Several people have asked me what we were going to make for Thanksgiving. When I say “nothing” puzzled glances follow with raised eyebrows. When your family is far-flung or out of pocket for whatever reason, it’s hard to justify cooking an 18-pound turkey for four adults and a small child.
My grandmother is recovering from the surgery she had last week. The procedure made her weak and tired. I have a family member going through a divorce and another one with a terrible bacterial infection, etc., etc.
So it was just easier and more convenient (and cheaper) for my immediate family go to Wildcatter for Thanksgiving.
A big pile of food ... Tri tip steak, ham and smoked turkey. Mac n cheese, grits, dressing, green beans, broccoli and sweet potatoes.
It was delicious! And we had a spectacular view of the North Texas Hill Country.
View off the southern bluff at Wildcatter Ranch
We had a stellar French Burgundy and when we were done, we went home. No dishes, no leftovers, no nada.
2003 Santenay was lights-out good!
I don’t think I’ll want to do it every year, but I’m thankful it’s an option. We’ll have traditional Thanksgiving feast with my husband’s family over the weekend – fried turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.
We had a good day, (well other than that fight we had). And it was a beautiful day to be outside in the garden. I worked on long-overdue cleanup and winter planting.
The Christmas tree went up with relative ease. As I write, the Aggies and Longhorns are still battling it out. It’s been the holiday I really needed.
Today school was out, but I had to work. I had three big deadlines bearing down on me so I worked late even on a holiday eve. Fortunately my mother was off today and took Jdubs for the day. He had a great time, as always.
Today was special because Jdubs really wanted his grandfather to take him for a horse ride.
This is Sugar ...
And that is exactly what they did.
Sugar is a good little starter horse. Very gentle. She's a borrowed horse. It's a common thing to do.
Jdubs decided that he didn’t need any help so he took the reins and took off. It was a great day indeed.
Jdubs is the 4th generation to ride this saddle.
Our legs are finally long enough to reach the stirrups.
That's one happy kid.
And that is a summary on why we live here – because we can go to our grandparents house on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving and ride our horse all by ourselves for the first time.
Raging case of writer’s block is still intact (that word always makes me think of male dogs, lol). So short post is in order.
2 things …
Today is the 48th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. I hope that our country never has to deal with that again and I hope that our country will always respect the office of the President of the United States, no matter who occupies the office.
John F. Kennedy
Secondly, and ironically (since we are such foodies) we are going to have our Thanksgiving meal at a restaurant. I’m actually very excited about this. We will be going to visit my husband’s family later in the weekend and will have a traditional meal. But for Thanksgiving Day, since my family members are scattered and my grandmother is still recovering from surgery, we decided not to mess up the kitchen and go to Wildcatter instead. It’s great to have that option!
After a bad case of writer’s block I decided to start writing about random things … thus random things.
We went to Walmart tonight to pick up my $4 prescription (love that). There was an incessant beeping. When I asked an employee what it was, she said “what beeping?” Really! It was clearly an alarm but nobody seemed to be alarmed! Three or four other people seemed to be as puzzled/annoyed as I was.
Wonder how much the boys in Bentonville paid for the updated logo with the shinny sun?
Then Walmart goes and redeems itself with Blueberry cordials! The find of the month. It’s the greatest combo!
One of my favorite things ...
I was working on a group of photos of my favorite landscape plants when Jdubs posed. Then he wanted me to take a photo of his favorite stuffed animal, Smooshy.
Posing for the photos.
Smooshy -- close up.
Some of the best $14 wine I’ve had, ever.
To hell with Yellow Tail swill.
The fattest Chihuahua, ever!
Seriously, this is the fattest Chihuahua.
She's like a 20 lb loaf of bread.
The cutest little kid, ever.
Jdubs doing "tricks" for momma.
A poster in my grandmother’s bathroom! They don’t even have a cat!
Today has been a simple day. Church, lunch and an afternoon with family watching movies and reading books. It has been a nice day just the three of us.
It seemed only right for us to have a simple, traditional meal. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli.
Ingredients
2 lbs. of ground beef (chuck or round)
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 tbs parsley, chopped (Italian parsley, don’t mess with the curled stuff—it’s bitter)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 1 ½ cups oats
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
1 egg
1 small can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
Oats ... that's what I use instead of bread.
Dump all the ingredients in and give it a stir.
Tomato sauce and a stir.
Then add the tomato sauce and egg.
One fresh egg.
I always put my meatloaf in a cast iron skillet. You can use a loaf pan or Pyrex dish.
Everyone should have a well-seasoned iron skillet.
Cast iron is an awesome conductor of heat.
Press the meat into the pan. Next make the topper (this is optional).
