at 9:27 am
Having lived in the South for the past 37 years, I have informed Mrs. B that if we ever have any grandchildren they can call us Mamaw and Papaw. She does not agree.
Never knew my own grandparents, so we didn’t call ‘em anything.
236 chars
lisa said on November 25, 2020 at 9:30 am
Happy Birthday Nancy!!
I hope your day is truly special. Also, Happy Thanksgiving too.
My daughter lives in Brooklyn and I live between Columbus and Dayton. She won’t be coming home tomorrow or on Christmas. I haven’t seen her in person since September 2019.
I’m so sad. SO sad. My dad and step-mom are close to her and with this coronavirus, they’ve become quite isolated and I dread telling them she isn’t coming home. Her coming home was the highlight for everyone.
I’ll just be thankful we are all healthy.
It’s raining like crazy here. I hope you get sunny skies today!
607 chars
David C said on November 25, 2020 at 9:50 am
Happy birthday, Nancy.
My brother’s grandkids call him Whapwe and my sister-in-law is Whamwa. I don’t know how either is spelled. The oldest is now ten and that’s what he still calls them. I just don’t know. I’ll never have grandchildren so I’ll never know but I can’t imagine doing anything but cringing at being called that by a kid who is old enough to speak properly.
375 chars
Mark P said on November 25, 2020 at 9:51 am
Happy birthday!
63? Ha! You might be getting older, but you’ll never catch up to me!
89 chars
ROGirl said on November 25, 2020 at 9:54 am
Happy Day-Before-Thanksgiving Birthday! From someone who turned 64 in October and her 18 1/2 year old cat. Medicare eligibility is only a year away.
148 chars
Jenine said on November 25, 2020 at 9:55 am
Happy day! I wish you some good new adventures as soon as possible.
67 chars
Heather said on November 25, 2020 at 10:00 am
Happy birthday! I quite concur with your “consider the alternative” mindset. I try to remember that every time I notice a new wrinkle or saggy bit.
147 chars
Cullen said on November 25, 2020 at 10:21 am
Happy Birthday, Nancy. Long time lurker here. Wishing you and everyone here many, many more. That final scene in A Face in the Crowd is eerily prescient. I remember watching that movie in Film Studies in HS. I was expecting it to be boring, being a teenager & all. I was completely blown away, and I never saw Andy Griffith the same way again. You can’t take your eyes off him. Thanks for the memory.
404 chars
Jeff Borden said on November 25, 2020 at 10:25 am
Happy birthday, Nancita.
I’d love to revel in your 63rd birthday with a traditional Westwood Country Club style rave-up, but that is impossible. And at 69, I no longer have the energy to pogo until the plaster in the ceiling below my apartment cracks.
So. . .I will sip a glass of Macallan in your honor tonight. Johanna and Cosmo will join me. Cheers!
This year has been a test, but you’re correct. There is much to be grateful for and I am. Better days are coming. They really are.
492 chars
nancy said on November 25, 2020 at 10:25 am
Heather, I watched the latest Terminator movie a few weeks ago, if only to get a look at Linda Hamilton these days. We’re the same age, and I read an account by her trainer what it took to get her in Terminator shape for this latest installment: A solid YEAR of supervised training in her studio-financed home gym. Meals had macros calibrated to the gram, delivered to her home twice weekly. There was also some sort of body scanning done every month, with the nutrition appropriately tweaked in response. All of that, and of course she looked great in the movie. (Too bad the script sucked.) But there was one shot where, for a second, I could see that the flesh on her upper arms is doing the same thing mine is, i.e. sagging. Believe me, that was my favorite shot in the movie.
780 chars
Suzanne said on November 25, 2020 at 10:29 am
Happy Birthday! I will catch up with your 63 next spring. I am trying to have a good mindset, but gah! I still pause when someone asks my age and I say 62 because it seems, well, old. And then my mind wanders off to all the things that I thought I would do someday and now realize I never will.
But, hey! My washing machine died last weekend after close to 25 years, so I have to live long enough to get my money’s worth out of the new Speed Queen I just purchased. If it lasts 25 years and I last another 25 as well, in 2045, I’ll raise a glass to the Queen and her agitator!
