My fellow Americans...

[thewayne]

Happy Thanksgiving.

We went to Phoenix, my dad had a surgical procedure last week and is having some problems, so I figured I'd help out and fix dinner for them. I got all the groceries, did some prep last night (including making pomegranate molasses), and this morning I have a cold.

I might be OK to make stuff, as long as I only handle things in the pre-cooking stage, the long cooking times should be enough to destroy virii. I can certainly clean and cube potatoes for the mash. I'm not sneezing, just a mild cough. But I'll probably make my wife work harder. There's two mildly complex dishes to make.

*sigh*

To my non-USAian friends, I hope you have a pleasant day, not having to have much in the way of business dealings today with USAians.


Here's this year's new recipes for me:

Dressing with pancetta, apples, and mushrooms: three different breads!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cornbread-dressing-with-pancetta-apples-and-mushrooms-recipe/index.html

Roasted Brussels sprouts with pomegranates and vanilla/pecan butter:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/roasted-brussels-sprouts-with-pomegranates-and-vanilla-pecan-butter-recipe/index.html

Comments

[moiraj.livejournal.com]

The retailers here have started trying to cash in on the whole Black Friday thing. I find this interesting, as no one has tomorrow off, other than people who normally have Fridays off.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

My sister just left: she's going to Walmart as they're putting four ping pong tables on sale for $65 and for whatever reason she must have one. I've also received some email offers for web-only pre-Black Friday deals, one of which I'm considering exploiting.

I was kind of curious to know if rampant consumerism was the same up there in the Great White North, I guess somethings are constant in human nature.

[moiraj.livejournal.com]

I think it is in all of the wealthier countries. When I was in Japan, every once in a while some electronics store would have a sale and people would be lining up the night before.

I have to admit, I never noticed the Black Friday thing here until this year, but I can be pretty oblivious. I don't personally know anyone who has to have the newest toys or feels compelled to keep up with the Jones, so I'm not introduced to this sort of stuff.

The day everyone really goes nuts, though, is Boxing Day, and my family all avoid every store like the plague. We don't even go out to buy milk.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I try to stock up before the day before Thanksgiving and well before Xmas. I was driving a friend around yesterday, she'd had a seizure last Saturday and a friend and I weren't letting her drive yet, and she needed Thanksgiving food from a local gourmet market, and the crowd wasn't nearly as bad as what I've experienced in the past. I don't know if it's the general economic condition or fewer people in a more elite store.

Boxing Day isn't too bad for shopping, murder if you need to return something. And I've worked three or four of them from the far side of the counter, I sold camera/audio equipment in and just out of highschool.

[moiraj.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to imply that only people who are spending-crazy would get involved in Black Friday. Just that everyone I know pretty much hates to shop in general.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

There are some amazing deals to be had, but if I'm up and out the door at 4am it's because I'm getting paid to do some work at the observatory. I try to be very particular on what I spend some money on, and unless it's something that I was already planning on buying, a sale on something similar is not going to get me out the door.

[vaudy.livejournal.com]

There is no deal good enough to get me out of my house on Black Friday. Work is just about the only thing I will go out for. Of course, this year I'm working in retail, so I will be right in the midst of the insanity.

[vaudy.livejournal.com]

New recipes! That sort of thing doesn't happen for holidays around my family. Which isn't too bad, considering holidays are almost the only times we have some of the family dishes. How did the Brussels sprouts come out? I don't normally care for them, but I like to try out different ways of preparing things. Sometimes I find that I don't mind certain dishes even though I don't normally like the main ingredient.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

The Brussels sprouts were pretty good. I screwed up one thing: when applying the vanilla butter, I should have also put some pecans on it. But the universal reception was very good. They're kinda chewy, I don't know if that's the one that I chose or if that's a normal characteristic of sprouts since I've never done them before.

My parents don't mind me experimenting on them, especially when I buy all the groceries and do most of the cooking. :-)

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I meant to mention: I got the recipes from Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Thanksgiving Battle, a one hour special that was new this year.