Monday, November 23, 2020

Too Tired to Plan, Vivid Memories

 Sunday, I forgot to wear my mask when I went into The Pig for one thing. Now, I am afraid I may have contracted the corona virus. At least, now patients can be treated with regeneron like Trump was. 

I finally "found" the pork loin. I had put it in the freezer with carrots. I did not have to dig, just open the door. So, that was dinner Sunday night. On Monday night, Tommy will have a turkey leg and vegetables. This is NOT a huge leg like you might think. When I give him too much meat, he takes it from the bone and I throw it in a snack bag in the refrigerator and he makes a sandwich from it the next day. That would be Monday.

That leaves Tuesday and Wednesday night for plans. I will figure it out. The turkey leg might give him enough meat for the next night (Tuesday) with different vegetables. I can scramble an egg or eat one of the boiled ones plus vegetables. He hates eggs!

Monday, I may make the gravy from drippings. And, I might bake a pie or two. Tuesday, I will be busy. Wednesday, I can bake another pie or make the Stovetop dressing. Yeah, that is a hard job. There is still Jello Salad to be made. 

Tommy took a load of black clothes out to the washing machine this morning. Now, he needs to take a load of whites. I still am wobbly walking and cannot lift anything that heavy to walk. So, he willingly does it with no complaining. 

We were in the kitchen, washing and drying dishes, until my back gave out. So, now he is back and resting, too. When the second load of laundy is out of the dryer, then my sheets will go in. I'll be sorry when I have to hang and fold all this! 

I have sworn to myself that I am not going to overdo it with chores or Thanksgiving dinner chores. I may have already missed the mark of making it easy. 

And, I need to put color on my hair, a workout in itself! So, I will  be going back to wash dishes again right now. 

The weather is beautiful here, 58F and getting warmer before the day is over. And, it will be in the 70s for the rest of the week. The sun is shining, so there is not much to complain about. 

How is your weather? Hopefully, with less holiday travel there will be fewer deaths on the highway no matter the weather. 

I really miss going to my mother's house and being greeted by all the scents of food she had done or food that was cooking at Thanksgiving. Nowhere else since she died has smelled the same. When I cook all the same things with the same recipes, it still is not the scent of home. I can close my eyes and see her house, kitchen, sounds, and smells. Can you imagine your mother's home vividly? 

24 comments:

  1. Yes I can. As a child the smell of turkey put in early in the morning would come wafting up the stairs to the bedrooms. Such a good memory.

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  2. We are having dinner with just ourselves on Thursday and will be missing a big family Thanksgiving. Times are out of sorts, but we will press on.

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    1. Michelle,
      Times are out of sorts, but we must press on the endure and have a healthy mental attitude.

      Delete
  3. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, sounds like you are doing a little each day - smart! I miss the smells of my mom and Granny's kitchen. At least we have those memories, huh? Take care.

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  4. My mother never cooked a turkey in her life. My grandmother cooked them until she was in her 90's then my male cousins decided to start frying the turkeys. After Grandmother died and the family split into smaller individual families, I became the turkey guy. Mom's house never really smelled like Thanksgiving.

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    1. Anne,
      Well, I suppose your grndmother's house smelled great. Your grandmother must have been a stong woman.

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  5. Yes, these memories make me cry! Miss my mom and my grandma who was so special!! Those amazing family holidays. This year it will just be me. So will have to be grateful we are all healthy but with 4 kids and their significants and 12 grandkids this is tough. (18 live in my town but with two RN’s and other possibilities of risk they won’t takes chances. They want me here next year!)

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    1. JRE,
      We need to miss this holiday to be here for the celebrations next year. It is good your children are willing to wait to keep you and everyone safe.

      Delete
  6. My husband and I will have Thanksgiving Dinner by ourselves. If I can get a Skin on/bone in turkey breast, we will have that, if not, we will have a baked chicken with stuffing and baked or boiled potatoes, or possibly mashed. I also want to have pumpkin pie with Reddi Whip. This will probably be at least three meals for us.

    I will miss being with my daughter, son in law and grandson, and sisters in law and families, but I think for my husband and I, it is the safest thing. My single sister in law will have dinner at my daughter's home with them. I am glad for that. My grandson will enjoy his Great Aunt's company.

