Thanksgiving week is now past. One holiday to both remember and hope to forget. Remember because we, throughout the nation, gathered with loved ones mostly in small groups to count our blessings and our good fortune of health and happiness; try and forget the pandemic that is ravishing our nation and the world, to forget the past four years of our national shame and malaise.
No birthdays to report this week, at least none that we have on our calendars. There are two mea culpas for last week’s post: first, brother John Covert stopped by to wish Mark a happy birthday, and Deb snapped a photo of the two Covert brothers in their caps and masks.
Second, Lee Needelman brought a beautiful chocolate cake to Mark when they joined us for pizza on the patio last week, we neglected to include the fact and a photo in the last post. The omissions were the error of the scribe - the editor was in Lincoln for the morning and did not have the chance to review the work, no slight was intended to either.
It has been extremely quiet in Omaha this week. Weather was snowy on Monday, but then melted away by Tuesday. We did some grilling, baking and grocery shopping, but nothing too outrageous. Ed and Meg were to host his kids, Avery and Spenser for Thanksgiving in LA, but second thoughts on flying them across country with no intervening quarantine period resulted in a cancellation of the trip. The kids are to stay in Maryland, celebrating with their mother while Ed and Meg will have to figure a way to consume all the turkey, mashed potatoes and homemade turkey gravy on their own. Note that the gravy and turkey freeze well and the mashed potatoes can be made into great potato pancakes!
On Wednesday, after Deb whipped up an apple pie and three pumpkin pies for Thursday’s feast, we journeyed out for another COVID 19 test. We are hoping again for negative. This is our 5th testing. The afternoon was then spent boiling the 16 turkey necks which are the key to Deb’s famous world class gravy and then she spent two hours picking the meat off said necks.
That takes us into Thursday (feast day) which arrived early and we hit the ditches running. we prepared the oven, Deb prepared the stuffing and dressing, Mark brought the turkey up from the lower refrigerator and we began stuffing the sacrificial avian and tossing it into the furnace. This is the first time in our memory that we have actually cooked a turkey in our oven. Always before, there were so many sides and other things to be cooked that we used a stand-alone Nesco roaster, either outside on a separate table or in the laundry area on top of the washer dryer, as an auxiliary kitchen. The ancient Nesco bit the dust this summer so, even though a replica had been purchased, we decided to try the more conventional oven and were we glad we did. Finally, crispy skin and deep brown color. Really tasty!
Abigail arrived with her additional supplies and commenced on her specialties: mashed potatoes, cheesy cabbage casserole, creamed corn casserole and green beans. Mark brought up his refrigerated dough for the homemade pull-apart rolls and Deb commenced on the gravy. The bird was pulled from the oven around 1:15PM, looking bronzed, buff and ready for his performance.
Then the sides went into the now vacant oven for their turn, and finally the rolls were popped in for the last act. Kate Duggan stopped by with a surprise gift of “Pink Stuff,” a staple at the Picken’s thanksgiving table and always a treat for the grandkids; achingly sweet cherry colored whipped cream with the cherries imbedded. A truly lovely and thoughtful homage to Bev Picken’s huge Thanksgivings of the past. This Thanksgiving would also have been her 91st birthday.
Darcy and Maria arrived with their two dogs in tow, and we set the table, posed for pictures, and began shoveling in the food. So much food, even though we thought we were consciously moderating the size, if not the number, of the dishes. We rolled away from the table around 4:30 and circled the fire pit for an after meal discussion and a rest around the fire. We checked in with Jake and Audrey in Michigan, and then with Ed and Meg in LA; those last two were just getting ready to tuck into a beautiful prepared feast, looking at food for 5-8 that was now going to be enjoyed by just two.
Darcy and Maria headed out around 5:00 to see Maria’s mom, and Abigail headed home to feed her dog and take a rest. Leftovers and pie accompanied each departure.
Deb and Mark cleaned up the remains of the day then sat in the living room for a while with a last glass of cheer and then a little TV. Into bed by 10:00, exhausted, but in a good way. Truly a good Thanksgiving, although different from any in memory. Next year, we can all gather together again and reminisce about the T’Day of 2020!
Wash your hands, keep masked up (except when shoveling leftovers into your face,) maintain your social distancing from all and stay safe. The orange one finally stated on Thanksgiving eve that, should the Electoral College actually vote for Joe Biden, he would leave the White House - although the election had been fraudulently stolen from him. December 14th will be the best gift 2020 gave us this year. January 20 will be our 2021 gift!