577 chars
Indiana Jack said on November 25, 2020 at 10:47 am
Happy birthday! Enjoy the occasion and stay safe. I marked my 72nd year just last week via Zoom with our daughters, their husbands, and our grandchildren. The plan now is to make it to 73.
188 chars
LAMary said on November 25, 2020 at 10:54 am
The saggy arm thing is very sad. Crepey skin is pretty depressing as well and there’s the Nora Ephron neck situation. So happy birthday! I’m regularly amazed I’ve made it to 67, soon to be 68. I hang out with the 16 year old Lab who will be 17 on my birthday. He’s cool, not incontinent, nearly blind, but still enjoys his walks, his food and getting talked to while I brush him. He is an inspiration. When I’m asked by out of pod son how Smokey the Lab is doing, the reply is, “The Smokester abides.”
Have an extra bit of that indica for your birthday. Go wild.
565 chars
Dorothy said on November 25, 2020 at 11:08 am
It’s 7 years ago today that we moved to Dayton. Before I worked here, I worked at Kenyon College. Jamie Lee Curtis’s daughter was a student there while I was at Kenyon. She gave a luncheon talk one time and I was lucky to snag tickets to it. She looked great, and had a sleeveless dress or top on. She lifted her arms and pointed to her saggy upper arms and said, try as she might, she could not get them any firmer than they currently were. And she said she named each of them after one of her elderly aunts, which really made me laugh.
537 chars
Scout said on November 25, 2020 at 11:10 am
Happy Birthday, Nancy. Cheers! Your site is a gift year round so I wish I could do more than simply toast you with a good glass of pinot noir. (later of course, it’s only 9 am here)
I turned 63 in October and it’s funny how it doesn’t FEEL the way I thought 63 would feel when I was younger, but it’s definitely shocking to pass my reflection and think, who’s that old lady? The crepey arms and neck are definitely not my favorite either, but I do give thanks to have made it this far.
2020 has been a rough haul for all of us, and especially tragic for some. Last night I was reflecting on what a wild ride it’s been and realized that the trouncing of the carrot colored cocksplat has definitely improved my outlook for what’s to come, and how much I appreciate that we at least managed to save democracy despite the deck being stacked against us. So 2020 has been quite a mixed bag, and it’s not over yet.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I appreciate you all; this community has definitely been part of my 2020 survival.
1025 chars
Linda said on November 25, 2020 at 11:15 am
Sto lat, Nancy! Good for you. I will be hitting 63 in the spring.
Getting rid of Trump was good, but the Politico article was disheartening. One whole party has no interest in democracy besides its demolition. One bright spot is that we can see this for what it is without illusion. The GOP needs to watched like a hawk and hopefully can be pushed into the ashcan of history.
377 chars
Sherri said on November 25, 2020 at 11:16 am
Happy Birthday! I’m very grateful for Zoom training sessions in my home gym, because aside from what it does for my physical health, working out is an absolute requirement for my mental health.
It’s been a challenging year, but I’m also glad that despite my husband working from home since early March, and us spending more time together than expected, we still like each other and are happy to be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary on Saturday.
460 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 25, 2020 at 11:33 am
Felicitations and congratulations to all who are celebrating anything. That’s what we have to do this year. We put up my mom’s tree yesterday and will do ours today after we clean. It’s apartment sized, all of 18 inches, so it won’t take long.
Like ROGirl I was 64 in October, and it’s the first time I wished I was turning a year older. Medicare!
One set of grandparents were Grandma and Grandpa, but the other set preferred to be known by their first names. I think there was some denial that they were old enough to be grandparents.
I also have the turkey wing arm flaps and the crepey skin on the inside of my elbows. Neck is not great, but in general I don’t have too many wrinkles unless you get VERY close. Back off, bud.
We watched A Face in the Crowd this summer, and I don’t think I’d ever seen it. It was chilling.
