Thanksgiving Recap
This year we had two Thanksgivings. Another set of in-laws claimed one of the SILs on Thursday, so we had a small meal at home and then a big family gathering with the whole clan on Saturday.
For our Thursday dinner, our plan was to put my husband to work cooking up a turkey breast and I was going to shortcut it with sides from the deli at our local Posh Grocery Store which is what we did in 2019. But the Posh Grocery Store deli was looking lean so I did a quick pivot and bought ingredients for stuffing and green bean casserole. It really wasn't too much work and it was fun to play in the kitchen on Thursday. We did a repeat of our 2020 menu, but I used the normal French's green bean casserole recipe. It didn't quite hit the mark so I'll just have to try some other recipe next year. Or plan ahead and order it from the Posh place. I ate approximately 1/4 of the two bites of turkey that I put on my plate since turkey is not my thing, but everything else went down nicely especially that stuffing tho.
We broke out some holiday wine to have with dinner. There's no law that says you have to match your holiday wine to the holiday being celebrated.
Saturday's feast was our normal big family divide and conquer effort. SIL#3 made turkey, gravy, and stuffing, SIL#4 made her famous green bean casserole (sigh, she won't share the recipe) and veggies, and yours truly made a mountain of mashed potatoes, rolls (store bought), and a chocolate chip cookie cake.
Leftover wise, we kept eating the same meal on repeat from Thursday to Monday, and actually it really didn't get old. There was a little bit of turkey left over and some rolls which we tossed in the freezer and will bring back as "stuff on a shingle" next week.
Workouts
Not much to say, the usual. I broke my "Last 100 days of the year pushup challenge" streak - which is just doing pushups consistently three times a week - for the simple reason that anytime I found myself heading to the floor to do pushups last week I ended up snuggling with Stepdog instead. I think it was a pretty good reason to skip pushups, and now that we have no dog I'm back to doing pushups. I've also continued with our normal dog walking schedule, just by myself instead of with the dog.
Watching
I have an official Least Favorite Movie now.
As you now know, the last few weeks have been very sad time as we were dealing with Stepdog's illness and death. On the night that we found out that she had cancer, the hubs and I watched Airplane II, which is the correct movie to watch on the night that you find out your that dog has cancer.
You want to know what is a terrible movie to watch during a time of sadness? Zombieland. I'd seen it with the hubs before on one of our early dates, and as far as I can remember, I think I fell asleep halfway through. We settled down to watch it on Wednesday night with the boys and the dog, and at first I thought that it was interesting and funny, but then it got boring and draggy which made me focus on the reality of Stepdog's situation which made me have the biggest cry to date in the whole ordeal. Rule #54, do not watch movies that are kind of but not really funny in a time of sadness.
Reading
It's official, I'm on a Nevil Shute re-reading spree. I finished The Chequer Board, which held up exactly like I'd remembered it. From there I went straight to A Town Like Alice, which IMO is a great pick for your first Nevil Shute experience. When you're a survivor of a WWII death march leading a safe but monotonous post war life and you come into an unexpected inheritance and an even more unexpected way to spend the money.
I've got a shelf full of his books to continue on with from here so this is what my reading is likely to look like until the next new hot "It" book comes along.
Has anyone got a go-to green bean casserole recipe to share? Do you have go-to re-read authors/books? For authors my picks are Sue Townsend, Joyce Porter, and of course Nevil Shute. For books, it's And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
YES, I have so many go-to reread authors. The Sue Grafton alphabet mysteries is one of the most soothing series to reread. It's nostalgic (set in the 1980s), everything works out okay, and there are so many of them I don't really remember the mystery part until I'm in it. Nothing makes me feel like everything will be okay like Kinsey Millhone in her wrinkle proof black dress.
ReplyDeleteRight now I am rereading some Tana French books, but I'm a little apprehensive about the one I'm just starting (Broken Harbor) because I remember how it ends and I feel like maybe it will deepen my This House Is A Mistake despair??? We'll see, I guess.
If I owned the first couple (why don't I own the first couple???) I would go back and reread the Robert Galbraith mysteries because I like them and they're long.
Oh! Another great reread I did a few years ago was the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson. They are so well written and funny.
I guess what I'm saying is: rereading mystery series is a comfort. Probably because the danger is fake and I know going in that it all works out.
Two things:
DeleteI NEED TO READ SUE GRAFTON!!! The only reason that I haven't is that a long, long, looooong time ago I dated someone who hated reading (hmm...wonder why that one didn't work out?) but he loved Sue Grafton. I've always had a "well if this guy who didn't like to read liked her then she can't be any good" prejudice that is not serving me.
Next up, exactly what you said that mysteries are comforting. Remember a few weeks ago when I read Strange Sally Diamond and got all bothered about some unnamed topic that I found upsetting. I guess I'm trying to figure out why it's so comforting to curl up with an Agatha Christie and watch the bodies pile up but then I have these lines that I just don't want to read about. I don't know what that says about me.
I cannot believe your SiL will not share the recipe! Rude! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any re-read authors, but I do have authors I will read anything they write! (Okay, years ago, like 10+ or more, I used to re-read Phillipa Gregory books. That was before I had a library card.)
