All the turkey bones, bits of scraps and pieces, are simmering in my huge stock pot on the stove. Although I make tons of chicken bone broth to use in my cooking, there's something about turkey broth that I think has an extra oompf of flavor. The broth, plus leftover and now frozen turkey, will provide us many, many good meals. I've never understood folks who get tired of turkey meat and don't know what to do with the leftovers. (Send them to me, I'll pay the postage!)
Anyone else getting really irritated with all the Black Friday hype on the Internet and in local papers? It bugs me that it all exemplifies and amplifies the materialistic spend! spend! spend! society we live in. I remember the times years ago when there were no sales on anything (!) until AFTER the first of the year and stores returned to calmness after the holidays. Money to purchase Christmas gifts was saved all year long and the only reason you had extra cash to use for the sales in January was because you were perhaps fortunate enough to have gotten some money from your grandparents or favorite aunt as a Christmas gift.
I feel we're the wealthiest of people to have such bounty in our pantry and root cellar. This red cabbage straight from the cellar is a thing of beauty to my eyes. To think it came from one tiny seed, not even an eighth of an inch round . . . now there's a miracle for you.
Swing over a couple of feet from the cabbage on the counter and you'll see on my refrigerator door in the upper left hand corner a colorful heart outlined in sparkly glitter that I received in the mail from a 5-year old sweetie who lives in the Ozarks. The picture along with a note from her mom came via snail mail this past week. Kudos to all of you who take the time to sit down and pen a handwritten letter. (Especially when the cost of one itty-bitty first class stamp is starting to feel astronomical!)
Time to give some assistance to Papa Pea who is bringing wood up to the wood box on the porch. Then to fill the two wood holding racks next to the two stoves in the house. Then to sweep up all the debris from said wood. Whoever said heating with wood warms you twice was way off base. By my count, it's more like 10-12 times!
25 comments:
You are so right, I love the way you think mama pea! Happy Thanksgiving!
Tracy H - Well, thank you, ma'am! I tend to classify myself as more of a "do-er" than "thinker" which can we a good thing except that sometimes I really should do more thinking!
Great post! I so agree with you about the spend! spend! spend! culture that the media reinforces! A delicious red cabbage you got from your cellar--indeed it makes you rich! Along with everything else you put up from the garden, etc. Hope you get to your quilt room soon!
You echo my thoughts exactly. Wonderful post.
Enjoy those leftovers! Always the best part.
We did manage to ski yesterday---a few more inches of snow would have been nice, but it was a good time and felt great to get back out on the skis.
Have a wonderful weekend
I just love leftovers! More than the main meal. I've got my big stockpot on the back burner and have already made sweet potato turkey soup. I am squarely in your court on the Black Friday nonsense. I am more and more of the "don't spend, leave me alone" attitude. As I get older, I feel that less is so much more. Maybe it's age that makes you want things to slow down, but I think, really, that it's clarity. It's having had the experience of slower times that lets you compare - and find the modern fast-paced, spend too much lifestyle lacking.
P.S. Sorry for the War and Peace comment - but I so agree with the beauty of that cabbage. Nature is so wonderful!
I agree - 10 to 12 times, ha ha!
Mollie - I've been sneaking into my quilt room for an hour here and there lately. Dang, but I want to get that new Christmas wall hanging done, done, done so I can hang it when I put up the Christmas decorations . . . yet this weekend I hope!
Sue - We got just a (another) bare covering of snow overnight. I think if we sought out some of the trails up in back and north of us, we might find enough snow to ski, but haven't done so yet. I can just hear my hips going creak, creak, creak that first time out on the skis!
Susan - It's just my opinion, but I think so many people these days spend, spend, spend, buy, buy, buy as a substitute for what is lacking in their lives. Kind of like being an over-eater trying to fill that empty void inside.
Kristina - I've often thought it would be interesting (or perhaps discouraging!) to try to count how many times you actually have to handle a piece of wood from log to placing into the wood stove. Should we try? (Maybe I can't count that high . . . )
Since hunger is so big in the city/county where we live I try to do what I can and so does the hubs..We feel we have always been blessed married nearly 40 & 1.2 years and always happy husband and I am good natured, always had good food and enough of anything we need to have nourishment..Also a home to call our own something neither of our parents on both sides ever had, always rent and with huge families it was pay the rent and nearly starve in an area of country with over 200 days of inclement weather and jobs hard to come by, I was actually born in southern California and my hubs in NYC coney island hospital now since torn down..We just don't get people who are not thankful for a place to stay, food, and hydration and most importantly someone to love and care about them..I think your blog is wonderful and I get a big kick out of your veggies you grow from seed!!!!!!!! Happy Holidays from the pacific northwest and it is similar to Minnesnowda..just kidding!!
Good for you knowing what a run on sentence is! I read some blogs and cringe at the typos, overly long sentences and poor grammar. Oh well....