837 chars
susan said on November 25, 2020 at 11:50 am
Let me be down into the comments’ middle section to wish you a happy day today, Nancy. How much I appreciate coming to this blog and reading breezy, spicy words, and lots of stuff of interest. Stuffs going on in the mid-west, where I grew up. I was in Ohio, but not of Ohio. And managed to flee to the west coast as soon as I could. Thanks for this great place.
362 chars
Brian stouder said on November 25, 2020 at 12:14 pm
Happy, happy birthday to the proprietress, indeed! I’m a ’61 make, so my next birthday will put a zero in my age. These are strange days indeed, and our oldest daughter looks to be completing her IU experience here at home (rather than Bloomington), but she’s rolling with it, so I (quite selfishly!) really like the bonus-time we have with her. Definitely tiring of living in ‘interesting times’, but waddaya gonna do,eh?
434 chars
Suzanne said on November 25, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Brian, for sure. Living history isn’t so fun when you have to live it.
72 chars
Margaret said on November 25, 2020 at 12:52 pm
Happy Birthday! Trumpism is indeed a cancer and it will take a while (hopefully not too long!) to “cure.” It’s been a difficult year but many years are in different ways. I consider it a victory to still be here to whine about it!
230 chars
Bob (not Greene) said on November 25, 2020 at 12:57 pm
Happy birthday, Nancy! I can’t believe that I stumbled on this thing … well I can’t remember exactly how long ago, 20 years? Is that even possible? It was pre-fellowship for sure. Anyhow, it’s been a near daily stop for me all those years, and I feel like I have a second virtual family of people who I’ve gotten to know pretty well, even if I’ve mostly stayed in the background. You’ve provided all of us kind of a gift, actually.
433 chars
jerry said on November 25, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Nancy, happy birthday from your English twin – although I’m 13 years older and everyone here seems to be so young. We share a birthday with our adopted grandson who is 16 today.
My day has been spent talking to sons and other family members, including the son in Australia, and taking a Tai Chi class over Zoom, struggling with Duolingo Italian session and not much else.
Hope your day proves enjoyable and rewarding.
425 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 25, 2020 at 2:16 pm
Happy birthday, Nancy — you have given us so much through this site, even the weeks you only can post once! We should give you . . . no idea. So we’ll just keep coming back and chatting amiably and appreciating your viewpoints.
Not a birthday, but congrats to friend-of-nancynall.com Hank who got a nice bump at work, or so it appears masthead-wise. Hopefully with a pay bump, too, but these days in newspapers second place is a set of steak knives, so having a good job title sounds like a positive end to 2020. May we all find some kind of good news to be thankful for this week along with continued respiration.
618 chars
LAMary said on November 25, 2020 at 3:42 pm
A picture that really flatters trump’s hair and face colors and news that trump is not going to Gettysburg to have a GOP hearing about voter fraud. Whatever a GOP hearing is.
https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB1bluSq?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
245 chars
Diane said on November 25, 2020 at 5:25 pm
Happy Birthday!
Thank you very much for this space. It has been an oasis of sanity in the often insane world of 2020.
118 chars
Dave said on November 25, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Happy birthday, that makes you about 8 months younger than my youngest brother.
Meanwhile, completely off topic but we’re quarantined for a week and then have to go get a covid test. Yesterday, we stopped at a little place where we could order inside and eat outside. A older lady (82), who we didn’t know, locked her keys in her car. She asked if we could help by running her home, five minutes away, so she could get a spare set. We were happy to do so, she sat in the front seat and my wife sat in the back. On the way back, almost as we arrived back at her car, she coughed, what sounded like a smoker’s cough, and then said she had covid. WHAT? Oh, she said she wasn’t contagious and it had been 11 days covid-free. We were all masked but still.
Our doctor thought otherwise after a phone call and told us to quarantine. Completely ruined Thanksgiving, which we were going to share with my brother-in-law and his wife. I was really looking forward to it because we’ve hardly seen anyone lately. We felt safe with the brother-in-law, they’re very cautious, he’s a kidney organ transplant recipient and they’re very careful.
Hope everyone else’s Thanksgiving is pleasant, we’ll be sitting about right here for six more days.
We couldn’t believe it, she said it like it was an afterthought. I wanted to scream at her, WE wanted to rant at her but what good would it have done at that point.
