Not Crazy…
Enjoying a well-planned Thanksgiving with family and new friends.
We had a perfect Thanksgiving. I began my preliminary prepwork (making vegetable stock) the Sunday before Thanksgiving, continued prepping on Monday and Tuesday (chopping vegetables), and Thomas and I cooked up a storm all day Wednesday (baking cake, making frosting, making pie, assembling main dishes), with the result that Thanksgiving day was so relaxing I got to sleep in and enjoy hours de vours with our guests. For those of you who weren’t in attendance the menu was:
- A Selection of American cheeses (cheddar, smokey blue, sheep, and goat) with Crackers, Nuts, and Dried Cranberries
- Stuffed Pasta Shells with Marinara Sauce
- Butternut Squash Boats Stuffed with Quinoa, Leeks, and Parmesan
- Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
- “Unstuffed” Stuffing
- Cranberry and Orange Salad
- Rutabaga with Parsley and Butter
- Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
- Green Beans Sauteed in Shallot and Almond Butter
- Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey and Butter
- Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Apple Pie
I was very pleased with how the meal turned out. Nearly all the food was local and some of it (the herbs, the marinara sauce, the carrots) were straight out of our backyard. Next year I hope to serve our own homegrown squash, pumpkins, potatoes, green beans, and shallots. We also participated in a program sponsored by Jeff’s employer to host three international students for an American Thanksgiving. We had three international graduate students in attendance, one from Turkey, one from Germany, and one from India. They were all so very nice and also provided a lot of interesting perspectives and conversation. After the meal, my mom helped with clean-up and we spent a lazy evening talking and snacking until…
Crazy…
Everyone departed, we put Thomas to bed, and I packed up to go “Black Friday” shopping…at midnight at an outlet mall. Now that is crazy. And I realize that it seems rather unlike me and my non-consumer stance. The thing is, unless you live on an entirely self-sustaining farm on which you grow your own food, mine your own metals, and produce your own cloth, you are going to have to buy things from time to time. Some of those things (such as long underwear for living comfortably in our unheated house) are actually a direct result of our living a more low-impact lifestyle. With the family sleeping I decided in might be fun or at least a “cultural experience” to go out shopping in the wee hours of the morning. It was what I thought it would be: crowded, gluttonous, crazy, and a little bit fun. It was certainly an experience. The aspect I found most disturbing was not the mass consumption, but the amount of young children out shopping (or more accurately looking pathetic) with their parents. I saw dozens upon dozens of older babies, toddlers, and young children in various states of sleep and happiness out with the crowds. It made me very sad to see parents behaving unsympathtictellicy to these poor kids who were clearly exhausted, hungry, thristy, and bored. I cannot fathom the concept of taking your child out at those hours in that environment. For me it was a successful trip. I think that I was probably the only person in the mall who did’t buy a single gift for anyone (we are making the vast majority of our gifts), however, I did find many of the items on my post-Thanksgiving shopping list such as long underwear, rechargeable batteries, and vegetarian shoes. And I did get to indulge in one of my favorite unsustainable treats: a buttery mall pretzel with “cheese” dip.