Relax and Be Thankful

This year our theme for Thanksgiving was to relax. After a great deal of traveling, we have been very busy of late with many low key items at home. Our days have been filled with routine, but time-gobbling, items. For Frank there were dental appointments and train group meetings and bathroom repainting. For Diane there were quilt guild meetings and quilt guild board meetings and quilt outreach meetings and quilt guild membership database management and library literacy tutoring. For Alex there was his quarterly review meeting and of course bowling. For the bunny, the dog, and the cat there were vet appointments. We even squeezed in a dinner dance with the Hayward Dance Club one Friday night. By the way, we are the dance club's new treasurers. I am thankful that we are not rusting out in retirement!

I've been so involved of late that I noticed my last blog post to Wander or Ponder was November 9th, the day before Frank's 67th birthday. In the morning of November 10th, Frank opened a few casual gifts I had gotten for him – magazines, books, etc. – and we fielded some phone calls and birthday wishes from family.

When I said casual I meant it. Observe Frank's new tool socks. They coordinate with the sawdust on his shoes.

Then we had a break through – at least Frank did.

We would relax at home, no frantic meal out or houseful of folks for a party or travel. Here is our plan in action. Daphne and Wima were copacetic with this state of affairs.

On his birthday I cooked a turkey dinner with sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, Frank's favorite foods. But I am slowing down. We did not eat until 8:00 pm that night! The pace was a bit too relaxed. For Thanksgiving we decided to buy one of those ready made holiday feasts at a restaurant and bring it home, saving cooking and cleanup afterward and interminable leftover storage.

So we did just that. We were to have one friend and Alex joining Frank and me on Thanksgiving Day. The day before, I had fun setting a pretty table. I wrote about it on my DianeLoves2Quilt blog in the post for November 25th, 2015. I like doing the decor better than cooking anyway. Wednesday, I picked up a few of Alex's favorite treats at the grocery store. I avoided major food shopping and its associated attempts to thaw out and store a huge bird. It is a bit early for Christmas but for Alex, I put up our artificial tree from last year and put just a few gold ornaments on it. He loves the lights of Christmas and with just gold I was in keeping with the colors of Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I spent most of Wednesday working on a quilt for charity up in my sewing room or blogging about the table decor.

The meal was scheduled to be picked up at 3:00 pm Thursday. Frank took Alex bowling in the morning while I enjoyed more time in my sewing room and puttered about putting the finishing tweaks to the table decor. I just needed to add goblets for wine and set out the drinking glasses, ready to be filled with ice water. I snipped and prepared the fresh red carnations to  add at each place setting.

Frank, Alex, and Vickie arrived at 2:00 pm. I sat with Alex and did puzzles while Frank and Vickie went for the meal at the scheduled 3:00 pm. They were back by 3:10 pm with the food. I was expecting takeout, ready to be gobbled down in the true Thanksgiving fashion. This is what came with the food.

HEATING INSTRUCTIONS? 

What the (insert not very thankful work here) ... ?

Every item was chilling cold from being stored in a refrigerator, required transferral to an oven proof container, some prep, and 30 minutes cook time. Here is a sample of some of the phrases from the instructions.

Turkey: add chicken broth (not provided)
Stuffing: break up and cover
Gravy: place unopened bag in at least 4 quarts boiling water
Mashed potatoes: for best results use a double boiler

Sweet potatoes: spread evenly, cover with foil, remove foil after 20 minutes

Green Bean Casserole: place in mixing bowl, add french fried onions (not provided), pour into casserole dish

I was shocked. My idealized vision of relaxation had just been shattered into a million bits like shards of ice. I did not behave very thankfully to say the least.

Once I acknowledged there was no other option but to proceed forward per the instructions I did. Resentfully at first, but then I took a few deep breaths and realized it was not so bad. The food was really very good, the all-white turkey meat was moist, the mashed potatoes were well seasoned, the sweet potatoes (once I added my own marshmallows) turned out great. Alex sat with us for most of the meal and ate well. I think it was more like a pail of frigid water had been thrown on me instead of being presented with the comforting abundance of warm food. 

The cleanup was not so bad either since casserole dishes did not have baked on crusty food in them. There was no turkey carcass to deal with. All the leftovers fit neatly into Ziploc® containers on one shelf within the refrigerator with that one remaining quart of mashed potatoes and partial bottle of white zinfandel to enjoy for other meals. It sure beat staring at a turkey rib cage and two amputated turkey legs for several days. Now that I know what to expect, I would order a feast from a restaurant  again. I'd still make my own pumpkins pies, though.

Except for my initial knee jerk reaction the day was great. We enjoyed doing a crossword puzzle jointly with Vickie. We were full but not to the point of being uncomfortable with over-indulgence of food. Alex loved exploring his collection of banks and puzzles. When we dropped him home he was quite happy to pose for us in his strikingly new Star Wars shirt that he had worn that day.

My son-in-law and daughter-in-law supported our theme of relaxation for Thanksgiving. I am thankful that they are such loving parents. I am very thankful that Robin and Dan have made quite happy families for themselves.

(NOTE: Autumn is not in the previous picture because even at the age of three she still rarely sleeps!)

I woke up this morning greeted by the red carnations from Thursday's table. They were bright and cheerful and had opened up fully. They set the tone for the day. Robin called and texted to talk sewing and quilts. She regularly sends photos of Autumn and Isaiah to my cell. Carrie sent me a link to fantastic family photos she and Dan had taken for their holiday cards. She keeps me current with images of Vivian on Instagram.  Frank is sitting peacefully and companionably behind me doing a jigsaw puzzle as I blog. I will join him shortly. Aah, the little pleasures of life to be thankful for...