Saturday, November 28, 2020

Kicking off the holiday season

 For my friends who celebrate, I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! It was really good at my my house. We got up early that morning and took George over to McLeod Park for a good walk. It's too bad we have to cross a very busy highway to get to it; otherwise we could walk over, it's so close to home. The drive only takes about 3 minutes. It's a pretty park with lots of space, and George loves it.








Then we came back home and I spent the next few hours cooking. I made a pretty good spread for two people, and it was all delicious, if I do say so myself.



Menu: Roast Turkey Breast, Hasselback Potatoes, Cornbread Dressing,
 Cranberry Mandarin Orange Sauce, Green Beans, Sweet Potato Souffle. 







A close up of the Hasselback Potatoes. This was my first time trying this recipe, and we liked it a lot!


And later, there was pie: Pecan (my favorite) and Cherry (Gregg's favorite). The cherry pie looks like hell but it tasted good.

The best part about cooking this meal was that I got to share some of it with our neighbor, Heather. She's single and doesn't have much family, so I sent her a text asking if she had any plans for a Thanksgiving meal. When she said she didn't, I offered to drop off some plates of food and she gladly took me up on it! I loaded three plates with enough food for two meals and took them over. An hour later she texted me and said, "OMG this is amazing! I can't stop eating!! The sweet potato casserole is just like I make it, just like my mother and grandmother would make it and with the marshmallows on top!! This has made me have a Thanksgiving Day!!" 

I can't tell you how happy that made me! My husband is a huge fan of my cooking and he always looks at me like I've worked some kind of magic when I make a big festive meal, but it's a lot of work to cook for just two. It felt so good to share our meal with a friend! Later in the evening when the pies were done I texted Heather again and asked her if she was ready for dessert. Within seconds she responded: "Yeeeeesssss!!" and walked over to meet me at my front steps. I gave her two slices of each pie and some more sweet potato souffle since she liked it so much. Another good thing about sharing our food was it cut down on the leftovers which we always tire of pretty quickly. We had some of everything again yesterday, and today there's just enough sliced turkey left to make a couple of sandwiches. Everything else should be finished off by tonight, too. Perfect. 

So that was our Thanksgiving and then yesterday we went back to the park, walked George a couple more times around our neighborhood, relaxed, and then PUT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE. In November! We've never put up the tree so early, and I feel kind of weird about it, but it looks pretty. We started off by pulling out the tree and all the boxes of ornaments from the closet in the office/Marco's room. We'd already decided to clean out that closet and to start utilizing the attic for decoration storage, and since we had everything out we figured, what the heck. I took a photo of it this morning because the lights look so nice on this cloudy, gray, chilly day. 



Oh, and our dryer died this morning, because of course it did. It wouldn't be the holiday season without an unexpected expense popping up! So now I know what I'm getting for Christmas. Ho ho ho.


35 comments:

  1. OMG, your meal looks sooo good! It also looks like you have many of the same favorites that I fix each year. I have to have my pecan pie - my favorite dessert ever! I also make a cornbread dressing and the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. You wouldn't know I grew up in the South, would you!

    Maybe you can give me your secret for the Hasselback potatoes. I tried making them once and they didn't turn out too good but in pictures they look delicious.

    Your tree is beautiful! I'm so glad you both had a good Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just googled "Hasselback potatoes" and kind of winged it on making them. They could have been better. The russet potatoes I used had a kind of thick skin that didn't crisp up quite as well as I wanted them to. Next time I might try peeling the potatoes first and then finishing them off under a hot broiler for a few minutes at the end of the cooking time to get the nice brown crunch.

      Delete
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  2. Your meal looks picture perfect for Thanksgiving! Well done!
    Your tree looks pretty too. It will light up the gray winter days.
    Sorry about your dryer - at least there are a LOT of sales right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the warm glow of the tree, even though putting up decorations this early seems weird. We'll see about the dryer....appliances are such a pain in the butt!

      Delete
  3. That meal looks delicious. I'll be there tomorrow for some pecan pie. One of my favourites and unheard of here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish you could be here tomorrow for pie! I'd make dinner all over again complete with fresh pecan pie if you were coming. :)

      Delete
  4. I must google hasselback potatoes. Never even heard of them! What a glorious feast you made! And how perfect that you could share it with your neighbor.
    As to the tree- I do understand that there are many, many people who love Christmas and I wish I were one of them. Your tree is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The potatoes were my first attempt and they turned out okay, but could have been better. See my reply to Bonnie.