My last and maybe my only must read was Kathy Reichs. I read her latest Bones book on vacation every year for years. Then she got sick and took a break and I heard that her books after that weren't as good so I never went back to her.
DeleteWhat do you mean there was a time BEFORE YOU HAD A LIBRARY CARD?????? I can't imagine such a primitive existence.
I have so many go-to authors! I am 100% with Suzanne that I have reread the Sue Grafton books (especially the early ones) so many times! Kinsey always perseveres and I've never met another book detective who is as comforting as she is, especially when her neighbor makes her fresh bread.
ReplyDeleteI also reread the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers as a comfort read and *whispers* Harry Potter. I also reread the In Death series by JD Robb, which is certainly a way of saying that my taste in books is trash.
For romance novels, I have reread Perfect by Judith McNaught so many times that my copy is literally falling apart at the seams. I need to reevaluate my life choices.
(No one will convince me that green bean casserole is anything less than repulsive, but my SIL told me that this year she made it with frozen beans instead of canned beans and it was a positive change. I can't vouch for this because looking at it made me gag a bit, but what kind of beans did you use?)
If both you and Suzanne are endorsing Sue Grafton then maybe I need to pause Nevil Shute. Or I could start reading her in between his books. JD Robb is ringing a bell, and you had me at trash!
DeleteYour SIL knows what's up with the frozen green beans. Canned beans are nasty and fresh beans are too much work. The boys were fans of the casserole, and they said it was because the beans didn't get mushy. I just need to get a better sauce and then we should have it.
I've never had green bean casserole. EVER!
ReplyDeleteI didn't grow up with it. I think my SIL was the one who really made me a fan.
DeleteGo-to authors: Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, EM Delafield, Jane Austen. They never fail! After talking about the Lauren Bacall book, I went to find it but got distracted by another old-timey celebrity autobiography that I have read so many times it literally fell apart - Shelley Winters! IT IS AMAZING. With your love of old movies you might like it. I'll recap it in my Monday post. Oh, and it will be on IG of course.
ReplyDeleteI love 19 Crimes generally, but I REALLY love the Snoop Dogg one - it's Cali Red and it is SO good. I couldn't find it here but last time I visited my parents I brought some home.
SHELLEY WINTERS!!! I don't need to know anything else to know she wrote an awesome book. I kinda want to read Lauren again but I definitely want to hear Shelley's book (and yes hear is the right word b/c I'm an audiobook kinda gal for nonfiction).
DeleteNext topic of discussion: SNOOP WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's my favorite 19 Crimes. When - not if - we meet IRL I know what we're drinking!
Wait, I missed that your SIL didn't share her recipe! This brings up an interesting question and one I will pose on my own blog: do you share recipes? I was talking to a friend about this, and she NEVER does and was surprised that I do (to the extent I have recipes, sometimes I wing it, but I'm always willing to share the process). I mean, I had a weekly food blog on YMC for several years, of course I share recipes! So I'm always surprised when someone doesn't OR when someone does but they change something which kind of wrecks it, which, if you're going to do that just DON'T share the recipe!
ReplyDeleteTwo separate Very Important Issues to discuss:
DeleteMy MIL didn't share certain recipes either, so the SIL comes by it honestly. I think that not sharing recipes is kind of an old fashioned thing from back when everyone only had the Fannie Farmer cookbook so if you had something that wasn't in that you really had a treasure. I don't get it, but I also don't really mind it - as long as she makes it for our family TG's for the rest of our lives. If she ever stops then she and I will Have Words.
Sharing recipes when you've changed a bunch of things...I resemble that remark. I've wondered more than once if I should link to the original recipe when all that I've done is to read it and then changed everything under the sun. I adapt things to the ingredients that I have or add extra things that I think will taste good, I take meat out of recipes, I de-veganize vegan recipes...I'm all over the place. I try to point out the things that I've changed but sometimes I feel like I'm writing a book.
Oh, lol, that's me too. I never usually follow a recipe. But what I meant was, sometimes a person (ahem, my husband's grandmother) would give a person a recipe and then LEAVE OUT something so that when the recipe recipient made it, it would not be as good. That's...mean? But no, I'm with you. I will be like "It's this original recipe but I left out the onions and then I added kale and I tripled the sauce and then I added peppers..." and it's generally something completely different.
DeleteMy grandmother had a recipe that she tried not to share, but her in-laws bullied it out of her--tough family dynamics, but in the end we're grateful for it or the recipe would have been lost in the house fire, and it is a treasured dish for our Thanksgiving dinner!
DeleteThat's a good point. Some of my MIL's recipes died with her.
DeleteGreat job for not giving up on the push-ups! It's hard to restart after a break but you're very disciplined. Do you notice a difference in your shoulders/arms?
ReplyDeleteI also like that you're still going out for walking breaks. So good for the body and the brain! (Although I imagine that first dog-less walk must have been hard).
Honestly I feel like I might have needed the break. As always, it's a struggle to keep the intensity up and not just go through the motions.
DeleteWe always let our dog choose the route and the length of the walk (within reason) so it's a bit odd now that I'm in control of both of these things.
