A month of gratitude, part six - a cooked turkey

My first Thanksgiving turkey turned out well, to my disbelief. I don’t know what I expected, certainly for the turkey to take longer to cook than I had budgeted for. Instead, the self-timer popped out ½ an hour early, and a thermometer confirmed it – the bird was fully cooked 1.5 hours before dinnertime. No problem, according to the recipe it needed 30-60 minutes to rest, an extra 30 minutes wouldn’t ruin things. The stuffing was “the best stuffing (my husband) has ever eaten” so I will be making it again. The Real Simple recipe I used added sweet Italian sausage and walnuts, an interesting combo. And the gravy, well that might have been the biggest crisis of the night – it wouldn’t thicken. So, I did what any other distracted cook would do, left it on the stove for an extra 45 minutes with a little extra flour and voila! It thickened, although a little on the lumpy side. Mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, we did in fact have all the fixin’s and it was fun! Fun to cook, but even more fun with the company; our guests experienced their first Thanksgiving and the house was a hive of activity with five boys running/walking/crawling underfoot.

The women, severely outnumbered!

The only thing that could have made the evening an even bigger success? A Lion’s win – they got robbed. Not for me of course, my loyalties lie with da Bears, but for the boys. Mikus even wore his Lions jersey.

Black Friday was spent around the house and yard, with a small excursion to pick up some hardware and deck stain. That might give you a small hint as to what we’ll be working on the next few days…

* Today I am thankful for skype, and the opportunities modern technology gives us to stay connected with family. My father got a tour of our new house this morning, and numerous family members have had the chance to “see” Mikus learning to walk – something that helps me feel less far away from them all. I’m waiting for the “hug app” that will let me give out hugs through my iPad!

A month of gratitude - part cinq, Thanksgiving

As I’m elbow-deep in preparations for Thanksgiving, this will be a short post. The turkey has been brined and is now “drying,” the pecan pie is on the counter next to the cranberry sauce, the stuffing is cooling its jets in the fridge and I think I have everything I need from the store to pull this off.

 
My sister Anna and her husband sent me these adorable pie topper stamp things that I will probably be using year round. I’m thinking they’ll make pretty cool piparkūkas too!

 

I’m following this year’s Thanksgiving issue of Real Simple for dinner (except for the brine, cranberry sauce and green beans), I’ll let you know how that goes. All the recipes are relatively straightforward, completely necessary for a novice like me. Yep, I said it, a novice - I’ve never cooked a turkey before. As I’ve cooked everything from a chicken to duck and squirrel, I hope I can handle a turkey. (Maybe I should wait to admit this until after our guests show up?) As our families are all far away this year, I decided to invite an expat family from Britain; I thought it would be great to share this traditional American holiday with them. Kind of funny, a Latvian-American who has lived in France the past two Thanksgivings and never actually cooked a turkey is going to show ‘em how it’s done! (Please keep your fingers crossed!) Although I guess it’s not any more strange than having my first traditionalThanksgiving in France…

 

Wishing all those celebrating Thanksgiving a wonderful holiday!
 
 
* Today I’m thankful for the recent extra time in the kitchen. Before Lauris and Mikus joined our family I took that time for granted; there is a lot less time for new recipes, complicated dinners and my favorite – desserts now that I’m chasing after two macaroni-eating, cheerios-snacking, applesauce-devouring, banana-smushing kids. However while my mother was visiting, and now with the holidays, I’ve had some time to try my hand at a few new recipes and use all those pots and pans for something other than mashed potatoes and rice!

 

 

A month of gratitude, part quatre

We had some additional guests last week; not only was my mother visiting to help with the transition, but my husband’s cousin Asja and her husband Brandon dropped in for a few days on their babymoon. Their tour took them to Chimney Rock in North Carolina and a bed and breakfast near Lake Keowee before stopping here in Greenville. The house was full, no doubt about it, but it was that pleasant (been away from family for too long so now we are soaking it in!) kind of full and I love for the boys to get all that extra attention.

We spent a wonderful day at Greenville zoo and even managed to catch Paula Deen during her appearance here. Because of all the extra help I was able to spend some much-appreciated time with my mom in the kitchen, trying some new recipes and giving canning a go.

Everyone left on Saturday, leaving the house suddenly quiet and empty. Not for long however, we had more than a dozen local Latvians over to celebrate the 18th of November, and Thursday friends are coming over for Thanksgiving. I wish everyone good luck with their Thanksgiving preparations, and may you have a wonderful week!