A sweet ketchup-based sauce does the trick.
Topping
½ c. ketchup
1 tbs mustard
¼ c. brown sugar
2 tbs. whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper
Top with the sauce.
Pour on top, spread out to the edges. Then place the pan in a 375 degree oven. Bake for 45 min or until done all the way through.
Today I went to visit my 82 year old grandmother. She had her gallbladder surgically removed on Tuesday. We visited her and took food to her and my 93 year old grandfather. Neither of them can hear well so they don’t have stuff on like the TV or radio. I think it’s kind a cool because it’s so quiet at their house. Noise overwhelms me and I really don’t like loud music, noisy kids, gaggles of teenagers or squawking birds or yappy dogs. The quietness of her house is soothing to me, but then again I took my 4 year old son to visit too. He’s really loud and rambunctious. But he was just what MawMaw needed.
Next week we’ll take her a plate of turkey and dressing and pie, especially since “no one can cook anymore,” she told me of the food that someone had brought her.
I met Tim and Janice Kerlee this spring. They were the guest speakers at our annual Aggie Muster. Their presentation is remarkable…they explain the Bonfire Memorial in great detail with pictures and describe the meaning of the each of the symbols throughout the entire structure, which are quite numerous.
Losing Bonfire happened just a few weeks before I graduated, and hardly a week goes by without me thinking about that day in some way. It helps that my office is adorned predominantly in Aggie stuff, including a picture of the last Aggie Bonfire in 1998. In my sitting area I have a copy of the Texas Monthly issue about Aggie Bonfire. Nonetheless, it’s still something I keep fresh in my memory because from time to time something will trigger a memory of that day. I don’t remember eating or where I parked or any of the normal details of my day-to-day life. Just the invisible mourning shared between my fellow Ags and the confusion that weighed heavily in all of our hearts. We all waited patiently and rather quietly outside the perimeter fence watching rescue workers try to save my fellow Ags. RC Slocum’s football team assembled and were among the folks who were toting logs off the stack.
It was the first and last time I’d been a part of a national news item, much less one that was so near and dear to my heart. I don’t know that I even realized if was even a single camera at the Polo Fields when we were out there. Obviously, there were. There were helicopters in the sky and news vans everywhere, but I didn’t even think to notice them. I didn’t have a mobile phone back then so I was out of touch for most of the day. My mother was miserable, I’m sure, but she worries a lot.
Part of the Kerlees’ presentation was the picture that the Dallas Morning News ran on their front page of Tim’s decimated body. His hips were crushed, his legs were detached from his body and his arm was broken. He was in shock and wasn’t in pain, although very uncomfortable from having his body broken the way it was. People in the rescue crews said that he told them to go help the others before they helped him. His parents got to see him before he died in the hospital.
Tim Kerlee, Jr was Janice and Tim Sr’s only child, and they lost him twelve years ago today. It makes me think about my son quite a bit when I remember her talking about Tim Jr, and I wonder how I would respond if my only child died doing something he was so passionate about. I wonder how many Aggies still think about that picture of Tim Jr in the newspaper and get angry that the DMN ran it in the first place. I wonder if the next generation of Aggies or the leadership in place on campus can ever get close to comprehending the dedication and spirit that Aggies such as the twelve who died that early morning had, as well as the others who were there and injured or had to help dig their brothers and sisters out of fallen stack. We hear about Tim so much because he was the last one to fall, but there are 11 other Aggies that rarely get mentioned.
I can’t do anything other than wonder, but I still do and I do it regularly. I hope you do as well.
Last night in the dark I made one final, final harvest from the garden. It was 28 degrees this morning 6:30 a.m.—a pretty hard frost. So everything should either be dead or cease to produce at this point, which is right on schedule for this part of the world.
I went a little crazy planting the night shade varieties.
My peppers have flourished in these warm days/cool nights. This stuff is lucky to be alive considering the hot, dry summer we had. I have water bills to prove how precious this produce is!
This is what my garden looks like right now.
Sad garden.Dead, dried leaves soon will be fodder for the compost bin.
Everywhere I look there are leaves… so this weekend will be all about clearing the refuse for the compost bin and pulling up all the remnants of night shade varieties hanging on.
After all I have pansies, lettuce and broccoli to plant! This will be the first venture for me to try to grow cole crops (and cold crops) over the winter. (Want to know the difference between cole and cold? Read more …)
I had to be in Wichita Falls today for an appointment. So before coming home, I made a stop at Smith Gardentown. What a treat! I love to visit garden centers, farms and nurseries at all times of the year. This time I was just looking and trying to get ideas for Christmas for the various horticulturalists and ornithologists in my life.
I drove up and instantly loved the place because there were ducks on the pond, Canada geese grazing and little garden statues of pigs.