1416 chars
Deborah said on November 25, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Dave, wow, I would be livid, but I get that there’s not much of a point in screaming at the old lady. I think though I’d let her know after a few days have passed what she put you through. It probably won’t do any good but it seems like it needs some follow through. People are clueless.
293 chars
Colleen said on November 25, 2020 at 10:18 pm
Happy happy! I had a Grams (with whom you share a birth date) and a Gramps. My mom’s mother was Grandma. No Memaws for me.
I, too, am grateful for this blog. An oasis of sanity amidst the craziness.
Just the husband and me tomorrow. A Honeybaked Ham,rakott krumpli (Hungarian potatoes) and carrot souffle.
Another thing for which I am grateful…my employer, Tampa General Hospital. We got 150 dollar Publix gift cards. AND a 500 dollar bonus check. AND, due to a payroll snafu, not enough taxes were taken out of our checks this year…enough that we could be in for a rude surprise in April. TGH is covering those taxes for every employee, to the tune of several million dollars. So I lucked out four years ago when I landed this gig.
742 chars
beb said on November 25, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Nancy, your birthday comes two days after my wife’s. For her birthday she got a Costco pumpkin cheesecake. It is so-o-o-o-o good. My sister’s birthday is one day earlist, which is unfortunately — November 22nd. Ths of us of a certain age can all remember where we were when we learned that Pres. Kennedy had been murdered. It kind of puts a downer on anyone borne on that day.
377 chars
LAMary said on November 25, 2020 at 11:51 pm
This has not been my favorite week in a long time. My mother died sixty years ago on the twentieth. My brother died one year ago on the twentieth. It’s hard to not think of them on this week. Especially my mother. Thanksgiving was not an entirely happy holiday in our house ever again.
285 chars
LAMary said on November 25, 2020 at 11:56 pm
I just saw the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania describe Rudy Giuliani’s GOP “hearing” regarding the imaginary voter fraud as an Amway rally and snake handling meeting.
171 chars
Cathie from Canada said on November 26, 2020 at 1:09 am
I think the last somewhat-good Republican president was Eisenhower — almost 70 years ago!
Since then, you have had Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush the elder, Bush the younger, and Trump — quite the downhill trajectory.
You know how when you’re going through an intersection and someone runs the red but luckily they just click your bumper on the way past, and you are shaken but OK and you just drive on?
That’s how I feel about Trump’s defeat. America has avoided fascism by the merest click.
493 chars
basset said on November 26, 2020 at 7:34 am
For now, anyway. The 72 million are still out there.
53 chars
Deborah said on November 26, 2020 at 8:39 am
I wonder how many of the 72 million were hold-your-nosers and that makes me feel a little bit better.
101 chars
Deborah said on November 26, 2020 at 9:18 am
Happy Thanksgiving! This is the best thanksgiving piece I think I’ve ever read https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-25-2020.
140 chars
Heather said on November 26, 2020 at 9:50 am
Oh no, Dave! Truly no good deed goes unpunished.
48 chars
alex said on November 26, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Yay rakott krumpli! Not making it for this particular Thanksgiving, Colleen, but it’s part of my potluck repertoire and always gains new fans. I’ve also served it at Easter as part of the big brunch I usually prepare for my partner’s ginormous Catholic family. I use Bende sausage which has to be ordered online. This was one of my Hungarian grandmother’s recipes and always one of my favorites. The one thing I miss most, though, is pogacsa, which for you non-Hungarians is a layered pastry dinner roll with enough lard and salt in it to render your statin drugs and antihypertensives forever useless. But damn are they good. I’ve attempted to make them but they never turn out like they’re supposed to.
We’re doing conventional Thanksgiving. Store-bought stuffing mix, store-bought cranberry salad, store-bought pumpkin pie. We were also supposed to have pecan pie but someone made a midnight snack of it. But I’m attempting turkey en cocotte a la America’s Test Kitchen, which is a novel spin, and if it’s successful it may be a new tradition. Then I’m taking care packages to the parents as they didn’t want a risky gathering.
