So Much to Write, So Little Time...

Well, after an excellent long holiday weekend, I'm recharged and ready to go.

First, a little business. It would appear that thanks to a less than enthusiastic response to my "Pick the treat, win the prize" competition, My Aunt will be getting a plate of peanut butter kiss cookies and I won't bother to put it in a poll. How we get them to Kamas this week is something we may need to work out still. The rest of the December treats have been planned and I'll release the information as necessary.

Next, a report on Thanksgiving weekend. Wow. Mom and Dad had over thirty people over for dinner. Since we were all at a loss as to where to put them, Dad got the excellent idea of dinner in the garage. He left the turkey fryer on and that bad boy heated up the whole room in only a few minutes (Quick safety note, don't try this at home without your own personal safety professional to supervise).

I got some pretty good pictures of everyone lining up and with the unpainted walls in the garage (though it is the cleanest garage, ever; much cleaner than my house)it did sort of look like a line at a soup kitchen. Everybody was responsible for bringing part of the meal. Mom and Dad had 50 pounds of bird cooked and because Aunt M and Puzilla do not care for turkey, they added a ham. Puzey was really excited about that until she decided that it would be bad manners for her not to eat the whole thing and she didn't seem to think she was up to eating that much meat. Grandma assured her that it was okay for her to only eat as much as she wanted, but by that time the poor little bug had worked herself into a pretty hefty migraine and wasn't very hungry. Aunt L was a real helper as she understands the pain involved with migraines and she was very kind to poor Puzilla.

Beak did an excellent job with the rolls, and I got to make 50 pounds of mashed potatoes. It was brutal. I woke up at 8 and started peeling, dicing and boiling spuds. I started to feel like Beetle Bailey. Seriously, there was nearly 10 pounds of peels in the trash when I got done. I wasn't sure if I should toss 'em or call my neighborhood bootleggers.

I added butter and milk and hit 'em with the ol mixmaster. I made two textures. "Whipped like a Circus Monkey", and "Bumpy as a Good Looking Girl". I personally prefer the Bumpy variety, but that might be because I just got my Man Card back.

Perhaps the most interesting discussion over dinner was when we all began teasing Uncle R's friend Tony about putting on weight. It was a little like Irishmen calling a Russian a drunk. Tony said he wanted to loosen his belt and Uncle K offered to lend him a pair of sweatpants. Uncle T said that you knew you were getting fat when you just gave up and wore sweats to dinner. I said you were getting really fat when you had to take the drawstring out of the sweats so they'd fit. Then Grandpa mentioned that you'd reach the top when you wore suspenders with your sweats. Very funny stuff and it was good to get everyone together to be thankful for the many blessings we have all had this year. It has sure beat the last couple for me!


I'll get the camera set back up and unload a few pics when I get the chance.