Through Turkey Giblets to the Stars

/40 Comments/in , /by

Sorry about the lack of a Thanksgiving Day post until now. I’ve had my hands stuck up the backside of a 19-pound turkey much of this morning when not busy with chopping, peeling, cooking everything to accompany this unexpected behemoth. My family pod is here and trying to help with the feast but as always it seems the challenges expand to meet the people present.

Like the 5-pound bag of sugar which more closely resembled a giant sugar cube.

Or discovering the turkey still solid like a pink fleshy iceberg.

Or beloved spouse deciding to get a jump on sales and buying 10-pounds of hamburger which must be shaped in to patties and frozen right now, in the middle of the circus in my kitchen.

But I’m thankful to have all of this hubbub today generated by my pod — myself, my spouse, my two kids — all of us healthy, masked, and together for this holiday.

~ ~ ~

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
― Winston Churchill

We have an opportunity to kick a fascist autocrat to the curb, thanks to the tireless efforts of people like Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Ben Wikler in Wisconsin. Thank you to all the new voters they and others like them encouraged to register and vote, all those neophytes who saw the threat for what it was, who see the promise committing to vote can bring. We owe the chance to save Americans’ lives and America’s democracy to these folks.

~ ~ ~

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.”
― Paul Wellstone

Going forward it’s on us all to repair the damage of this last four years, to remedy base blemishes built upon over time, to scrape away the palimpsest of colonialism and contemporary racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, starting anew with better, inclusive materials.

May our efforts mirror our best intentions as we strive toward a more perfect union.

~ ~ ~

“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.”
― Albert Schweitzer

We’ve had some very dark passages and tough times. We are grateful to those who give us reason to continue to work for social justice and economic democracy for all. We are thankful for you, our community.

~ ~ ~

Per aspera ad astra. Gratias tibi.

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40 replies
  1. Rayne says:

    Looks like bmaz will have some Turkey Day Trash Talk soon if you’d rather save your sportsing for that post.

    I’m going back into the kitchen to make dressing and start the mashed potatoes. Play nicely!

    EDIT: It’s the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s landing in Massachusetts, and what we’ve been taught about the Pilgrims’ arrival and survival is inaccurate, a continuation of racist colonialism.

    If you would like to do something today to decolonize the holiday and you’ve got a little pocket change to do it —

      • Rayne says:

        Oh. OH. The first graf sure looked like it was about football, silly me!

        So how do you prepare your football — roast? steam? fry? ~eye roll~

          • earlofhuntingdon says:

            Remind me never to ask for sashimi at your house. But the music will probably be good.

            Many thanks, Rayne. Hope the gathering is fun and that everyone pitches in to make the patties and find space in the freezer for them.

            • e.a.f. says:

              omg, eating the football, if I ever get in to the U.S.A. at American thanks giving, I’m going to Rayne’s home

    • Jenny says:

      Thank you Rayne. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

      “Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.”
      Rumi

  2. P J Evans says:

    I’m happy to have places like this to “visit” this year.
    And I’m thankful for the salmon “dinner” in the fridge, waiting to be unpackaged and nuked. (I do salmon for the big holidays, because it’s not something I can buy often.)
    (Breakfast was Irish steel-cut oats, with a handful of dried cranberries thrown in, because T-day. It was good.)

  3. emptywheel says:

    Thanks Rayne, and sorry for my negligence this year. I AM celebrating Thanksgiving–drove out into the country to pick up my turkey yesterday. But since it’s not a holiday I spent part of the day looking for a house.

    I want to echo the thanks for Stacey Abrams and Ben Wikler.

    • Peterr says:

      Your Michigan CSA doesn’t deliver to Ireland?

      *grin*

      Had some very nice bacon and eggs this morning, and I’m just getting ready to put our turkey on the grill to get slowly smoked through the afternoon. Mrs Dr Peterr is putting pies (plural!) in the over, and The Kid will be making the cranberry-and-mango deliciousness sometime over the next couple of hours. Yum yum yum, all around!

      Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

      • P J Evans says:

        My brother makes the pies at his place. He’s been a baker since HS, as well as cooking dinner at least part of the time since he was in college.
        (I wish I could do T-day there, sometime. Haven’t yet. I heard the after-dinner entertainment is folding the mint wrappers into teeny airplanes and trying to get them to land in the overhead light.)

      • vvv says:

        Smoked a 20lb turkey myself, today. Ran about 4 lbs over to my 82 y.o. ma, daughter will get some after work (taste still off, but she’s got her appetite back after a bout of covid – a miracle I didn’t get it, for what I am thankful this day), and son coming by to pick some up to take home tomorrow.

        Oven, deep-fried, it’s all good but onna smoker is the best turkey I ever made.

        Crock-potted the dressing, what made for more gravy as it’s not absorbed (and safer cooking, also).

    • Rayne says:

      LOL I would love a photo of that Irish turkey. I owe you long-overdue thanks for bacon — was reminded of this when I fixed a particularly spectacular version of poutine for my son this week. He looked at the cascade of smoky crispy bacon atop cheese curds and potatoes and immediately asked, “Is this Marcy’s fancy bacon?”

  4. Valley girl says:

    As I said on an earlier thread (and also in the post by bmaz), I would like to give thanks to the mods for their tireless and sometimes unappreciated work.

  5. earlofhuntingdon says:

    One thing I ask for at Thanksgiving is for the media to stop using the euphemism, “food insecurity.” Your belly calls it hunger. It’s twice the ache when you don’ t know when your next meal will be, which seems to be the case for 25% of American children.