Thankful for four days away from my pestilent office. The big boss is a wishful thinker much like the little old lady Dave mentions above. He made us return less than 10 days after he was sick and seems to think that now he has immunity and doesn’t need to observe any precautions.
1415 chars
Deborah said on November 26, 2020 at 2:44 pm
Recipe for rakott krumpli please.
33 chars
alex said on November 26, 2020 at 3:03 pm
Deborah, this is one I found that’s most similar to mine:
https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/rakott-krumpli
For the sausage, you can find it in Lincoln Village at several places. The Paulina Market claims to be making it fresh.
234 chars
Deborah said on November 26, 2020 at 3:07 pm
We put up some of our holiday decorations this morning. I know it’s thanksgiving day, doesn’t seem kosher but we’re going to the Abiquiu cabin tomorrow and will be there off and on for the next month so today seemed a good a day as any. The paraphernalia consists of garlands over the kitchen window, outside and we laid a wreath on each of the two galvanized tubs next to the patio, they fit perfectly. I’m bringing back some juniper branches from Abiquiu to stick up out of the middle of the wreaths. I ordered lights online to add to the window display and that’s the end of it. Everything will be outside, nothing inside, it’s too small in here and we have way too many house plants, they’re outside in the summer but we have to bring them in for the winter.
We don’t have any plans yet for holiday decorations in the cabin and probably will end up doing nothing, because also way, way too small. Maybe a couple of candles here and there. Having fires in the wood burning stove is holiday feeling enough out there for me.
We’re trying to figure out what to do for xmas dinner this year, wanting to do something different. Any suggestions?
1148 chars
LAMary said on November 26, 2020 at 3:57 pm
This message was on my neighborhood Next Door group site today. This person is looking for drinking water:
“I would love the water not to be to acidic like arrowhead etc. they just don’t hydrate me. Any recommendations.”
I can understand not wanting to drink tap water. I can understand having a prefernce for a brand of water. I do not understand the claim that a certain brand of water does not hydrate this person.
429 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 26, 2020 at 4:18 pm
Rakoff-krumpli looks…interesting. By any chance, does the sausage have caraway seeds?
We’ve finished our meal with our little pod of three and video called with the kids. Now we’re streaming a Josh Groban concert; it was part of a package of three you could buy. I got out the tree, all 18 inches of it, and with a small nativity set and a wreath on the door, we’re done. Like Deborah, there’s no space for anything more. To quote Ma Ingalls and Mary Poppins, enough is as good as a feast.
495 chars
Sherri said on November 26, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Alkaline water is A Thing. No, of course there’s no evidence that it’s better for you or hydrates you better, but there are all sorts of claims about it.
157 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 26, 2020 at 5:02 pm
Alex and I apparently stumbled into the same recipe; my turkey breast came out perfectly, even though I burned the breast skin when I seared it as instructed before turning it over and putting the dutch oven cover on. Everyone (well, wife and son) said the blackened skin didn’t taste bad at all, and the turkey cooked through (9 lb. breast) in just a couple of hours, relatively low, and tender & not dry & tasty right through. The ribs/backbone I cut off (with a little help from my utility drawer pliers) got thrown back in the dutch oven and roasted on their own during dinner, and I’ll pick them for the good meat later.
Anyhow, “turkey en cocotte a la America’s Test Kitchen” turned out fine here: how was the Hoosier version, Alex? The hardest part was breaking down and removing the ribs, and flipping it after the initial browning in the hot dutch oven. Otherwise, easy & effective.
908 chars
LAMary said on November 26, 2020 at 5:35 pm
I stopped going to one hair cutter because she was always trying to sell me alkaline water. I know it’s a thing. But to claim water that isn’t alkaline doesn’t hydrate you is sad. If you’re dehydrated any water will fix that, really. I can understand taste preference or mineral water versus spring water or choosing to not drink tap water but claiming one brand of water lacks the qualities that would hydrate her is weird.
424 chars
David C said on November 26, 2020 at 5:44 pm
We took an after dinner walk and we didn’t see signs of huge gatherings. Maybe it’s finally sinking in although I’m sure shoppers tomorrow will disabuse me of that notion.