* Today I’m thankful that Thursday’s mishap wasn’t more serious. Brandon fell and broke his leg, necessitating a day spent at the local hospital. I’m just so grateful it wasn’t Asja, or my mother – Brandon, heal quickly, you’ve got to get back to babying Asja before the baby comes!

18. novembris Greenville

Priecīgus valsts svētkus! Mūsu Latvija, 94. gadus jauna!

 
Netikām uz aktu Atlantā. Ar visu to, ka nupat pārvācamies un tad vēl mana mamma bija ciemos, novembra pirmā puse kautkur pazudusi. Skatos kalendārā kā pateicības diena un Ziemassvētki lielā ātrumā tuvojās. Un tā arī jau bija 15. novembris kad apjēdzos 18. tikai trīs dienas prom.

 

Tomēr valsts svētkus kautkādīgi jāatzīmē, un ja to nedaram officiāli ar runām un svinīgu aktu, tad daram to dienvidkarolīnas stilā. Ielūdzām visus latviešus kuŗus pazīstam šinī apkārtnē uz mūsu māju, un tie arī sanāca. Ēdām pīrāgus (paldies mammīt!), kriņģeli (paldies Brigita!), ābolmaizi, smalkmaizītes un visādus citus gardumus. Pacēlām glāzes uz Latvijas valsts svētkiem, vērojām kā bērni skrien pa māju un baudijām jauko kompāniju.



18 of us in the picture, coincidence? (Actually Mikus is hiding in the back, so 19!)

 

Today we celebrate the Proclamation of an independent Latvia, which took place 94 years ago. For a brief history lesson please have a quick peek at this post, which I wrote last year.
 
We didn’t make it to any of the official celebrations this year, but we did invite all the local Latvians to celebrate at our house. This is how it came about that a half dozen kids were running around, pīrāgi in hand, while the adults raised a toast to the heritage that brings us together.

Lai dzīvo sveiks!

* Today I am thankful that despite the short notice and the hectic pace of life this time of year, almost all of our local Latvian friends were able to come together to celebrate. We missed a few key players who were home sick, including our friend Lūcija, and I hope they know they are in our thoughts and prayers.

A month of gratitude, part deux - Paula Deen and Kiko

A worn copy of Joy of Cooking is a go-to resource in my kitchen, dog-eared, grease splattered pages marking frequently used recipes. Here in the south, in many households that place of honor on the counter is reserved for Paula Deen. She is to southern cuisine what Julia Child is to French cuisine, and today she was in Greenville, South Carolina.

This morning I dragged both boys and all three visitors to a local supermarket to see the local legend. We arrived right in time to hear her kick off the store’s hunger relief program, and it was interesting to watch her interact with the audience. With a stroller and toddler in tow, it was impossible to get anywhere close to her, so no autographs and all my photographs turned out blurry. We must have missed the giveaways too; many people were walking around with autographed copies of her The Lady & Sons cookbook, but I believe they must have showed up and waited for a few hours. I’m not disappointed that we went, as now I can say I’ve seen Paula Deen, but possibly her event organizer needs a little assistance in logistics?

Next stop, the Greenville zoo!!! Luck was on our side; although the weather was crisp and cool, the sun was shining and the animals soaking up the rays. We arrived at the giraffe enclosure to find the male Masai giraffe outside, and after it disappeared inside we were just about to leave. Luckily we paused, because not two minutes later Kiko and the mother emerged! Kiko was born on October 22^nd, and this was our first time meeting him as the enclosure was empty during our Boo in the Zoo visit. There are few animals cuter than a baby giraffe…

A walk up and down Main street, a meal at a new burger place and a milkshake later we were headed home with our guests to rest and start dinner. After the meal my mother remarked that with the teamwork in the kitchen and wonderful company at the table, it feels like a holiday. The boys agree, with three extra laps in the house for storytime, and six additional arms for hugs, it’s all smiles and grins.

* As we were leaving the Paula Deen event a stranger came up to me. He had seen me asking an event organizer about the autographed cookbook giveaway, and proceeded to press a book into my hands while explaining. He came with his wife, who had brought with her personal copy of the cookbook, hoping to get Mrs. Deen to autograph it, but instead won a brand new copy. Today I am thankful for the kindness of that man, and I wish I could tell him that every time I cook “sausage and grits,” “South of the Border Mason-Dixon Dip” or “The Lady’s Cheesy Mac” I will think of how his and his wife’s generosity supplied me with a perfect keepsake of this day. Truthfully, I would rather have a copy of the book that has seen that kind couple’s kitchen than a new, autographed copy. Thank you.