Sounds like a nice relaxing time. We made lots of stock too, turkey soup for dinner tonite! I'm actually roasting another turkey this afternoon. I got a "free" turkey (#2) and will freeze 1/2 of it roasted and the other half for dinner and lunches. No black Friday here either. I sleep in and relax~~~
Not feeling well this week, I announced that I wasn't doing Thanksgiving this year. My son's best friends showed up with a cooked turkey and pumpkin pie! They are moving away soon and wanted to thank us for adopting them.
Mama Pea,
I wish I had made a turkey for Thanksgiving that way I would have all the scrapes and bones to make homemade turkey broth to put up in the pantry. We ate homemade beef and bean burrito's.
Agreed.....I'm so tired of hearing about every thing related to black Friday. I declare we have a white Monday.............hehehehehehehe.......
Hi, Anonymous - Thank you for you nice words. I have to confess I've never heard Minnesota referred to "Minnesnowda" before. Love it! I must remember to use that this winter.
Nancy po - We ate the last of the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner tonight. (Still have turkey in the freezer, of course, but this was the last in the refridge from Thanksgiving.) I simmered the turkey carcass all day for the second day (gotta get all that good stuff out of the bones!) and will strain and freeze the broth tomorrow. With your SECOND turkey, you're going to be in good shape for a while!
tpals - Well, bummer that you've not been feeling tip-top. But how very nice of your son's best friends to bring you a cooked turkey and pumpkin pie. You obviously mean a lot to them and I know they'll miss you when they move.
Sandy - Like many others, I think I enjoy Thanksgiving turkey leftovers and the homemade broth almost more than the main meal itself. That's definitely an advantage of cooking the big dinner at one's own house. When you go out to someone else's, you don't have the leftovers!
I know why merchants refer to it as "Black Friday" but it conjures up a bad connotation for me. If they have to push the materialism of the whole thing, why not call it "Rainbow Friday" or even "Profit Filled Friday?"
The whole "Black Friday" and super-hyped-up holiday shopping thing gets me, too. To me it all comes off as kinda loud, a bit desperate, and very... artificial. There is sooo much more to Thanksgiving and Christmas than holiday shopping.
Your theme of acknowledging and appreciating the things that are truly important helps keep it 'real'.
Hi, Mark - I wish there was something we could do to turn things around so others would put their thoughts and efforts into the true meaning of the holidays. Perhaps all we really can do is to structure these days in our own homes with our own family and friends. I know that feels a lot better to me than participation in Black Friday and all the hoopla surrounding Christmas which isn't what it's about at all.
The upside of visiting my mother-in-law over Thanksgiving is that there is no cooking - the downside of visiting my mother-in-law over Thanksgiving is that there is no cooking! Being out my MIL's way this holiday means being in the city, (a city with a high crime rate I might add) and in her house there is just simply not much to do but look at each other. At 81 she sort of talks about the same thing over and over and over.... again.... so Tom and I decided to go back out after eating Thanksgiving dinner out.... just to have something to do. It was scary to this small-town country girl! We were in Wal-Mart @5:30 pm not knowing the sales 'event' started at 6 pm.... surrounded by yellow 'caution' tape taped e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.... up and down aisles... making one-way aisles.... policemen were very VERY present.... we were dumbfounded by what was going on until we were stopped by an associate telling us we were on a one-way aisle going the wrong-way. The first question out of my mouth was "am I allowed to leave?"! Thankfully we could.... and high-tailed it out of there as fast as possible afraid of what might happen come 6:00 pm! Sounds like you and your family had a pleasant Thanksgiving! Your purple cabbage looks beautiful!
Oh, Lisa, that experience you had in Wal-Mart would have freaked me out completely!
Does your MIL still drive? Could she possibly drive to your house for holidays? If not, it might be worth it for you to provide the transportation to and from your house for visits. I'm betting she would enjoy it more being in your beautiful, comfy home where all kinds of interesting things are going on (inside and out!) and it would surely be a more enjoyable time for you and Tom.
As she's gotten older, she's gotten more set in her 'routine' and to deviate from that 'routine' is unsettling to her. The 'routine' means driving herself to her local mall every-single-solitary-day to buy herself a Cafe Mocha and chat with her 'mall friends' while she drinks it. We will go down and bring her up for Christmas, but even then she likes as few as days as possible away from her 'routine'. The thing about being around geriatric family members, is that I hope I remember some of these things when I (hopefully!) reach those ages and can make more flexible and reasonable choices! Have a good day Mama Pea!
P.S. We were actually at her mall early Thanksgiving morning because she swore she was told by multiple people it was opening at 6 o'clock A.M. and she wanted her Cafe Mocha. It was closed. Barred and locked. She was so mad, steam was coming from her head and she (which also means 'we') actually walked around the entire half of the outside of the mall to get to a Planet Fitness that was open.... she was going to go into the Planet Fitness to make them unlock their interior door to the mall!!! We did not realize that until we reached Planet Fitness and she heading in... and it was hard to reign her back. Oh she was mad - and I was just glad it wasn't at me! :)
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