171 chars
Deborah said on November 26, 2020 at 7:33 pm
We used to be big fans of plain sparkling water but the plastic bottles were a problem. I tried to find a make it yourself option but the gizmos are all gigantic. We have a large former honey jar that we keep in the fridge full of tap water in Chicago and we’ve come to find that extremely refreshing. We do that in Santa Fe too. No more plastic sparkling water bottles for us except in the car on roadtrips.
We’ve had our risotto with scallops and pumpkin pie, sitting around the fireplace. Burp.
505 chars
susan said on November 26, 2020 at 8:41 pm
Deborah, I’ve had one of these for years, and just love it. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, but that might be relative. Also, it doesn’t plug in or use batteries; runs off the CO2.
239 chars
alex said on November 26, 2020 at 8:47 pm
Jeff, I had no idea that turkey breast meat could have so much flavor or retain so much moistness. It’s not a delicacy on a par with filet of beef, but it’s so much better than I ever had it before, which was always as a a dry and thirsty neutral medium for starch, sugar, sodium and fat.
Browned it using tongs and a spatula and it was a bit awkward to maneuver around, but I didn’t scorch anything. The pan developed quite a thick, crusty, dry fond, so I took it down to medium from medium-high about halfway through the initial phase on the stovetop. After pulling it from the oven 1.75 hours later the rended fat had pretty much melted the fond. Which was also full of hammer-cracked Tellicherry peppercorns because my peppermill fell from the counter and shattered. I think the coarser pepper added more flavor too.
Deviations on this go-round: I brain-farted onion as one of the veggies but threw in sprigs of rosemary and sage in addition to the thyme. The gravy came out super-rich and savory. Best-ever turkey gravy. It was delish on our stuffing and cream cheese mashed potatoes and turkey.
And our store-bought cranberry salad was simply divoon slathered in homemade whipped cream.
We’re taking a pause before the dessert course.
Julie, I’m seeing rather more sodium lactate and ascorbic acid in the ingredients of Bende Hungarian Smoked Sausage than caraway, but I’m sure that’s one of the flavorings however artificially it might be instilled. Probably better to buy fresh from a deli than the shrink-wrapped imported stuff, although it’s quite good nonetheless.
1593 chars
Ann said on November 26, 2020 at 10:05 pm
Happy birthday to our young mother hen at Nancynall. Pumpkin pie would always be my favorite birthday cake but I quit eating sugar after you know who was elected in 2016 and it seems unwise to fall back now.
208 chars
Dexter Friend said on November 27, 2020 at 12:55 am
My niece Amanda brought a full turkey dinner to Carla Lee. The staff micro’d the hot stuff, and I thought that was very nice. I cooked for one, turkey burger (Butterball, surprisingly tasty)mashed taters, Brussel sprouts, pumpkin pie w/ Cool Whip, Starbucks Verona coffee.
Lori called from home. She said she is eating a little now, and said she has been eating sushi, which surprised me, but she loves it and knows all about it. She’s still way too weak and sore to work.
Lori told me my across-the-street neighbors, a couple a little north of 70, both are home QTing with Covid19. The woman was an EMT and very careful with sanitation and masking, but contracted the Bug while working the election, and passed it to her husband. Their 52 year old daughter is still a good friend of Lori’s, and told Lori she was having difficulty with being confused in her daily routine. Lori said she told her to get a Cat scan, as Covid19 and all the SARS viruses can attack the brain and wreak havoc. I’d take a virus vaccine right now if I could.
Traditions live on unaltered, for sure. The Lions were slaughtered by a bad Texas team. But I must still carry on as a Detroit Lions fan, as I did meet old-time QB Greg Landry (Goodwill tour, him) in Vietnam, 50 years ago today. Also , with Landry was Larry Csonka, the Dolphins’ Hall of Famer.
1346 chars
A. Riley said on November 27, 2020 at 1:49 am
Alkaline water? Shoot, that’s plain old Chicago tap water. 8.2 ph, according to some hobbyist brewmeister on the web. And just *full* of calcium — good for bones and teeth!!
