Tradition

Posted on November 29, 2019 by TJ

I know the holidays can be difficult for many people, for a variety of reasons, but I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Or survived.

EJ’s first attempt at making homemade bread a week or so ago turned out wonderfully so he tried again earlier this week. It didn’t turn out as expected because the bread didn’t rise. However, he baked it anyway and then cut it into rectangles. It actually was pretty good. It had almost a pretzel taste to it. EJ was trying to come up with a name for it. I suggested “bread-zel” which seemed appropriate. Now I wonder if he can recreate it.

Wednesday I made dough for our Thanksgiving pies. EJ prepared pumpkin filling and I put together the mincemeat–which just involved opening a jar and pouring it in the pie but, hey, I had made the dough for the pies. I also used a cookie cutter to put a forest of decorative trees on my pie. I have a large tin filled with a lot of different shaped cookie cutters. I seldom use them for cookies. Instead, I use them to make decorative pie crusts, interestingly shaped biscuits, and other such things.

On Thanksgiving morning, EJ got the turkey in the roaster. He wasn’t sure it was thawed enough even though he had taken it out of the freezer last Friday. Meanwhile, I made homemade buns. They didn’t rise well the first time, and only a little the second time. I think our yeast is too old. I thought, “Oh, well, que sera, sera” which I think basically means “what will be, will be.” We didn’t stress because Thanksgiving isn’t about food, it’s about gratitude for blessings. EJ’s turkey got done even earlier than expected and was very tasty, and my buns raised while baking and were delicious.

I boiled potatoes and made the stuffing–just stuffing from a box. EJ was going to make green bean casserole but he decided just to fix pea pods and mushrooms. We ate the fried onions that are supposed to go on top of the casserole as a snack later. Haha!

As usual, Hannah Joy kept very close by my side as I worked in the kitchen, which means I kept bumping into her. She keeps hoping that tidbits will fall to the floor, which she can gobble up. Although I don’t let it happen intentionally, food does escape often enough to keep Hannah optimistic.

Later in the afternoon, EJ and I watched The Hobbit together. We got through two of the movies and will finish the third at the first opportunity.

This morning EJ left to go hunting at his friend’s 100-acre woods. He will return tomorrow, probably. We could get some bad weather Saturday night and Sunday, including freezing rain. I hope he gets home before it hits.

Traditionally, many people go shopping today, the day after Thanksgiving, when most businesses offer huge bargains. I traditionally spend the day after Thanksgiving making potpies with leftover turkey. I usually make several large pies, which I freeze for later meals. This year, however, I used small 5 1/2 inch disposable pie plates to make 13 little individual pies. With just EJ and me at home, it makes more sense to make little pies. I can cook two at a time–one for him and one for me–and it’s just enough. I used my turkey cookie cutter to make a little turkey on each pie. I put all the potpies in the freezer except for one, which I baked and ate for my supper. It was yummy, if I do say so myself. Homemade potpies are one of my most favorite meals.