Already voted. Mailed it in weeks ago. If you haven't yet voted, please do so.
If it's Election Day, that must mean it's November, and if it's November, that means it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is my husband's favorite holiday. It ranks up there for me too. This year, I've decided to bring in some new side dishes to the rotation, courtesy of the New York Times website:
Roasted corn with mint
Roasted cauliflower with sage
As you may know, I like to roast vegetables - easy and little cleanup. These side dishes can be done ahead of time and kept warm in the oven. I'm big on getting as much done ahead of time as possible for these big events. Here is my prospective schedule:
Tuesday: do all shopping, pick up the bird (a fresh bird)
Wednesday: make pumpkin pie, sweet potato souffle, cranberry chutney, brine turkey, and prep all vegetables for tomorrow (except for potatoes). Get second table leaf into the dining room table. Go out for dinner.
Thursday (early morning): make stuffing, stuff bird and get it in the oven, clean up kitchen round one. (late morning): Set the table. Prepare vegetables for side dishes, peel potatoes and get them cooked. Once potatoes are cooked and mashed, add them to slow cooker set on Warm. Cook all other side dishes and keep them warm in low oven. Clean kitchen round two.
[it helps to have double ovens on days like this]
I leave the appetizers to the guests to bring unless I'm feeling particularly ambitious.
A new-ish tradition for our family is to have a second turkey, a smoked one from Greenberg Smoked Turkeys. Let me tell you, it is one delicious bird - we let it get to room temperature and let people carve up some smoked turkey if they are so inclined. And the leftovers are delicious. We just have to remember to keep the dogs away from all the food! Here's the link: Greenberg Smoked Turkeys
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Why I Love This Country
Many years ago back in the salad days of my youth, I joined the Peace Corps. I didn't join because I had starry-eyed notions of world peace or a deep-rooted need to help the poor. Sorry if that offends you. The Peace Corps doesn't actually want people who are too idealistic. When reality hits, and it will with a vengeance when you are sitting in a hut somewhere with no electricity or running water, fighting off insects the size of small birds, and nursing a fever or a wound that refuses to heal, the idealists are the first to cry out, "get me the hell out of here!" So it helps to be motivated by some self-interest. In my case, I wanted to travel and see the world a little bit. I figured it would look good on my future resume and set me apart from the rest of the pack.
I made the decision during the last quarter of my senior year at UCLA. I was an English major, it was 1982, and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do after college. So, I joined the Peace Corps and got sent to Liberia the following December. I became a high school English teacher in a small-sized town in the northernmost part of the country, along the border with Sierra Leone.
For two years I lived in a small house made of mud bricks with a tin roof. During the rainy season it was really noisy. I had electricity at night, usually. I had a small refrigerator and was able to keep a few things in it (and away from any bugs) and as long as I didn't open it much during the day, it kept the food cold.
I taught four classes of 9 - 12th graders and over the two years I was there, I had many great experiences, a few bad ones, and met many wonderful people. I traveled to Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone. I got malaria, twice.
When my time was nearing an end, the people in my town knew I was going to be leaving soon. Several people came to me, and offered me their children. I'm sure some of you might read this and think, "Wow! That's awful! Who would give up their kid like that?" I can assure you they did it because they loved their children so much, and knew that life in America was so much better than their life in Liberia, that they would willingly (and sadly) give their child to a silly American girl. They had more faith in the American dream than the typical annoying college student who wants to Occupy Wall Street and demands someone else pay off her student loans.
Of course, I declined the offers.
When I got back to the States, I was in a fog for a few months because of all the choices that were available to me again. From the grocery store to a department store, to restaurants, to museums and libraries, it was glorious! Being away from all the conveniences of life made some of my fellow RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) contemptuous of America. For me, I remember walking around thanking my lucky stars that I lived in a such a great country.
Which is why I have a hard time when I hear certain people (who are abundant in this part of California) wax poetic about reducing their carbon footprints, growing what they eat, recycling everything, becoming vegans, and so forth. I've seen this life, up close, and there is nothing romantic about it. Just ask the people currently suffering without electricity in the New York area. An hour might be charming. A day becomes really irritating. Weeks without electricity and clean water breed desperation and anger.
I made the decision during the last quarter of my senior year at UCLA. I was an English major, it was 1982, and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do after college. So, I joined the Peace Corps and got sent to Liberia the following December. I became a high school English teacher in a small-sized town in the northernmost part of the country, along the border with Sierra Leone.
For two years I lived in a small house made of mud bricks with a tin roof. During the rainy season it was really noisy. I had electricity at night, usually. I had a small refrigerator and was able to keep a few things in it (and away from any bugs) and as long as I didn't open it much during the day, it kept the food cold.
I taught four classes of 9 - 12th graders and over the two years I was there, I had many great experiences, a few bad ones, and met many wonderful people. I traveled to Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone. I got malaria, twice.
When my time was nearing an end, the people in my town knew I was going to be leaving soon. Several people came to me, and offered me their children. I'm sure some of you might read this and think, "Wow! That's awful! Who would give up their kid like that?" I can assure you they did it because they loved their children so much, and knew that life in America was so much better than their life in Liberia, that they would willingly (and sadly) give their child to a silly American girl. They had more faith in the American dream than the typical annoying college student who wants to Occupy Wall Street and demands someone else pay off her student loans.
Of course, I declined the offers.
When I got back to the States, I was in a fog for a few months because of all the choices that were available to me again. From the grocery store to a department store, to restaurants, to museums and libraries, it was glorious! Being away from all the conveniences of life made some of my fellow RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) contemptuous of America. For me, I remember walking around thanking my lucky stars that I lived in a such a great country.
Which is why I have a hard time when I hear certain people (who are abundant in this part of California) wax poetic about reducing their carbon footprints, growing what they eat, recycling everything, becoming vegans, and so forth. I've seen this life, up close, and there is nothing romantic about it. Just ask the people currently suffering without electricity in the New York area. An hour might be charming. A day becomes really irritating. Weeks without electricity and clean water breed desperation and anger.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
House Hunter Whiners
Okay, so I'm watching House Hunters again and I find myself wanting to throw something at the tv. I've had this feeling before. Usually the cause is some entitled, whiny female. Do they pick the people for this show based on how obnoxious they appear on camera?
Here's a checklist for how to appear on House Hunters in the most unflattering light possible:
Here's a checklist for how to appear on House Hunters in the most unflattering light possible:
- Have a huge "wish list" of "must-haves" in your "dream house".
- Have a budget for your house in exact inverse to the size of the wish list.
- Complain about every room in every house you see. Find very little to like about each house.
- Accuse your real estate agent of not understanding your need to find the perfect house for a small amount of money.
- Accuse your real estate agent of incompetence for not finding you the perfect house for your paltry budget.
- Act like doing any work at all in your future home is simply out of the question.
- Immediately enter a room and complain about the paint color, because we all know how incredibly difficult and expensive it is to repaint a room.
- Act as though not having stainless steel appliances in your starter home is a felony worthy of the death penalty.
- Demand a gourmet kitchen and then jokingly mention how you hate to cook and never plan on doing any cooking.
- Question the presence of a dining room, especially by saying something like, "What am I supposed to do with this room! This isn't how I live!"
And yet I keep watching.
Don't even get me started on the dimwit on House Hunters International who complained the entire episode about how terribly difficult it was to find a suitable Parisian apartment for her measly $3 - $4 million budget. This chick and her French hubby were looking at some absolutely stunning and huge apartments with views of the freaking Eiffel Tower and all she could do was complain that the kitchens needed to be gutted.
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