Gobble Until You Wobble

It's time for another photo drop. This week will consist of nothing but photos. We do this to keep the pictures in our memories and share them with anyone interested. 

Out delivering in Melrose, I stopped to get some pics of these pumpkins left to rot on a farm plot. 

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As mentioned in an earlier post, we had a beautiful cat called Meow-Meow or Ellie living on our porch. One day she stopped coming. Now this gorgeous baby is living there, taking her spot. He gets his food every day, covered in chicken broth. We have a luxuriously fur-covered bed for him and a box with a soft cloth to give him places to rest. There is even a cat toy for him to play with. I say "him," although we are unsure of the gender. He is wild enough to not let us get too close. 

I went outside to feed him a couple of days ago though and was able to stroke him across his back and up to the tip of his tail. Progress. I would love to tame him enough to find him a good home. He used to hang out with Meow-Meow at times and I think they might be related. 

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Picking up a delivery order at Albertson's, I heard water running. Walked to the side of the store and found this little creek. 

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The flowers my husband bought to celebrate our 17th-month wedding anniversary have fully opened. 

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I love the idea of old-fashioned drive-ins. You order from the menus on the speakers outside, and someone brings your order to you. I remember this type of restaurant back in the day. A&W was the best during that time. Calling it in through the speaker then bringing it out on a tray, and hanging it on the edge of your window. It was awesome. Chilled mugs are filled with the sweet nectar of root beer. Onion rings and cold root beer stood out for me. 

I picked up a couple of orders on Tuesday. Sonic has the same type of ordering system. The issue with their outside menu and speakers is that about four out of six of their speakers are not working. You would think, as the owner, operator, or manager of Sonic, that you would get these working. Iconic Sonic? Not when your stuff doesn't work. Silly Sonic. 

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Wednesday comes and I find myself in the kitchen, preparing all of the side dishes that will go with this year's main events of turkey, ham, and smoked salmon. I can't wait!

My job is to make sweet potatoes and banana cream pie. I bring both of these dishes quite often. Some people in the group love sweet potatoes but don't ever think of making them. Banana cream pie? Well, that's a given. Most family members love the cream pies. A few purchased them at Shari's Restaurant, but since it's closed now (the entire chain), we have to make them by hand. First-world problems, for sure. 

I thought I would throw in a couple of desserts as well. Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies for one, and the other is the famous fudge. I purchased two of the kits to create that diabetic coma waiting to happen. Made one kit last night and it came out awful. I'm not taking it. The other kit can be eaten by Terry if he wants it later. 

The fudge is so hard you can't cut it. I recall it being somewhat difficult to cut, but not like this. I can use this stuff as a weapon to protect myself if Terry isn't able to take care of the intruder. The fudge would kill someone when thrown at their head. Nope. Not going to sit at a table on Thanksgiving. I will make some from scratch for Christmas instead. 

But the cookies were baked. What a nightmare that was. I almost gave up on the idea of having my bakery after the fiasco I had in the kitchen. They're sugar cookies. How difficult could they be? Yeah. Bane of my existence. 

The recipe I snagged off the Internet looked fairly simple but had all sorts of new ingredients that I had never tried in a cookie. First, sour cream. Sour cream? In a cookie? Ugh. But I added the sour cream. 

Not only did these frosted jewels take vanilla but a touch of almond extract as well. Interesting. The addition of almond extract is supposed to give them their famous flavor. The author of the recipe has obviously not been in my kitchen. 

I about broke my arm trying to mix the ingredients. The dough turned out stiff and difficult to mix but I finally managed. I guess that large Kitchen Aid I used to own wasn't such a bad idea. Once the dough was thoroughly mixed, the recipe called for time in the fridge. This is interesting. I think I'm having a hard time working with it now? Wait until it turns into an Antarctic cookie dough and see what happens. 

Now it's time to scoop the cookie dough into your hands, roll it into a ball, and place it on the parchment paper. Simple enough. I chiseled into the frigid mix with the cookie scoop and rolled the little ice cube into a ball. Soon I had lovely little balls of cookie dough lined up across the cookie sheets waiting on their next step. This is where I about burned the kitchen down and forgot I ever wanted to bake. 

Reading the next line seemed like a simple instruction. "With a flat glass bottom or cup, flatten the cookie." Okay. This I can handle. Let's get these things in the oven! 

