Thanksgiving 2023

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day, yesterday.  I tried to pace myself throughout the day - I made the mashed potatoes in the morning and kept it in the fridge until needed.  The gravy was made early, too, and reheated just before serving.  The turkey went into the oven at 2:00 p.m. and was done by 5:30 p.m., although I let it sit in the oven, with the oven turned off, for another 30 minutes.  My daughter cut up and baked the butternut squash as a tray bake, with salt and pepper, and it turned out really well.  We all enjoyed it.  

In the afternoon, while the turkey was baking, I dusted the living room, vacuumed the main rooms, did a small load of laundry, and cut some chrysanthemums from the garden to arrange in vases.  In the meantime, my daughter tidied the family room and set the table.  

Friend R called in the morning and asked me to excuse her for declining the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner.  Of course, I understood her not wanting to join us; it was something I have done, myself, many times since the pandemic.  As it was, I had a window or two open for ventilation and three air purifiers on during the entire evening!

Late friend A's two daughters arrived at 5:30 p.m. and they brought two containers of stuffing and a loaf pan of cornbread, too!  I had made a double batch of cornbread, earlier, but, I kept that in the kitchen and served the cornbread the girls had made.  Later, when their father came over, he brought a cherry pie and some mini pumpkin muffins!

As you can imagine, we had quite a spread!  For hors d'oeuvres, I had bought a Sri Lankan/Indian snack called "murukku" from the Sri Lankan store and I had bought extra patties from the Sri Lankan restaurant, which I had stored in the fridge and heated up in the oven before serving.  They were enjoyed by all.  There was a choice of passionfruit juice drink, sparkling apple cider, and soda for drinks (I didn't serve any alcohol), and water, of course.

Thanksgiving dinner was roast turkey, with stuffing, baked butternut squash, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, sauteed green beans and crispy fried onions to go on them, cornbread, dinner rolls, and salad.  It was the first time I had tried the "brown and serve" dinner rolls and I must say I really liked them!  I will be buying more of that in the future!

I tried to say a little blessing before dinner and got all teary and choked up as I thought of my friend who was missing from our gathering, this year, and my mother who has been gone for several years.  But, A's husband and daughters were very kind and tried to comfort me!  

For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cherry pie, and mini pumpkin muffins, plus fresh fruit (although no one wanted the fruit!).  There were two kinds of whipped topping (original and extra creamy) for the pies.  

There were quite a lot of leftovers and I packed up containers of the leftovers for friend A's family to take back with them.  I was cutting up the rest of the turkey when my hands began to cramp for the first time for the day!  I'm glad they didn't cramp earlier!  I was told to sit and rest and my daughter and the girls finished putting away the food and clearing up.  They loaded the dishwasher and my daughter washed the items that needed to be handwashed.  I ran the dishwasher after the girls left.

I am glad that I was able to host this year's Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a small, but, meaningful gathering.  My take aways from yesterday's gathering:

- Start the preparations well in advance, especially the cleaning
- Give myself plenty of time to accomplish even the simplest of tasks because it seems to take me longer to do things now than it used to
- Build in rest breaks because I get tired more quickly now
- And, if I decide to put some lipstick for the first time since the initial lockdown because I am not wearing a mask, make sure I buy a new tube of lipstick because the one I had bought prior to the pandemic is now a bit rancid!     

A Bouquet of Chrysanthemums

Today, my daughter went hiking in the afternoon with A's daughters.  They invited me to go with them, but, I declined (which was a good thing as the easy hike they were planning on going to was closed and they did a more difficult hike!)  I busied myself doing laundry (all the table cloths, kitchen towels, etc.), and putting away stuff.  Things like the turkey roasting pan, which is stored in the garage when not needed, the big platter that was returned to the bottom of the china cabinet, etc.  I also washed and put back the dust sheets on the family room sofas.  There are a few more items to put away, but, by that time, my daughter was back from her hike and we chatted and had tea.  

Later, she turned my mattress around for me and we made up the bed with my new polar bear flannel sheets (by the way, the other sheet set arrived, too, but I haven't taken a picture of it, yet, or opened the package).

Daughter is now making more beaded jewelry (earrings, this time) to give as holiday gifts to her friends.  

Beaded Earrings

Dinner tonight will be leftovers from Thanksgiving!

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to host Thanksgiving dinner this year
- How well everything turned out
- Daughter's help with setting up and cleaning up, afterwards
- Daughter got to spend some time with her friends
- Plenty of leftovers!

Joyful activities this Thanksgiving have included celebrating the day with my daughter and good friends.

Tomorrow will be my daughter's last full day at home; she will be returning to Berkeley on Sunday.  We don't have anything planned for tomorrow, other than taking some leftovers to friend R, along with a couple of packages she had delivered to my address.  

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?