I can't eat green bean casserole since it's usually made with cream of mushroom soup which has gluten in it. I do miss it, but it wasn't my favorite dish so it's not the biggest loss. I find it very very odd when people will not share recipes!
ReplyDeleteI never re-read books! If I need a comfort read, I will read something light and breezy. I used to read romance but I find that romances stress me out since there has to be a conflict and then a resolution and the manufactured conflict stresses me out, even though I know there will be a happy ending. So I think i might start reading middle grade fiction if I need a reset. Those books can have heavy topics, too (I'm looking at you, Because of Winn Dixie, which I loved but wow it was sad at times), but it's still told in a lighter/everything will work out manner.
I know that GF can be tough and that a lot of people miss being able to eat certain things, but I bet you're right that no one ever says "sigh, if only I could eat green bean casserole".
DeleteGenerally I'm not a re-reader except for my handful of favorites. There are just so many good books out there that I haven't read yet. But I'm in the right mood for a re-read for some reason.
Lisa! Have you seen this?? https://www.picknsave.com/p/campbell-s-condensed-gluten-free-cream-of-mushroom-soup/0005100028535
Delete@ Anne - I had no idea that Campbell's had a GF cream of mushroom soup. That is good to know!
DeleteI really like green bean casserole but our secret is that it is the recipe from the back of the cream of mushroom soup. Are you sure that is not the one that your SIL is using? It reminds me of a Friends episode where Phoebe was trying to get her grandmother's secret chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it ended up being the one on the back of the Nestle bag. We are recipe sharers in my family, BUT, usually our recipes are either from the Joy of Cooking or they are completely winged. My brother and I like to just toss things together, so if someone asks for the recipe, I always do my best to tell them the basics, but my measurements are like....fill a pot halfway with water and put in enough lentils that they are still covered by one inch(ish) of water... hah. Maybe you don't want my recipes.
ReplyDeleteOooh I did not know there was a GB casserole recipe on the mushroom soup can. I used the one for French's onions. I guess we know what recipe I'm trying next year!
DeleteThat's my exact fear when I share recipe links...I really try to account for all of the changes that I've made but a lot of it is "fill a pot halfway with water".
So I checked and the Neville Shute books are not at our library! Should I put one on my Amazon "Christmas book flood" wishlist?
ReplyDeleteFunny thing- we had that same wine! Someone gifted it to us, and we didn't actually drink it on Thanksgiving, but right before.
I'm not a big re-reader. I loved the Sue Grafton books but I don't have the urge to reread them. I did reread all the Harry Potter books two summers ago, and now I'm impatiently waiting for a few more years to pass before I read them a third time. Other than that, I'd rather move on to new things.
Aw man what is the world coming to with no Nevil Shute on the shelves. Recommending a book to buy is a huge responsibility, but yes I think that A Town Like Alice is a pretty safe bet for a good book.
DeleteI felt so clever when I picked up the Halloween wine, but I guess the hubs and I were just in a beer mood in October so we didn't get around to it until now.
Looks like a nice bottle of wine!!! My push-up streak came to a halt recently (a couple weeks ago?), but I'm back doing them consistently (just not daily). Oh well.
ReplyDeleteThose darn pushups! I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I need a little more grace for taking breaks.
DeleteSIL won't share her recipe? WHAT? I mean, if you're a famous chef or own a restaurant and it's a signature dish, I understand, but between family?? I don't get that. I freely share recipes ALWAYS.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I have never had green been casserole... although I love green beans and one of these days I should have a proper casserole for Thanksgiving.
I hope that when you have it that it will be as good as my SIL makes it. Hey it's her choice to share or not to share and as long as she continues to make it we're good. But I'm with you that if I find something good I'm going to share it.
DeleteRomances are my go-to for rereads. I'm currently rereading a romance series I loved about 10 years ago - very interesting to read them with a 2023 lens, haha. Thankfully, it holds up well... there are just a few elements that are a bit outdated.
ReplyDeleteI love coming back to books at different points in my life and seeing them through different lenses.
DeleteI reread childhood books - so, Anne of Green Gables, HP (and yes, I am conflicted, but oh, those books are comfort to me), Narnia (despite my, um, definite secular views), and the Dark is Rising Series. Those are the books I have kept, along with my books of poetry and other treasure books. My go-to's are Jenny Colgan and Nora Roberts. I read enough scholarly articles to grant myself the grace to read, um, let's just go with "light" books when I need comfort. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have not had GB casserole in ages and I ... don't miss it. Sigh. Mac and cheese? Heck, yes. GB casserole? Nope.
Yes to comfort reading! Now granted I don't have to do a lot of reading for my job, but when I do it's tax stuff which is exactly why I head for "light" things in my spare time.
DeleteI've never made a vegan mac & cheese but lately I've been watching Sarah's Vegan Kitchen videos on Youtube and she makes some great looking ones.
I actually have a good one (I should email it to you...) - it's simply an adapted "regular" mac and cheese that uses the tofutti cream cheese & soy milk, as well as dairy-free shredded cheddar. It's soooo good. It's something I *should* make but... don't. Hm. Maybe I should change that...
Delete