Noticing how flat and smooth my measuring cup bottom was, I pressed it into the top of the first cookie. It stuck. Oh, it stuck to the cup like glue. I attempted to carefully release the suction of the dough without damaging the nice shape of the cookie. Ultimately, it looked like our cat Kit had attacked the poor doughy round. 

Rolling the cookie back into my hand to create a ball again, I grew frustrated. I told myself I was smarter than the dough and started the process again. I still had about 18 left to do. I had spent 12 minutes with this one cookie. I suck. I also panicked a bit. 

I failed three more attempts at making these little pieces of crap round, smooth, and perfect. I hate baking. Butter was applied to the bottom of the cup to keep it from sticking. Oh, the dough stuck even more to the butter. It loved the butter.  In fact, they had become close friends in a matter of seconds. I was sick of dough.

Where do we go when we are getting frustrated with anything? That's what Google is for. It's my saving grace for almost everything when I cannot figure it out on my own. I've even used it to figure out what is wrong with my cars of the past. It's a beautiful thing. 

Lo and behold they had a video. I'm trying to figure out if I was happy to see the video or if it just ticked me off more. A smiling, happy, upbeat woman came on. She looked a bit too happy to be having a difficult time with her cookies, so I continued. She finally got to the part in the cookie-making process where I was having the issues. Instead of balling these cookies and finding a way to flatten them, she showed viewers the way she ended up with flat, nice, beautiful cookies without the baker having high blood pressure. She rolled the dough out on the counter, used a round cookie cutter to form the cookies, then put them on the baking sheet. 

Easy-peasy way to make them. Next, the issue is how do I get them off of the counter without scrunching them up? It never ends. I guess the way to bake cookies is you have to be smarter than dough. It's questionable for me at times. 

In the end, the Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies came out great. They had their knicks and misshapen issues, but nothing mattered in the end when we ate them. The tanginess of the sour cream burst through the mild sweetness, giving the cookies that beautiful flavor they are famous for. Rich, sweet frosting on top, and you've got yourself a cookie! Brandy loved them, Jessee told me they tasted better than the cookies in the store, so I was happy. All was great in the baking world again. Yeah. Now that I had blown up my kitchen. Or at least that's what the kitchen looked like when I left to come to Eugene for our feast. 

And a feast it was ...

Dawn and Andy typically smoke the turkey, which they did again this year. Although the turkey was smoked to perfection, we ate another turkey Dawn had put in the oven. She loves turkey sandwiches using the turkey that's left at the end of the day, and who doesn't? She baked one, and Andy smoked one to take care of all their needs. But on top of that turkey came ham. Sweet ham that had roasted in a juice with cloves and other spices. The entire house was filled with the wonderful aroma of that ham and turkey cooking. But we weren't done yet. 

On top of the turkey and ham, Dan had caught a salmon and brought it to the party. Now we had smoked salmon along with the other two meats. My clever son-in-law also smoked some habanero cheese along with cheddar, creating the cheeses to go along with summer sausage and crackers. Perfection. Absolute perfection. 

With a blended atmospheric environment of Christmas and Thanksgiving, the large group convened. This year Andy's mother's family had stopped by to help celebrate with all of us. Or we with them as the case may be. 

Mallory, Hayden, Terry, and I walked into a warm home, filled with love, joy, fun, and of course, that lovely aroma. The Christmas tree sparkled in the corner of the living room. Seeing the tree made me smile. There was a blend of food, love, and excitement. This is what holidays are all about. 

Altogether, there were about 35 people. Laughter could be heard above everything else in the house. Groups carried on conversations in the front yard and on the back deck, even through the freezing cold temperatures outside. Tablecloths with images of pumpkin pie and other coverings with all things fall covered long tables and the main dining room table. We were ready to go!

The usual milling around the snack food in the kitchen was happening. I set down the banana cream pie, the Dutch oven with sweet potatoes, and the cookies, while Mallory set down her veggie tray and rolls. We officially opened the awesome gift of Thanksgiving. The day I had waited for had finally come. I do love this day. Family sharing love and laughter is the best in my world. 

I plopped into the swivel rocker in the living room, next to Novalee's high chair, giving me this beautiful view. She is four months old now and adorable just like her sister, Zyrah. Terry sat with me for a while, as did Mallory and Hayden. People were moving about constantly and this gave us a bit of reprieve from the crowd. 

