| Thanksgiving at Jala's |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|12:40 pm] |
Thanksgiving, for me, started a couple of weeks ago.
I told my mom while I was visiting my family, "I'm going to make Thanksgiving."
Although the general assumption would be, "I will make Thanksgiving (dinner)," I meant that I would not just cook but try to really make it a day of giving thanks.
I took a long time to figure out what I wanted to make, because my family is comprised of sundry special eating needs. You've got my dad, who can be a bit discerning about what he eats but will at the least require meat; then you have my sister, mom and I who are all vegetarian. There's lactose intolerance and hypoglycemia, plus my own particular additional requirement of protein because of my workouts (if I don't get a suitable amount I start gorging on nuts, beans, or anything else containing protein that is accessible). So...little to no milk or cheese, no sugar, added protein somewhere, some meat for Pop...
I selected recipes over time, looking for something suitable. I made a list of all the ingredients I needed and combined quantities, so that I could ensure that I had enough of everything and wouldn't be in the middle of cooking and then say, "CRAP! I need more _____." I shopped for several hours, between the farmer's market and two different grocery stores. Since I was cooking everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - from scratch, I wanted to pick the freshest ingredients possible. Even the spice mixes were made by me.
I took Tuesday off from my training so that I could store energy for the coming events. Wednesday, I got off of work at 2p, so I came home and cleaned my apartment. Although I'm not a dirty person, I still wanted to dust, fluff pillows, sweep and scrub floors and countertops, vacuum...after that, I started cooking. I was cooking until 1a.
The day of Thanksgiving, I woke up and did it again, cooking, cooking...I arranged my table and popped what I'd cooked the night before into the oven to warm. I set a teapot full of water on to boil because I figured my sister and mom would want tea (and I was dead on). When my family came to my door, everything was laid out and ready.
My dad gave me a centerpiece by way of "thank you" for having them over. I appreciated it, and it is a really cheerful and beautiful piece, but unnecessary to give me something. Because I don't have much time (unless I table out some of my usual activities, such as training or study), I felt that the best gift I could give to my family would be the time it would take, and the effort, to make a big meal from scratch. No premade mixes, nothing, just completely homemade, whole food tailored to everyone's eating needs. Because I can't always be there, because I can't always help, I thought that this meal was just a minuscule way to show my appreciation - hardly apt, but the best that I could do.
 
Mom told me that Pop left the house without a word, and she thought that he had gone out to get cigarettes. Instead he came home with this arrangement, which he had bought because he was really looking forward to coming over. Mom said that Pop told her that the arrangement reminded him of me: happy and beautiful.
We ate dinner together. Everything was vegetarian except for the pork chops I made for my dad (I couldn't find just a turkey breast for him, and he didn't care, so I made pork instead), so my sister and mom could have a wide variety of foods. I in fact had loaded my mom's plate with TONS of food without realizing it (so much to eat that the dollops I was putting on the plate made it full!), but Mom was a trooper and ate ALL of it! I was so happy. Mom is very small and doesn't eat much, so the fact that she ate as much as my sister and I was amazing. My dad didn't have as much to eat mostly because he had already had a rum and Coke, and had eaten a couple of hours before coming, and moreover was dubious about all of the "colorful food." But, he ate, and he said he liked it. After the meal I washed up and was starting to put food into containers for them to take home but then my dad called abuela, and we had to pass the phone around.
Abuela was really surprised and happy that I'd cooked so much and thought it an accomplishment that I'd done it, because she doesn't do that but it brings the family together. My dad of course couldn't help but brag about me to abuela, so I think abuela got a grander picture than what really was. But, as long as everyone's happy...
By the time I got off the phone Mom and my sister had already packaged up the food. They only took a little bit and left me with most of it, I guess so that I can make lunches for next week, but really there are more eaters at their house than mine. I'd intended for them to take more, but Mom pitched a fit when I proposed giving them more food. ^_^* "NO YOU COOKED AND INVITED US OVER!" and so on.
After all the dishes were done, Pop and I watched Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman. I'd told my dad about it and he wanted to watch it, so we watched it together while my mom and sister sat at the table and chatted. I felt a little bad because Zatoichi is definitely a thing that only my dad and I share, so didn't get to include my sister and mom in it, and I didn't get to visit with them as much because I was busy with my dad.
Also, because my espresso machine broke a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to replace it, I couldn't offer my sister the coffee that I would have made otherwise. She'd even asked at one point if the coffee can I had sitting out was real coffee because she'd wanted some. I really need to replace my espresso machine and also get a food processor. ^_^* It was incredibly difficult to make some of the things for Thanksgiving, using my blender. Although not impossible, the cut is not as fine as it would be in a food processor and it took two or three times as long as it would with a food processor. Oh well...
