Save Our State - Happy Thanksgiving !

Nice spread, looks good.

I like pancit and all the rest. There's a little bowl which looks to me something like chiles, garlic, maybe some green onion in fish or soy sauce. What is it?

We went a short distance to a relative's place. Our grouping had the usual turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, and various pies, most of it was ready made at the market. Normally I'll make a beer can chicken for the two of us sometime during the holiday, but there's too much other stuff going on this weekend, maybe next weekend. I'm curious about and would like to try a goose one of these times, but no one else is interested and it would be a waste to cook a goose just for one. Beer can turkey is good, I used a Foster's can on a small turkey I brined and cooked in a water smoker some years ago.

I hope everyone truly had a good holiday. Everyone asks "How Was your holiday", and the answer is always "good". No mention of family fights, drunk uncles, oddball brother in laws, or treacherous rivalry between women.

Younger children seem to almost always have a good time, even if loud, tear around the house fun is annoying to adults - which results in tamping down the fun.

Then there are weeks of leftovers - if properly wrapped and stored in a timely manner. All that stuff laying around uncovered on the table for hours, then shoveled out to anyone who will cart it away for some more above the red zone temperature bacteria breeding on the trip home. I'll bet the garbage truck makes two runs next week.

My grandmother used to hand make all those goodies which she practically force fed the gang while she was cooking the turkey, ham, giblit gravy, yams, potatoes, green beans, and all the rest of the gargantuan spread - including home made pies. It was ALL from scratch and she wouldn't let anyone help her. When Thanksgiving dinner was over she would collapse in her recliner and bitch about how tired she was. Christmas was a repeat performance with wrapping paper strewn about.

Then there is "Black Friday", which I never have and never will participate in but find a lot of black humor about the whole thing. There are actually people who set up tents on Wednsday to be at the front of the line on Friday. The shopping itself seems to me to be a combination footrace and mixed martial arts event with carts shoved around demolition derby fashion. That's a lot of work for the discount.

It's nothing new, there were grandmas taking each other down to the concrete over Cabbage Patch dolls in the 70's.

The parking lot was full at the supermarket on Wednsday afternoon, I had to park on the back forty and hike in. I didn't do any shopping, was just there to use the ATM - which had been run out of cash. The store was wall to wall, rubbing against one another packed and most looked annoyed, impatient, and inconvenienced. All registers were open and the lines were long.

I went to two markets on Friday afternoon to find sage leaf for a fresh home made sausage batch I was making, the first store was out of it and I got the last package of sage in the second store. I found it was moldy when I got home, so I made another trip and all that was available was a small collection of the pre-ground stuff. The stores I went to were either sold out of sage or right next to being sold out of any type of sage. It didn't previously occur to me what a great demand for sage in traditional turkey and stuffing there is around Thanksgiving.

Christmas trees are already selling down at the supermarket - Peace on earth and good will towards men and one more month and a week until the winter ordeal is over on January 2nd.

I like the holidays, but thank God there isn't a major holiday every month.