Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day is a day that brings up all types of memories and I want to regale you with one more.

After we were married my wife and I decided to spend Thanksgiving at home, instead of trying to visit both families, which we did the first couple of years. Both of us have jobs that necessitate us working the day after Thanksgiving, as well as that weekend.

For our first Thanksgiving at home, we invited my Mom and Dad over for a breakfast of waffles, one of my Dad’s favorites. We’d hit my wife’s parents that afternoon for dessert. My folks made the drive of 35 miles (this will be important in a few minutes), to our place, announcing on arrival that my Dad had been sick to his stomach all the way over. I should have recognized this as an indication of the day. I didn’t.

As this was going on, my wife informed me that when the clothes washer was draining, the opposite was happening in the bathtubs, they were filling. No problem, I got out the plunger, obviously over optimistic and knowing nothing about plumbing, and tried to clear the drains. In a word, HAH! Things weren’t looking quite as bright at this point.

And, Mom and Dad decided they needed to go home, but, one of us would have to drive their car, which meant we needed a second car to get back home. On the 70 mile round trip I was glad we had decided on a quiet Thanksgiving, but it would still be a great day.

Arriving back home, to our standing water, I called a plumber to get the mess cleaned up, what the heck it was only Thanksgiving.  He worked diligently, eventually telling us there was no problem with the lines. Nope, it was our septic tank backing up into the house. That was a bit of news I hadn’t thought of at all, in my wildest thoughts.

A few phone calls and we had a septic cleaning truck lined up. I’m sure the neighbors had slight grins on their faces as they saw the pump truck pulling up that day. He assured us it would be quick, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. As he started working, we finished up in the kitchen, getting our turkey dinner ready.

I was in my office doing some work, and suddenly realized it was oddly quiet, no rumble from the pump truck. Walking out back I heard him on the phone. He smiled when I cam over and told me that the truck had broke down, it wasn’t pumping any more. But there was good news as well. They were sending out a tow truck to haul it back, and, they had another truck that he could then pick up, come back out, and finish pumping! A slight delay of maybe three or four hours.

What the heck, this day was taking it’s own course at this point. While we were waiting for the tow truck, (have you ever seen the size of a truck needed to tow a full sized truck), we sat out back with the driver, ate turkey sandwiches and had a pleasant visit. He had just moved here from Michigan and was a little homesick and lonely. It ended up being not only a memorable Thanksgiving, but an enjoyable one at that.

Eventually around 7:00 or so that night our septic tank was pumped out.  Dad called and was feeling better; my wife went to see her parents for dessert, and we wrapped up our first quiet Thanksgiving at home.

Happy Thanksgiving.

When A Pumpkin Pie Nearly Isn't

Turkey is on the way. It’s a little less than two weeks till Thanksgiving day. A couple radio stations have started playing Christmas songs, stores have been set up for Christmas for a couple of weeks now, they’ve had trees and decorations up since before Halloween.

Some people think it’s starting way too early while others revel in it, the discussions can get pretty heated about it. Me, I love the holidays. I love the fall and the lead in to Thanksgiving and Christmas, for a number of different reasons.

 As a chef (past career but still something I love), fall dishes are the most fun for me to cook. I’ve still got the Turducken on my bucket list, but I can knock a turkey dinner out of the park. I use my Grandmothers dressing recipe, which has literally been handed down and used for 60 plus years now, my guess is the true age is probably closer to 80 or 90.

Years ago I was the PM Sous Chef at the old Carefree Inn. We did holiday buffets and naturally had a big one lined up for Thanksgiving. We roasted cases of turkeys, broke them down, sliced them, used the bones and scraps to make fresh stock which was the base for giblet gravy.

We bought cases of fresh potatoes for mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and mushrooms for vegetables (mixed with walnuts and fines herbs). My friend and co- worker Mike was working on a couple of Ice Carvings, and kitchen was humming along.

Everything was finished up and I headed home for the night, feeling pretty comfortable and happy with everything. Cruising along I ran over everything in my mind, checking off the list, when I had one of those “OH MY GOD,” gut wrenching, adrenaline pumping, hot flash moments, generally reserved for life altering moments.  And my life unquestionably would have been altered, albeit temporarily.

Pumpkin Pies, PUMPKIN PIES! I completely spaced out baking 60 Pumpkin Pies, for a Thanksgiving Buffet. I fishtailed across a few lanes of traffic in a U-Turn and blasted back up to Carefree. Pumpkin Pies bake in about 45 minutes, but they need to sit for a few hours to firm up and cool. I was pretty sure I could pull it off…pretty sure, not positive, but I wasn’t going down in flames.

I did pull it off after a long lonely night in the kitchen. Walking out around 4:30 am Thanksgiving morning I ran into Jerry, the AM Sous Chef, on his way in to fire everything up for the day. He never did ask me why I was just leaving work at that time, and if he reads this, now he knows. We had Pumpkin Pies for the hungry hoardes.

Check that list, and have a blast getting ready for Thanksgiving!

Autumn

We sat out back the other night and had our first fire of the season.  Autumn is here, it arrives differently in the desert than most other places. We’re not dealing with the cold, or snow and, unfortunately leaves changing colors isn’t one of the changes we get to see.

Our change of season is more subtle. A temperature drop from the highs of 115 to 85 may not seem like much of a change to some, but it is a 30 degree difference, that isn’t really subtle, it’s noticeable. Our lows are dipping into the 40’s as well, not quite time to turn on the heat, but an extra blanket on the bed feels good, as does the dog.

 One of the more noticeable changes is the play of light all day. With the sun moving south the light is gentler and more diffused. In the morning and evening there is a definite golden hue to the light that is lacking the rest of the year. Finally the harsh brilliance is gone.

Mostly it’s a feeling though, and that seems to be the same no matter what part of the country we are in. Even here we are breaking out the warmer clothes, making dinners that are a little heartier, loving and bemoaning the shortness of day and length of night at the same time.

Now if you put on Nat King Cole, or Yves Montand in the background performing “Autumn Leaves,” light a fire, pour a glass of cider, it won’t matter where you are. Autumn is here full force.