Turkeys and Paninis and Pies, Oh My!

It’s been a week to 10 days of activity as we hurtle toward the holidays. It started the day of the dreaded colonoscopy. After coming home and crashing for several hours, Jim woke me and I proceeded to make the stuffing for the upcoming turkey cookout. On Friday, after Jim left for scout camp, I took Mom to the Vine for soup and panini sandwiches. Wow! Good stuff on the new menu! Mom had Cheddar-Cheddar Broccoli Soup and I had Aztec Chicken Tortilla. We split a number 2, turkey-cheese-basil pesto on a croissant…excellent! Of course we topped it off with Blueberry Pinot Noir and the melodious sounds of Larry Smith.

Saturday, after the weekly trip to the beauty shop for Mom and errands for me, we paid a visit to the Craft Show and Bake Sale at St. Cyprian’s Church. We picked up my daughter on the way to the show and made it a 3-generation outing. This was followed by a six-inch chop job on Meredith’s hair…call it an evening exercise as most of the old layers are now gone. This was done so that her hair grows out nicely for the wedding in May.

Saturday evening was spent at Camp Stigwandish. The annual turkey cookout is an amazing thing. They cooked five 22-lb turkeys outside at the same time and it only took 6 ½ hours or so! They make a huge outdoor convection oven with the turkeys hanging from a pole held up by two tripods. The area is then ringed with tall chicken-wire tubes filled with charcoal. The whole thing is then wrapped in yards of aluminum foil, which acts to reflect all the heat toward the turkeys. The scouts also make mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, sweet potatoes, my stuffing of course, rolls, cranberry sauce…pretty much the whole 9 yards. All the scouts and their families are invited to share the Thanksgiving meal. This year there were 90-100 participants. A wonderful time and good food was had by all.

A major project at work kept me tied up for more than half the week. But Friday has come again, and I am relieved. Tomorrow, we’ll be attending a fund raiser for the brother of one of our friends, and Sunday is the last regular rehearsal for Messiah. Suddenly it will be Thanksgiving week and there is stuffing to make, pumpkin and apple pies to bake, and cleaning to be done. Chris will be coming home for the first time in many months. I’m looking forward to a laid back holiday, punctuated by hair appointments, dress rehearsal, and the actual Messiah concert. I will definitely need a break after that!

On another note, Kindle is outselling Nook 3 to 1! Don’t forget to download your copy of Fractured Anecdotes I and have a really good laugh!