Dinner was running late due to how much food our hosts were cooking. Everyone brought a couple of dishes to the party as well, such as the sweet potatoes and pie we brought. Even at the end of Wednesday evening, we were worried that we may not have everything. It happens every year. Then we end up with so much food Dawn is passing it out to everyone by the end of the day. 

Andy's aunts, uncles, and cousins had to leave as the food was done. They went through the line, fixing their plates, and saying their goodbyes at the same time. It was a long drive to Washington tonight, where they had to catch a ferry to complete their destination. We wished each other a Happy Thanksgiving, and off they went. 

The rest of us lined up to grab food from the kitchen and then the buffet line. Lovely turkey, ham, fish, stuffing, mashed potatoes, kale salad, green bean casserole, veggies in the corn and bean variety, rolls galore, gravy, squash casserole, sweet potatoes, bean dip, chips, homemade salsa, cranberry sauce, and the list continues ... we are truly blessed. 

We came. We stuffed ourselves. We chatted about how full we all were. Then we ate again. This didn't even cover the several pies waiting for us. Pumpkin, banana cream, loganberry, apple, and more. Lots of Cool Whip topping made its way around the table, giving us a bowl full of whipped cream, with a slice of pie on top. It's a beautiful Thanksgiving thing, while Frosty sat at the top of the tree in judgment of us all. 

This is my beautiful daughter Dawn, hostess of the gathering, finally getting to sit and eat. Yes, she will kill me for this photo, but I think she's beautiful anyway. 

Dinner was done. Before the desserts were devoured, we celebrated two family birthdays today. One was Jessee and one birthday celebration was for my brother, Mike. The candles on top of a pumpkin pie were lit and we all sang the traditional birthday tune. We were off-key, fading in and out, and unsure of wanting to be heard, but it was the sentiment of the song that was important. 

A few of us sat in the living room as Terry and I plus Brandy handed Jess a couple of gifts we had picked for her. She sat on the couch to open them. The entire thing of us celebrating Jessee's birthday was last minute, along with not knowing if Mike was coming or not. This left us high and dry on his cards and gifts. I did feel bad, but he didn't even realize we were holding a party for him too until the song included his name. Another family faux pas. 

Dan kept his finger down but thought about using it to let me in on how he felt about photos. This is typical for my family. They hate it when I snap pictures of them. Like the one of Dawn taking a bite of food up above? She would kill me if she knew this picture was going in the blog. They are natural photos though, ones that mean the most. You capture the person's character. They have caught me in a bunch of pictures I hate, but I go with the flow. And really? Who doesn't eat?

Coby, Jessee's brother, and her husband stood alongside the couch to watch. Delaney was relaxing on the staircase, and Cam was standing by. 

Then came the "O" symbol for Oregon Ducks. At least this is what I hope these goofballs were doing. 

My always pretty granddaughter, Kylee was doing well. She was waiting for her sister to open her gifts along with the rest of us. 

Lorenzo and Kylee waited by the lit pumpkin pie to capture the singing of Happy Birthday to Mike and Jess. 

Mike was standing in the kitchen, unaware he was about to have the celebration sung for him too. 

Andy poked his head out from the kitchen to figure out what was happening. 

Mike was surprised when we mentioned him in the song along with Jess. 

The song ended with some applause and shouts of, "Happy birthday you two!" 

Back to Jess. She was in the process of opening gifts, although not there yet. 

Once again, Dan and Jess were not happy Grandma was taking photos of them. Such gestures, Jess. Sorry guys. It's what old ladies do. 

Jessee had Zyrah help her open the gifts from Brandy and Dan. 

Turns out that Brandy and I both had chosen a nice mug, warm socks, and candles for Jess. It's what she loves. I got her a fun nightgown and Brandy threw in a book and a blanket. Terry and I also gave her a gift card to complete her comfort-themed birthday. Jess is all snuggled in for the night where she can read by candlelight. Sounds good to me. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving as a family and we hope you all did too. It's always what you make it and we always choose to make it about family. 

Thank you to each of you for reading the blog. Hugs to you all. Please stay safe and take care. Until our next post, Happy Thanksgiving and love sent out to all. 

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psychicpoet@0188

Happy Thanksgiving!