    I do remember how wonderful my Mom's cooking smelled on Thanksgiving, and how hot it got in her little kitchen. Our 2 outside cats would both crowd their way up onto the outside window sill via a honey suckle vine to watch and smell the food better. We always had quite a few people over. Family and Mom's friends, and my grandparents on my Dad's side would be up from Florida.

    My Mom always made the best ambrosia, but she did not use marshmallows in it, it had several fruits and coconut flakes on top. There was always pumpkin pie and apple pie (my Dad's favorite). I remember always keeping an eye on the weather from the dining room windows. Grandma and Grandpa always left the day after Thanksgiving to go back to Florida. It seems that so many Thanksgivings in the 1960's here in Missouri, we would be watching light snow flurries starting, or maybe that was just the ones I remembered most because Grandma and Grandpa would be fidgeting to get started back for home.

    I have always loved thanksgiving.

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    1. I, too, love Thanksgiving. In Memphis, we had no worry of snow. Mostly it was warm enough we did not need more than a very light sweater or long sleeves, especially for the run into her house. My mother's sister and sometimes her daughter and daughter's cousin would drop by after we ate. It was always crowded and fun. I do not use marshmallows in the ambrosia either. It was all fun. I hope you two can have fun this Thanksgiving.

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  7. As a kid, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. I liked it better than Christmas. I loved the half day of school before. In elementary school, that morning was almost always spent making placecards for the next day's dinner. Living in a circa 1800's house, our kitchen was a little room off of what we used as a t.v. room. We kids would always watch "Babes in Toyland" and "Little Women" as dinner cooked. Somehow, it seemed as if we never bickered on Thanksgiving. My father would sit in the living room, listening to jazz and smoking. Every now and then my mother would poke her head out and ask one of us to take something to the dining room table--olives, pickles or cranberry sauce. Oh, yes, I remember it vividy. Growing up, the period following Thanksgiving WAS NOT spent in preparation for Christmas. Our tree went up the 21st at the earliest! I am a bit different in that regard. As soon as I've cleaned the kitchen the kids (mostly DD) and I will decorate the house with my tabletop Christmas decor. Our tree is purchased and decorated the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

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    1. Meg B.,
      I have heard of noisy rows on Thanksgiving, but we never had that. If anyone was loud and rude, it was Daddy. We children shut that down quickly. I like the tree and decoration to go up on Saturday after Thanksgiving. As a child we were lucky if Daddy got one before Christmas Eve! I can see Thanksgiving disappearing and you putting out Christmas. That seems like a good tradition to me.

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  8. I walked into the post office without my mask. I jumped out of the car so fast that I didn't realize I wasn't wearing it. I got inside and didn't notice until I got to the counter and saw all the postal ladies with theirs on. I was so embarrassed that I hadn't put it on. One of them told me to just pull my tee shirt up over my nose and I would be fine. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten it.

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    1. Alice,
      I am embarrassed when I forget my mask. It has happened exactly for times since March. I am so diligent that I cannot believe it either.

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  9. I'm sorry to hear you are feeling poorly and I do hope it isn't the Covid. It is bad enough if your back is giving out and you feel wobbly so please do take it easy. Health is more important than cooking a meal. I finally came to that decision a few years ago for myself so now I do everything as simply as I can. I know it is far easier said than done. I definitely remember my mom's home and the holiday meals. My goodness she really went to town with the meals and created fantastic food for us all and often for others and even strangers. I definitely did not take after her in the cooking and hostessing department. She made so many different dishes at each and every holiday meal and the extended family would drop by all day long to partake. Our weather here has been mostly dry and sometimes sunny for the past few days. The temperature seems good but I haven't been out anywhere just greeting people at the door with my mask on to give away many different items I've been posting on Freecycle. It feels good to find new homes for things that should not go in the garbage. I'll wish you a good rest and hopefully a better day tomorrow healthwise.

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    1. JOYFUL,
      Abscessed tooth, not anything else! Mama worked too hard to make us all happy. It is amazing. We had people other than the immediate family. Good for you on giving away instead of throwing in trash. Thanks for the memories.

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  10. that vaccine might not be available until Spring. Couple days ago it came out they were still jumping hoops. Two others with better percentage of working is supposed to be out in 8 wks.

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    1. I have entered a store more than once and realized I was mask-less. I have a couple in the outer pocket of my purse for just such an occasion. I call them my throw down masks.

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    2. Janet,
      I put one in my purse for when I forget, but I suppose I never put it back the one timeI used it.

      Delete

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