Thanksgiving dinner, 2006

Yeah, I know I said TG dinner, but first an update on hunting season. The highlight of the season here was a visit from Chris and Hailee!! Here Pa is taking a break and Hailee is making use of the time to play with dad...



And, of course, Granny spent most of the weekend in long conver- sations with Hailee. I guess they were conversing, but I didn't understand a word of it. Hailee is walking pretty well these days, but unsteady enough that she can't get too far away with out noticing...........







Back to dinner. I had decided to make a dinner even thought Rose and Bryn were unable to be here for it. I had gotten groceries on Thursday after flying and Friday mid-morning I started in. Here the chicken and onions are ready for the oven.



I did the sweet potatoes next. I know, they look a little anemic. But they are "California Sweet Potatoes", and I was assured by the produce mangaer that they taste the same as normal, red-orange sweet potatoes. They just are white.... I was skeptical, but they turned out scrumptiously, if that's a word?



Next I went to work on the Russets for the mashed spuds. In my book, this is the most critical dinner ingredient. Without good mash, what's the use of eating?



I had asked Peggy to fix up the dining room table even though it was just the two of us. We could dine at opposite ends of the table, like the classy upper crusters do. So she found a suitable cloth, set the places and then she was off to the store in Prentice for the marshmallows that I forgot the day before, and a few other last minute items.



While Peg was gone, I realized that it was now 11:00, and it seemed appropriate that I now opened the bottle of Merlot that was waiting on the counter. Yram, please note that just after finishing the last swallow of a good, strong cup of coffee, the first taste of Merlot is like golden magic..... unparalleled.



Note to self: get an electric mixer or a potatoe ricer!!!!

With most items nearly ready, I was thinking that this was going to be a breeze to finish. Peg was going to put some French, I mean Freedom cut green beans in with the mushroom soup and Durkee's deep fried onions, and I only had the "brown and serve" rolls to do. The chicken was on a platter in tin foil, the mash was staying warm on the back of the stove, and I was awaiting the marshmallows to finish off the sweet potatoes.



This is about when Peg gets back from the store and announces that there are three people sitting at the picnic table in Johnson's yard next door. Brian Johnson and two others. We hadn't seen them since they moved to Illinois in late summer, so I asked Peg is she thought we had enought food for three more. She said "I think so!" So she went next door and invited them to lunch, they said sure!, they were just talking about going to town for lunch. Now the pressure was on to get the food all done, keep it warm while the rolls baked and avoid burning the sweet potatoe dish!!

Soon in walked Brian and his stepson, Brice, and Brian's dad Lloyd. I hadn't seen Lloyd for years, so we all had a good visit while eating most of the food. We had bought a 'store made' pumpkin pie, so we all had pie and ice cream for dessert. I guess the visitors were here for about three hours, talking and drinking coffee. Then they headed out for a couple of hours of sitting in the woods until evening.




The aftermath of the meal left a table looking quite different from the humble start of two place settings. And then there was the usual mess in the kithchen. It seems that no matter how controlled things start out to be, when you get to the end of the preparations, neatness goes out the window as all things get done at once.

A nice afternoon, and an unexpected visit.