    And to echo VG, many thanks to the mods, who keep us all sane and the conversation flowing. And to Marcy. Good luck house hunting.

  6. Alan Charbonneau says:

    Undoing the damage of the last four years will be a challenge. The Trumpers either believed the defenses of the Fox & Friends crowd, or they didn’t care. On January 20th, they’ll be saying that the country has already gone to hell. But “a challenge” does not mean an impossibility and we have the opportunity for a better country.

    For me, I am home after having brain surgery a week ago today and the surgery was a complete success. I’m grateful for health and family and for not being asked every four hours “when did you last have a bowel movement?”

    I’m confident that 2021 will be a great year and that optimistic focus is part of making that come true.

    I’m not a big football fan, but I’ll find time to watch the WKRP Thanksgiving episode. Everybody have a great Thanksgiving Day!

  7. madwand says:

    Yeah special thanks Stacey Abrams down here in Ga and Ben Wikler up there in Wisconsin. Just me and my pooch for Thanksgiving, I bought two turkey meals and ate them both last night, oops. No plans to go out so that’s it. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

  8. Old Antarctic Explorer says:

    I give thanks to all the moderators and contributors to this site that I discovered part way through the Trump administration. You have been a support group without peer during these difficult times. The level of expertise by lawyers and non-lawyers alike is amazing.

    “A bridge over troubled waters” comes to mind!

    Happy Thanksgiving.

  9. Raven Eye says:

    My small family pod in this part of the PNW decided not to pod in person (PiP?), so we’ll Zoom to talk about future travel plans and digging up a few more family roots on the other side of the Pond. I just hope my flying around on Google Maps doesn’t make anyone dizzy.

    Meanwhile, a friend of mine in PA mentioned that she finally got the first good night’s sleep of the November earlier this week. That should remind us to be thankful, and hopefully understand that the blessings that we sometimes just accept as a national backdrop were hard won — and equally hard to keep.

  10. Molly Pitcher says:

    I simply cannot imagine how much worse this time would have been without the intelligence, wit and sanity provided by everyone here. Marcy is an unparalleled treasure with the most spectacular research abilities I have ever seen.

    Thank you to the mods who ride herd on us all and defend us from trolls and sock puppets.

    I wish continued or improving health to all. I am grateful for every one of you.

    Wear a mask, wash your hands, count your blessings.

  11. solo says:

    I, too, am grateful for this site, Marcy, the moderators, and the refreshingly quirky circle of competent writers and confident voices.
    I learn SO much! So thank you, all.

    When I worked in public schools with third and fourth-graders, each fall I read GUESTS, a little book of historical fiction by Michael Dorris. The narrator, Moss, a Native American boy, is really upset that his parents invited “those people who came on boats” to their yearly harvest festival. This festival has ALWAYS been the same and is one of Moss’s favorite times of the year. These boat-people smell bad and they never bring their own empty bowls. They will ruin the whole thing.

    When Moss confronts his father, accuses him of spoiling their favorite time together. His father reminds him, gently and clearly, with something like: “Moss. This is who we are. Would you have us be something else? These people are hungry. They are strangers. So they are our guests.”

  12. e.a.f. says:

    Happy American Thanksgiving Day!

    thankful the end of Trump’s Presidency is coming up.
    enjoy your meals.
    if the inside of the turkey is still frozen, get out a pick, chip what you can and then run hot water into the bird or put it in a micro wave. Yes, I know newer micro waves are too small for 19 lb birds. Its why its always good to keep an old one. You can also toss the frozen bird into the oven, then take it out, stuff it and put it back in. No one is ever the wiser.

    Like the picture!

  13. Eureka says:

    Well, Rayne, with half the beef and half the mouths to feed, I am going to make a mega-meatloaf, and divvy portions for tacos and goulash or chili/-mac (I’ve already got some burgers frozen). I make meatloaf on a sheet pan (with sausage and fun stuff inside) (also I have never felt more liberated than from the confines of a loaf pan…but now that I think if it, I never was the meatloaf-maker when we used that dumb pan — which rusts, anyway, like everything does these days), so it’s a welcome, not boring, food chez nous. Avowed household hater of pumpkin/squash even likes it with the butternut squash puree I use for binder. Block it out like a football field of meat with invisible vegetables and let’s gooooo! [As I am apparently trying to talk myself back into the kitchen. Maybe tomorrow…]

    I echo everyone’s eloquent words of gratitude for each of you Emptywheel principals with your unique gifts, and for the community. However I am tredpidatious about bmaz’ stated new leaf as to nicknames post-inaugural. More tangerine hellbeast, please gawd no “tRump” (Chalk.Board.).

    • vvv says:

      I like my *glass* meatloaf dish, and about 1″ of mom’s homemade chili sauce baked on top of the meatloaf (which has a cuppla tablespoons in the mix per, say, 3lbs).

      • P J Evans says:

        The recipe that we usually used had a sweet-sour tomato sauce on top, and some in the loaf. It did tend to mark the pan, though. (It’s the acid. We also had a pair of cake pans that had lemon prints on them, from an upside-down layer cake that used sliced lemon instead of pineapple or something similar.)

  15. mospeck says:

    Thankful for Terry Kath and Stacey Abrams. She almost makes me believe in miracles :) Maybe we can in fact make this place work and don’t need to move to Mars (planet B). SN8 is going up next week with 3 raptors and 10 million Newtons, with the turbos pushing out 3 tons a second at 3.7 kps. Yes, the times they are a changing. But Musk is still hedging his bets with a 1 in 3 and the whole gulf of Mexico declared a warning area. Hell, why not declare whole US a warning area?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWODczdgGDQ

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