Not much has been going on here lately.  Everything kind of got put on hold around Thanksgiving so I could prepare.  We host it every year and we have a minimum of 18 people (maximum one year was 26).  I tried a few new, but basic recipes on my family and the dinner was fantastic.

Well, maybe the turkey wasn’t a basic recipe.  I used Alton Brown’s roast turkey recipe that calls for brining the turkey overnight.  And the picture on that link?  Was how my turkey looked out of the oven.  Absolutely beautiful.   I highly recommend doing it that way.  The brine and aromatics gave it a bit of a different flavor, but it was subtle yet complex and juicy and delicious.  I also glazed sweet potatoes using a Cooking Light recipe and made a basic stuffing from a Sara Moulton recipe that was out of this world.  I added some mushrooms to it to make it a little more interesting.  I really should have taken pictures of the food because not only was it delicious, but it was beautiful as well.  One aunt made a corn casserole and another made cranberry relish.  As a vegetable side I steamed zuchinni and carrots, which added a pop of color to the plate.

My biggest beef though is people bringing stuff they weren’t asked to (and ending sentences with a preposition…ha!).  My IL’s (not MIL & FIL but the others in that family) are the biggest offenders.  I knew that we were going to eat shortly after everyone arrived, so we didn’t do much for appetizers, just veggies and cheese & crackers.  Well in they come with hummus, meatballs (??), blintzes, beets, poppy seed bread & olives.  And that is all from just one person.  It was not only WAY too much, but I felt it didn’t fit with everything else we were having.  We had more than enough food to begin with.  And seriously, we don’t need hummus at every family gathering.  The meatballs were the most puzzling to me.  I had the feeling that they were bringing all their leftovers from home to try to get rid of.  It was also vaguely insulting to me as a host.  Maybe I’m nuts, but I would think that one would respect the fact that the person hosting and doing the bulk of the cooking might have a certain…vision for the meal.  Personally I would never bring food like that to a party unless I was specifically asked to.  I would have been much more receptive to a bottle of wine or something along those lines.

Yes I’m pitching a little bit of a fit, but I don’t appreciate having the impact of my meal diluted with foodstuffs that nobody eats anyway.  I’m a good cook, and when I have the time I love to cook and entertain.  I love to try out new recipes and part of the satisfaction I get is being able to wow my guests.  I seem to have done that with the food I made, but it seems rude somehow to bring stuff that isn’t on the menu.  Surely it wasn’t her intention, but it felt like I wasn’t trusted to make and provide tasty nutritious food that everyone would like.

Enough of that.  It took me all weekend to recover, and I have no decorations up and no real desire to even take them out of storage.  I’m sure I will sometime this weekend under pressure from the kids.  I’m trying really hard not to freak out about how quickly the holidays will come and all the gifts I need to get.  Having kids definitely complicates things, especially when at least one of them still believes in Santa.

I’ve been feeling quite lukewarm about TKD lately too.  I think it is just the pressure of the holiday season along with the frustration I still have with my ankle.  It is getting better, but I cannot cross my legs at the ankles or sit cross-legged because the pressure it puts on my ankle is still uncomfortable.  That and I need to back off of therapy a bit because I hit my PT limit on my insurance.  One month before it resets.  ONE MONTH!  I can’t really afford to pay for the PT out of pocket, not just because of the holidays, but because we have other big bills due at the end of the year.

Just got a call that I need to bring my daughter her snow boots.  Off I go!

December 2, 2008
Categories: cooking, injury, Tae Kwon Do . . Author: Amy . Comments: Leave a Comment