I was a bit worried that my dad would have the same strange paranoia that most people have about my living room furniture. For some reason people seem very dubious about sitting on my "couch" (it's a wicker settee) or anything in my living room with the exception of my papasan, which most people love flopping into as it's a gigantic bowl. But, no; my dad plopped right down and popped his feet up on my rattan footstool. Hehehe! I was glad. I know that my mom sat at the table and remained in one place because she was in pain - the cold weather and the lateness in the day was working against her, so I felt bad about it. But, I gave my mom a tin of Badger Balm. I don't have the stuff for sore joints, but I do have the sore muscle rub, so I gave the tin I had to her. She usually protests when I try to give her things, so the fact that I gave it to her and she TOOK it means that she really wanted to try it. So, I was glad. I hope it works for her. If so, I will see if I can get the sore joint one for her. My dad tried the sore muscle oil and he liked it, too. I might have made a couple of Badger fans. They make an extra strength version of the sore muscle rub, so that might be good to get for my dad.
At the end of it all, although they left a lot of the meal with me for me to eat this next week, I gave them a bag of apple chips that I'd made specifically for their arrival, and the Badger Balm. I snuck the apple chips into their sack along with the Badger product catalog I'd gotten, so I suppose they found them when they got home.
This morning when I woke up I had a "thank you" e-card from Mom. In addition to the e-card itself, she added:
As usual, you went all out to make a memorable occasion. Thanks so much for everything you did. It was perfect and we enjoyed it more than any Thanksgiving ever. You made us feel welcome and special in your home. Thanks for being you. We love you!
AWWWWWW. =^_^= I'm very glad that I could make a good environment for my family to relax in, to escape for a little while. This hasn't been an easy year. It's not that the challenges are insurmountable; most have been unchangeable, and just require acceptance. However, it isn't often that we get the chance to spend such time with one another.
~ ~ ~
I took photos of all the stuff I cooked. This was the menu at Jala's...
~ ~ ~
Homemade guayaba (guava) spread. Lu gave me a recipe for it, and I adjusted it to my own non-sugar, "plz cut back on the sweetness k thx" tastes. This was the second time I made it, and this time it turned out much better. I've gotten my ratios down pat now and the new recipe is to my satisfaction.
High-protein oat-wheat bread. The yeast apparently failed because this is so dense, but the taste is good. It will be a good alternate protein bread when I want a break from my honey-flax-wheat bread. I'll probably adjust this recipe, too, to make it more to my tastes.
Spinach casserole. It doesn't look pretty but it tastes great! Honestly I was a bit dubious at first, but when I tried it, I was impressed. Haha.
Homemade fruit-and-nut stuffing. This was the most time-consuming thing to make. I had to bake bread, cut it up, and re-bake it until crunchy; then cook some stuff on the stove, mix it with the bread chunks and other stuff and then re-bake it. But, it was great! It was my first time making totally homemade stuffing. This stuffing was light and a little sweet, but really good.
In the back: steamed squash. The yellow one is turban squash; the orange one is golden nugget squash.
In the front: baked sweet potato slices, made with butter and with cinnamon sprinkled on top. My mom doesn't even like sweet potatoes but she complimented the flavor of these and liked the cinnamon on them. They weren't overly sweet. This is the way that I like to cook my sweet potatoes most frequently.
The mashed potatoes were souped up - there were onions and fresh spices in them, and I made them complete with skins. There was a lot of comino (...cumin...?) and some cayenne that made it slightly spicy, but this was really tasty.
The gravy was a mushroom gravy. It came out really tasty too, although I wish that I could have cut the onions finer. Next time, if I have a food processor, that will not be a problem.
On the left: pork chops cooked with onion. I marinated these suckers for several days, so they should have been very flavorful.
On the right: portobello veggie loaf (vegetarian relative to meat loaf). Although fragrant and tasty, it came out a bit dry. I will need to adjust the recipe as I'm not quite convinced on it.
In the back: chewy chocolate fruit and nut bars. Although they look a little scary, my sister and I (the only two to eat them as my mom was about to burst and Pop swears he doesn't like sweets) both agreed that they were really tasty and we both really liked them.
In the front: pumpkin bars sprinkled with toasted pecans. These are like miniature pumpkin pies in bar format. I cut up a pumpkin and baked it myself to get the filling, this was totally not a can of anything. These were really good, too. The crust was a bit crumbly, though, so I will have to mull over ways to make it firmer. The crust was really tasty though and I don't normally like crust. ^_^*
For both of these, the sweetness was provided by virtue of stevia and agave nectar. There was no sugar in them, but they were sufficiently (but not overly) sweet.
~ ~ ~
By the time my family left, it was pretty late and I wanted to unwind. I didn't train yesterday either between being full and everything else. What made it worse was that I had a run-in with an exploding water glass that cut up my right hand, mostly on the fingers. The only finger left unscathed was my middle finger. I felt this appropriate. Although I am not predisposed to flipping people or things off, that's about how I felt about the water glass at that point. My pinky and ring fingers are particularly chopped and were really bleeding/throbbing yesterday. Not so easy to train if you're squirting blood, so I gave it a rest. The break from training is with good and valid reason.
If I was able to make the holiday really happen, and help my family to enjoy a day, then I feel fulfilled. |
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