174 chars
basset said on November 27, 2020 at 8:25 am
Reminds me of the time Mrs. B and I went on a distillery tour in Kentucky which began with a film about the pure water of the area flowing through the limestone, clear streams in the hills, you get the idea. They’d recently had a fire and moved production to another location so I asked if they were using the same water… no, Louisville tap water now. I’m no expert, but it didn’t seem to affect the product as far as I could tell.
440 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 27, 2020 at 9:17 am
Alex, the meat was good, but the resulting gravy was the best I’ve ever made, lumps and all. The fond was so delicious I couldn’t go wrong… doing this again next year, I believe.
A friend sent me this link which lays out the case brilliantly for how Biden stole the election from Trump: worth your time.
https://howbidenstoletheelection.com/
345 chars
Heather said on November 27, 2020 at 10:42 am
My restaurant takeout Thanksgiving dinner was really good! I wasn’t so in love with the gravy–not dark enough for my taste–but very happy with everything else. And I have leftovers. Went for a morning walk in some nearby woods with friends, had an extended family Zoom, and met my neighbor outside for a quick cocktail. All in all, not bad.
A friend texted me this morning and said she and her elderly parents (!) had gone to her brother’s, where they tried to socially distance inside. Her brother is still going to work, but “I believe he wears a mask.” I didn’t say anything–what’s the point now? It just blows my mind that people still don’t get how much this thing is spreading.
690 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 27, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Everyone’s meals sound so delicious–well done, all! We’ve just finished making turkey corn chowder, which is the real reason we get a turkey every year. Tomorrow will be turkey pot pie, and I hope some turkey sandwiches in there, but we only had a 12 pounder, and it’s going fast.
No sun in five days, getting desperate to see it.
334 chars
LAMary said on November 27, 2020 at 12:12 pm
All in the household have tested negative. Let the wild rumpus start.
69 chars
Dorothy said on November 27, 2020 at 1:42 pm
“Enough is as good as a feast” is a favorite saying in our house, Julie! Was it Ma Ingalls who coined the phrase “Hunger makes the best sauce”?
Mary I’m so glad to hear about the test outcome(s). We go to so few places these days and I’m going to try not to go into my office much at all before the students come back in January. It feels very much like it’s inevitable for us to get the virus and we’re trying every reasonable step to avoid it. Dr. Amy Acton is no longer acting in an official fashion in the state of Ohio, but a day or two ago she said “there is no curve to flatten – it’s a straight line up and showing no hint of going down.” That’s just Ohio – it’s just as bad in many, many states. I could scream when I read comments online from people saying “Don’t live in fear – almost everyone survives it when they get it!” As if it’s okay to push people toward a death earlier than they should expect. Where are their hearts? Where are their consciences?!
1006 chars
David C said on November 27, 2020 at 2:10 pm
Their heads have been so filled with propaganda they have no idea. When their favorite propaganda organ takes one small step back toward reality they jump off and go to even crazier outlets. Until that cycle is broken, and even the smart people I read have no idea how to do that, their hearts and consciences are on permanent loan.
332 chars
Jakash said on November 27, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Until he can be prosecuted, and while he insists on lying about his humiliating defeat, at least we can enjoy this:
“We know you’re finding it difficult to accept the election result so we projected it onto your golf course with some familiar music”
https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1331671167762108419
I’ve long been convinced of the veracity of the saying, “Hunger is the best sauce.” Looks like it’s credited to Cervantes, Dorothy.
444 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 27, 2020 at 3:25 pm
Ma Ingalls had all kinds of those pithy sayings as a way to get through poverty. Another one is “We must cut the coat to fit the cloth”. I think that one was after their crops failed and they had to sell livestock to send Mary to the blind school in Iowa.
Glad everyone’s tests were negative, LAMary. Like Dorothy, we’ve been keeping ourselves home, but we’re supposed to go to Orlando for Christmas. I still don’t know if we’re going or not. I’m not sure it’s responsible.
476 chars
Deborah said on November 27, 2020 at 4:11 pm
Good news about the negative tests, still waiting for ours.
