November 28, 2003
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Happy Thanksgiving
Derek has been planning his visit home for some time. He bought his airline tickets and his Charger game tickets weeks ago, if not months ago. He kept asking me if I would be able to take time off from work, at least one day, so he would see me while he was here. I couldn't say whether I would be working or without a job.
Starting early last week, the company I've been working for as a Customer Service Representative started letting people go. Nothing was said officially but the rumor was that they were going to disband the entire Technical Support staff and assign our duties to the engineering staff. The rapid disappearance of people last week led support to the rumors but I received no official word up to the end of my shift on Sunday, at midnight. I didn't hear anything on Monday, either.
Tuesday morning at 9:50, just as I was leaving the house, I received the call. I was no longer employed. I was officially notified that the department I had been working for no longer existed.
I decided to take the whole week off and start my job search next week, after Derek leaves on Tuesday.
By the way, we tried Derek's jalapeño wine after a super Thanksgiving dinner. It had an alcohol content he estimates at 12.4%, a bit stiffer than I preferred to make my wines, but it was dry with a good body. It retains almost all of the distinctive jalapeño taste and has a good deal of bite to it, too. There is a flavor shift right after you take a mouthful, making the taste quite complex and difficult to describe. It is pleasant for sipping by itself but I am somewhat at a loss as to what it might go well with: perhaps a full flavored creamy cheese or one of the milder blue cheeses, perhaps dates, figs and nuts, or perhaps a dried or smoked meat (not supermarket jerky, though). It is good stuff.
Cathy got out her big marble pestle and ground some whole spices, the exact mixture a secret (probably to her, too, by now), to make a really, really good soup from some small pumpkins she roasted. She also raided the cabinets and closets, the freezer and refrigerator for ingredients for her dressing. She had everything from bacon and pork sausage, pine nuts, chestnuts, cashews, apricots and prunes to sage and anise seeds in there. Frankly, it is one of the best dressings I've had. She melted butter into a couple of cups of brandy and we spent some time injecting the mixture into the bird before stuffing it; I would fill the syringes and she would empty them into the bird. Needless to say, the turkey tasted good, too.
Delia did her standards (squash purée, a string bean dish, mashed fresh potatoes, pan fried sweet potatoes), things she always does well and that always taste -- not just good, but special. She also made some corn bread from a mix.
Apart from running errands and doing some heavy lifting, I mostly stayed in the background. I chopped a lot of onions, garlic, celery and giblets for the various dishes. The only thing I did all by myself was the gravy, which is basically just tedious. I carved the bird for the meal, then stripped the remaining meat off of the bones after the meal so Delia could freeze the bones for soup. I also packed the leftovers so they would mostly fit into the refrigerator when the meal was done.
Cathy has been exploring pumpkins this year. Her earlier attempt to make a pie from pumpkins didn't work too well because she used a big pumpkin. She learned that the sweet little pumpkins are better for cooking. She made two pumpkin pies, crust and all from scratch, using real pumpkins and not some kind of mix, and they were super. She also cleaned and roasted the seeds for a special extra treat.
They could have prepared the meal without me. When I first met Delia -- even when the kids were in their early teen years -- I basically had to do almost everything. At first the rest of them were afraid to fix a turkey. Now either Derek or Cathy could do one alone. Delia could probably fix the whole meal with very little help if she had to or wanted to, although the turkey might cook too long and the dressing might be a bit plain. Derek wouldn't know what else to serve besides the turkey and dressing (but he would watch all of the football games); Cathy would know but would want to experiment with new stuff.
For the moment, I have time on my hands and the chance to pause and count my blessings.
Comments (6)
Sounds like it was fabulous! All those years of cooking and you've finally been rewarded with a meal prepared by someone else! Sorry to hear about the job and hope you find something else really soon. ~Spot~
What an odd way to be let go from a position. I guess it's been a long time since I've worked for anyone.
Sorry to hear about the job loss, James - that doesn't seem quite legal the way they went about that...surely some sort of advanced warning would have been more appropriate.
Thank you for the congratulations - it seems more poignant considering your current position...although I am currently in exactly the same position.
I thought the side dishes I prepared last year were quite tasty.
I'm glad you liked the wine.
Steve, there is a very good reason for them not to give advanced warning when getting rid of Technical Support people: we had a lot of power over the system and could do considerable damage if we decided to do so. I wouldn't, but there have been cases where damage was done by people leaving voluntarily.
Derek, the issue was not whether or not your side dishes were tasty but whether or not they were traditional, and you tend to think outside of the box. And by traditional I mean the dishes that us moderns have become accustomed to, not the dishes that the Pilgrims might or might not have consumed during the several days of feasting that comprise the first Thanksgiving.
The meal sounds wonderful. On the pumpkin pie thing: my mom says to choose what she calls "sugar pumpkins". She says you can spot them by the fact that they are a bit smaller and have a more reddish-orange skin. The other thing is, she always freezes her pumpkin pie, even when she only makes them a day or two ahead. She lets them cool to room temp, slides them into a large ziplock bag, then into the freezer. She swears this 'develops' the flavor. My youngest brother agrees.