      To be honest, Christmas isn't my favorite holiday either. I got the impression that Gregg wanted to put up the tree even though he keeps calling it "your tree" (haha) so I went along with it. It's unusual for him to be enthusiastic about decorating so I went along with it even though he'd probably tell you it was MY idea. I actually floated the idea of not bothering with a tree this year but I quickly realized he wanted one. Thank you for the compliment!

      Delete
  5. damn appliances! and how lovely you were able to share your bounty with your neighbor! my maternal grandmother used to do that all the time. we need to be mindful of others all year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh, this will easily make the 3rd or 4th dryer we've had in our 20 years together as a couple. They just don't make them like they used to! And yes, sharing our meal made me feel so good!

      Delete
    2. no they don't. our last dishwasher (an LG) died after only 5 years. WTF?

      Delete
  6. Those Hasselback potatoes look amazing. We have put some Xmas lights up in the garden this weekend, early but it just adds some sparkle to a dreary winter.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't know why but your act of kindness towards Heather brought tears to my eyes. Maybe next Thanksgiving you'll be able to ask her over to your house. Why not also ask Mr & Mrs Grumpy from the property behind your house? The meal looks scrumptious. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maybe there is a used appliance store near you. We postponed Thanksgiving, MeMa has been doing poorly since her last chemo. I doubled her dose of CBD and THC and she slept quite soundly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so sorry to hear about MeMa feeling bad! I hope the CBD and THC continue to help her through this rough patch. Hang in there!

      Delete
  9. Your spread looks simply great. Those potatoes! Wow! And my tree's up too. I may keep it up all year and change ornaments to match the seasons. Oh, right now Home Depot is running the best appliance sale of the year. I always tell people, if you need an appliance, wait until the Black Friday sale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We ended up getting a dryer from the scratch and dent selection of a small used appliance store. It's almost new and with delivery and all it was under $400. Best of all they can deliver and install it tomorrow. Most of the big retailers have longer wait times for delivery.

      Delete
  10. I believe you have wrapped this holiday superbly, dishing dinner(s) for your neighbor and then putting up that lovely tree. And, may Santa send you the dryer of your dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Never heard of hasselback potatoes before, but they look delicious!

    What an amazing Christmas tree. It puts our two-foot artificial tree to shame!

    We have a local park that straddles a big main road, but there are two bridges over the road. Perhaps you should campaign for a bridge?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A bridge wouldn't work in that spot, but it would sure be nice! I hate driving a half mile that we could easily walk if the traffic wasn't a problem!

      Delete
  12. The meal looked great and the sharing was icing on the cake, so to speak.

    As for the dryer...as one who waited four months for a dishwasher not so long ago, be sure to check the actual supply line of any model before ordering one. Major appliance pipelines have been another victim of the virus. Best of luck.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What splendid looking potatoes!

    I am thankful for having you as a blogger buddy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am thankful for your blog which is always an interesting read!

      Delete
  14. Those potatoes look great! (Well, everything does, actually.) Good for you for providing for your neighbor. I wonder if the dryer can be repaired? Hope so!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, repairs were no longer an option. It had already been repaired twice!

      Delete
  15. You sharing your lovely meal with your neighbour is the true spirit of Thanksgiving, isn't it! I am so glad you have Heather and not just the horrible man who complained about your dogs when you first moved in.

    Jennifer, I bet you didn't know that it was actually you talking about your Christmas tree last year that made me finally want to have my own tree - and this year, I will have one! It is my parents' discarded artificial one and now sits in my basement, waiting to be brought upstairs, dusted, assembled and decorated. I am now 52 1/2 years old and have never before had my own proper Christmas tree - of course it is not really "necessary" since I celebrate Christmas at my parents' place anyway, but Christmas is not about it being "necessary", is it! (From the food to the gifts to the decorations...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's wonderful! Yes, sometimes you need a bit of sparkle and whimsy even if it's not "necessary" !

      Delete
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