Let's Do Thanksgiving

it is 8:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat. tomorrow is thanksgiving. i have been in the kitchen and on my feet since 8:00 a.m. i have finished making the meal. i will steam up the string beans and make the waldorf salad tomorrow.

it was hard preparing the meal and dealing with my very runny nose. every time i sneezed or blew my nose, i washed my hands. and every time i tasted something, i washed the spoon with soap and hot water.

i'm afraid this virus is airborne. i really hate for my guests to catch it. i'll scrub the floors tomorrow. the pumpkin pie is in the oven as we speak. it is not my finest endeaver. i made an awful crust from rye flour. i didn't have any powdered ginger and i was too tired to go to the store. i thought about buying some margerine, to make a cookie crust but i simply couldn't budge. i was getting desparate, because i never, ever, use margarine on principle.

in the middle of my preparations, my sinuses got clogged up and i couldn't smell a thing. i also couldn't taste anything. earlier in the day, i ate an enormous portion of the mushroom barley casserole that i made. it was very yummy and very spicy! i carved out a small acorn squash to use as a serving dish for the casserole. how clever! i read that online.

i had to stop for a while because genie the yorkshire tried to kill roxy the yorkshire. i could not get her off of the tiny little roxy. she had her teeth sunk solidly into the dog. both cookie dog and cloey the pincher, tried to rescue the tiny roxy. i just checked in on roxy and she isn't doing well at all. i cleaned her cuts and rubbed arnica into her leg but she is really out of it now. i hope she isn't septic.

i think the dogs are hormonal. they want to go out at all hours of the night and we've been visited by a couple of local male doggie studs. this is not what i need right now.

the pumpkin pie doesn't look custardy. i used non dairy whipped cream and i think my error was whipping up the cream. it didn't turn brown until the end. in the past. i always used rice dream. milk. i threw in a few baked apples for those who don't like pumpkin pie.

i opened the 'shop rite' jellied cranberry sauce and it appeared to be okay. it's been over thirty years that i had any, so i don't remember what it is supposed to taste like. it definately tastes artificial. i hope it doesn't taste stale.

i will make a seperate waldorf salad for my vegetarian friend. she doesn't eat night shades or anything with flour. she also doesn't eat sugar. i will slice up an apple and celery, add some toasted almonds, and a few fesh dates. i'll just sqeeze lemon juice on it. i doubt that she eats the regular dried cranberries. they're loaded with sugar.

i made a couple of slices of nile perch for her. basically, i threw in a carrot, some celery, garlic and dried onion. i used dill, rosemary and parsley for the spices. i squeezed on some lemon and drizzled a bit of olive oil. i was afraid to use black pepper. it was definately, a challenge. i'm used to using paprika chiles,soysauce and tomatoes. i cooked up some plain quinoa for her and left it in the fish broth. it tasted pretty good.

she will also be able to eat the string beans and almonds that i will prepare tomorrow. i steamed some plain slices of acorn squash and tossed on some chopped peanuts. i saved a few plain, sliced beets for her and squeezed on lemon. i candied the rest of the beets with fresh ginger , honey and orange juice.

i want to make up a batch of sangria tomorrow. i made up some peanut butter mashed sweet potato cups. i topped them with chopped, toasted peanuts, some crushed pineapple and dried coconut. i lightly drizzled each cup with honey. i made very small portions of food. i oven roasted a few plain potatoes with rosemary for the non sweet potato people. i've never used that herb before. i decided that making mashed potatoes was over kill.

i cooked up some turkey wings and a couple of drumb sticks in an herb and white wine sauce. it smelled divine. i didn't taste it because i didn't want to become fleishig. i managed to make up a pan of sage, sausage turkey stuffing. i used kabobs and hamburgers, the turkey broth that i made the other day, and added some of the water from the cooked pumpkin. i sure hope it tastes okay. the dried challah cubes were perfect. i hope that my friend appreciates the effort.

i made a small dish of lemon and parsley cooked carrots. i made an aspic for the classic pineapple and shredded carrots salad. it was my first time using plain gelatin. i'm afraid that some of the gelatin became lumpy. the texture is a bit thick. so much for not buying the flavored gel. i simply, didn't want all the added sugar.

i made a 'mexican' style corn salad with scallions. green pepper and celery. i threw in a tiny bit of a chile. i covered it in a mustard mayo dressing. it is a bit hot. my corm bread did not come out great this time. i used a different recipe calling for more milk than usual. it is definately, more crumbly.

my mom made the same announcement before we sat down to eat every year. she would always start the meal by saying "everything that is supposed to be hot is cold and everything that is supposed to be cold is hot". one year, i decided to make the dinner by myself, turkey and all. i slaved away for hours. everyone sat down and devoured the meal in minutes. i was totally distraught!

i remember watching the movie, 'mighty joe young' on every thanksgiving. i wonder if they still show it in america. i know that they made a remake of that classic. i can still remember the scene with the leading lady playing 'beautiful dreamer' on the piano, on a revolving stage that the gorilla was actually, holding up.

tomorrow, it's wash the floors, steam the string beans, make the sangria, and the waldorf salads. i don't know if i have to watch sahar. i didn't make it to the seniors' this week. i'd hate to infect them with this virus.

i didn't hold on to any of the recipes that i downloaded on the net. i can always find new recipes. quite honestly, i wasn't all that impressed by them.

enjoy your thanksgiving and please remember to give thanks to the good Lord above.