Canada geese!A little concrete piggy for the Kentucky Pig!
I love to visit farms and nurseries in the fall because it shows me what plants look like in the fall – whether the foliage is colorful, evergreen or if a deciduous plant has pretty bark.
Little Henry will be a definite addition to my garden. Beautiful spring blooms, beautiful fall foliage!Opuntia Prickly Pear-- Thornless!
In the hustle bustle of the spring some plants get overlooked, like this really cool cacti! A prickly pear without the prickles.
Then there are the perennial favorites … a Shumard Oak. I have one just like this in my front yard and this photo reminds me why … It’s beautiful and well adapted for our area.
Shumard oak tree -- excellent tree for North Texas.
A place with a friendly cat that comes meowing for affection is always a good sign. Two cats who are friendly and want attention and are neutered means that the people here care for lots of living things – not just plants.
This cat chased me down so that I could pet it.Kitty #2 sleuthed across the patio to get a scratch.Swiss Chard-- excellent for the fall kitchen garden. I think this is the "neon lights" seed mix.Mixed pansies ... happy pansy faces.Some of the greatest rose gifts are the blooms in the fall.
The garden center is always a good place to get gift ideas for the gardener. Look at these beautiful garden globes. We can just file that under the “pretty-stuff-momma-can-never-have-because-she-has-a-boy-and-a-dog-that-is-OCD-with-spheres.”
I can never have pretties like this ...Cloche terrarium ... nice coffee table gift for the gardener.A flag for everyone (at least in my divided house).Bird feeders and houses for all the little finches in your life.Happy pansy face, y'all!
I recently discovered an awesome fall squash called sweet dumpling. Like most fall squash, it’s versatile and easy to cook. And it is so sweet. And the name of the squash itself gave me the idea for making a squash filling to go into a dumpling.
Sweet dumpling squash. I was able to take a picture of this before the sun went down. Amazing what natural light will do for a photo.You can use this same basic method to cook all fall squash.Baked sweet dumpling squash.Mashed sweet dumpling squash. These photos are taken inside under harsh, yet inconsistent lighting.
To make dumplings we have to bake the squash first. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and hallow out the seeds with a spoon. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, give it a squirt of cooking spray and give the cut side of the squash a squirt too. Then place the squash cut-side down on the pan and put into the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes or until the flesh of the squash is fork tender. Scoop out the cooked squash, leaving the skin behind then mash the squash in a bowl.
Ingredients
3-4 C. cooked sweet dumpling squash (see above)
½ of a medium onion, finely diced
2-3 sprigs of rosemary, finely diced and divided. Half for the squash mixture and half for the butter sauce.
¼ to ½ stick of butter
½ C. Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ancho chili powder
1-2 tbs herbs de Provence
Wonton Wraps
Salt and pepper (not pictured)
(other equipment needed: bowl of water and a pastry brush)
While the squash is baking, finely dice the onion and sauté with butter and olive oil. Add herbs de Provence and a pinch of the rosemary. Salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook down until very soft. Then add the squash to the onion mixture and give it a good stir. Let it all simmer together, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and let cool for a few minutes, then add the Parmesan and rosemary. Add salt and pepper, if needed. But be careful, Parmesan is very salty on its own.
Add Parmesan and rosemary. Give a good stir.
Give it a good stir then add the chili powder.
A little chili goes a long way.
Put your wonton wrappers on a cutting board. You will need to work quickly because we will seal the wontons up using the water as the “glue.” But wontons are very sticky once they get wet so faster is better.
Put a dollop of squash mixture down on each wonton. It’s about 1 tablespoon of squash per square.
A dollop ...Brush with water to seal the top and bottom of the wonton togethe.
Brush all four sides of the wonton with water, then put a second wrapper on top. Press together with your fingers. Be sure to get all the air out of the stuffed center part as possible. Then crimp the edges with a fork to seal it tightly. Place the dumplings on a flat surface until you can cook it. Get a large pot of water boiling then place the dumpling into the water to cook. You will have to do this in batches. Each batch will take about 3-4 minutes to cook.
Not the greatest photo, but hopefully you get the idea.Out of the boiling water.
After the dumplings have cooked. Place them on a plate or cookie sheet. Don’t bunch them up into a bowl or they will clump together and tear when you try to move them.
Last step, toss the dumplings in brown butter sauce. To make the sauce, put a plug of butter into the pan, get it hot, add a little salt and pepper and a little pinch of the rosemary. When the butter is bubbly and starts to brown, add the dumplings, toss to coat with butter, add a pinch or two of rosemary. Let the dumplings toast and get a little brown.
Put on a plate and sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top. Yummy!
The Arcadian Experience 