We’re out at the Abiquiu cabin, all the settling-in chores are done, a nice warm fire in the woodburning stove. It’s supposed to rain soon and then snow later. It’s very peaceful and quiet. We’ll be out here until Monday then back to Santa Fe to get cleaned up and take our Jeep in for a new battery etc.
Did any of you read Maureen Dowd’s column, her Trump supporting brother wrote it and it’s pretty interesting. I don’t agree with any of it, but it’s well said and it ends with him saying it’s time for Trump to move on, which on second thought is something I obviously agree with, except for what he thinks Trump should move on to.
719 chars
Mark P said on November 27, 2020 at 4:21 pm
These morons who talk about a low death rate for the coronavirus apparently haven’t heard about the long-term debilitating after effects some people suffer. I’m less concerned about dying from it than I am having the lung/liver/brain damage some get.
254 chars
beb said on November 27, 2020 at 4:31 pm
People are excited that Cadet Bonespurs has said that he will leave the White House if the Electoral Collage votes against him. What they are missing is that after failing to discredit votes for Biden in PA. MI and Wi, Trump’s next plan is to get Republican governors to throw out the duly elected EC voters for Biden and insert their own for Trump. So Trump isn’t saying he’s given up trying to rig the election, he’s saying it’s time for plan B. Personally, I think it’s time for Impeachment #2- Interference in an election.Even if the Republicans in the Senate continue to cover his ass it will still be the first time a President has been impeached twice!
659 chars
Sherri said on November 27, 2020 at 6:17 pm
I don’t think trump will succeed in his ever-crazier plans to overturn the results of the election, but his ability to sabotage the government between now and Jan 20 remains high.
https://twitter.com/RepDonBeyer/status/1332402560842522630
244 chars
Dexter Friend said on November 28, 2020 at 3:51 am
Folks, friends, I swear I am not trying out scenes for an apocalyptic novel on you, but…
Lori’s 30 year old daughter, my step grand, now living with co-morbidity candidate (cancer)daughter Vanessa, has, and no surprise, contracted Covid19. Vanessa was terminated by her employer for not being able to work a full scheduled, and now my son-in-law must quarantine for 14 days, payless. And my granddaughter is 9, and really upset she has to stop going to school, which was shut down a long time already this year. This is my family, taking hit after hit and the shelling continues.
584 chars
ROGirl said on November 28, 2020 at 5:27 am
Dexter, I’m so sorry about everything that you and your family are going through.
81 chars
Suzanne said on November 28, 2020 at 7:45 am
Dexter, how awful for you and your family! I am so sorry for all you are going through. Is there anything any of us here can do to help?
136 chars
Deborah said on November 28, 2020 at 9:08 am
We got our Covid test results this morning… negative! At least we know we didn’t bring anything with us from Chicago.
121 chars
Deborah said on November 28, 2020 at 9:38 am
Dexter, so sorry, hoping things get better from here on out for you and your family.
84 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 28, 2020 at 10:39 am
Dexter, you must be feeling like Job. Things have to turn around soon.
70 chars
Dexter Friend said on November 29, 2020 at 1:27 am
Ladies, thanks for the thoughts. I guess all you can do is wear those masks. As the great dust storms ravaged the Plains 80 and 90 years ago, people brainstormed and fixed it by tiered and strategic planting. Cooperation and action fixed the problem. I believe our great pandemic can be stopped by these new vaccines, already being flown in by United Airlines from Brussels. I do not believe in herd immunity, I believe in science and vaccines. If praying works for you, then pray. Lately the old song “Let’s Hang On (to what we’ve got)” has been buzzing my head.
570 chars
Jodi P said on November 29, 2020 at 2:37 pm
Dexter, so sorry the news just doesn’t get better for you! I wish we had another relief package that supported families duirng these awful times. And that we had decent health care and mandatory sick leave. There is federal COVID sick leave, but I don’t know if the person’s company already has to have some sort of sick leave policy in place. (I know about it as part of my work benefits.) Your SIL could try calling the HR dept of the company to see if he can access this. (If they have an HR dept that cares.)
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave
583 chars
Mindy said on November 29, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Happy belated birthday. Loves me some Nance.
44 chars