Wow. I’ve made it to 100 days. Delightful!
Day 100: One Hundred!
Month: November 2020
Day 99: Turkey Day
Because we thought we were hosting Alex’s family for Thanksgiving we ordered a free-range turkey from Butcher’s Alley in Bethesda a few weeks ago. Since we didn’t host them and Alex and Andrew are vegetarians-who-will-eat-seafood-occasionally we thought it would be easier and more considerate if we didn’t have turkey on Thanksgiving. Dean promised, though, that he’d make me turkey over the weekend.
He smoked it on his Big Green Egg and it was good. Delightful even. Although, between you and me, I prefer roast turkey but he doesn’t like turkey so at least I get turkey when he smokes it.
Photo credit: By Mark Miller – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37039101
Day 98: Another Walk
Not too far from me — walking distance — is a delightful pocket-sized wetland that I rarely walk to. Because I am lazy. Alex had never been, so we walked there today. I remembered my camera! We were surprised and dismayed to see the cherry trees blooming, but Alex looked them up and apparently they often take advantage of warm fall weather to bloom a second time. That does not reduce their likelihood of blooming again in the spring.
I’m planning on walking there once a week starting in January just to see the changes each week. Alex suggested I read Braiding Sweetgrass. We’ll see if I actually venture out on a semi-long walk in January. It might be delightful. It might not be.
When Andrew and Alex left, Andrew wanted to take a photo on the front porch so we did.
Day 97: A Walk and More Games
The four of us took a walk along the C&O Canal this afternoon. It was delightful. I wish I’d brought my camera though. I did get a decent photo of a Great Blue Heron, however.
This evening we played Scattergories and an online drawing game called Drawful. The kids think they’ve turned us into “game people”. They are delighted.
Day 96: The Feast and Wingspan
Today we cooked and baked and ate and drank and played and celebrated. More delights than I deserve in one day.
I bought myself the board game Wingspan for my birthday and only played it a couple of times. I finally think I understand it after playing it all day today.
Day 95: Thanksgiving Eve
White-throated sparrows visited us this morning. Andrew and Alex (and Mingus) arrived in early evening. Delights all.
Days 92 – 94: Planning and Cooking
We’d hoped to host Alex’s parents and brother for Thanksgiving this year. They’d drive up from Atlanta and stay at a friend’s condo in Silver Spring. Unfortunately with the upsurge of Covid cases everyone agreed that it was best for them to stay in Atlanta.
Andrew, Alex, Dean and I agreed to quarantine for over a week so the four of us could feel safe having a smaller Thanksgiving together.
Our plans for smoked turkey were put on hold since Andrew and Alex are vegetarians-who-eat-fish-when-pressed. I ordered good salmon from the Fish Guys (I cannot believe I have not written about the Fish Guys!!!) and started thinking about vegetarian side dishes.
Meanwhile…
A friend on Facebook posted a photo of his meal and called it a Higgidy Chicken Pie. I assumed it was a type of Yorkshire dish and , but it turned out that Higgidy is a brand of prepared meals in the UK. I then went down a brief but satisfying Internet rabbit hole after which I was the proud owner of two Higgidy (Kindle) cookbooks, one of which was a vegetarian cookbook. In it I found recipes for a Christmassy nut loaf and a miso, chard and squash pie.
I sent Andrew and Alex the menu and they approved.
- Salmon (Smoked on Big Green Egg) — Dean’s job
- Miso Squash & Chard Pie
- Cranberry & Porcini Nut Roast with onion gravy
- Mashed Potatoes
- Green Beans
- Bread (probably sourdough or dinner rolls) — Andrew’s task
- Stuffing
- Dessert — Alex’s surprise
When I'm Sixty-four 