I dined at 1, and then took pie to Amyth at 4:15. She’s having Thanksgiving dinner with her best bud from high school and her friends who moved down from NYC and have been taking care of her. We were able to chat for a bit, and she mentioned that really appreciates all the contributions from the Buffistas, so I’m passing along a big thank you.

Now the dishwasher’s running, the cats have been fed, and I’m going to become one with the sofa for an hour or five.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey thighs that I dry brined for a day and then rubbed with butter before roasting turned out great. The skin even was crispy and delicious. Potatoes were good, gravy was passable. I only bought two thighs, but they were big ones, so now I have a lot of leftover meat. I may make another attempt at gravy tomorrow with the drippings that I saved.

I didn't prepare dessert, but perhaps I will make cookies later.

So I confess to going out for dinner to a restaurant this afternoon. We wanted to sit on the patio, but it's rainy, so no patio, but they had the whole wall open and we were sitting right next to it, so as close to outside as possible. I am still going back and forth about whether or not I should have gotten the turkey, etc. (I did, and it was delicious, but nothing amazing for the fancy-restaurant $$$$$.)

Rats. The line for Tommy's Joynt was around the block and by the time we were getting in at the end they were telling people not to wait since they were already running out of food. We headed to Whole Foods as a last resort only to find they had turkey and sides but no gravy. So me and the Math Greek are at home eating TJ's Nantucket-style cranberry pie, which is quite tasty even if I have serious doubts about their claim that this is "found on holiday tables across New England."

I looked in the fridge and discovered we had sweet potatoes, a ham steak, and many types of cheese, so I threw together a casserole! Sometimes I remember how to do the food part of adulting.

We pretended really hard that we were going to have a scaled-down Thanksgiving, so we had 10 things instead of like 12???? because moderation and holiday cooking don't quite mesh. But anyway, we had outdoor dinner with the in-laws, sent them home with a giant pile of leftovers (and kept about 3x the same for ourselves), ate pie as is required of the season, and had the difficult talk about the December Holiday and how we would be doing outdoor things again even if out of town family decided to come visit them. They're hearing reason, at least. Which is an improvement.

Thanksgiving for just the two of us Type II's is a small spiral cut ham, coined (orange) sweet potatoes quick-braised in butter with ginger, onion, garlic, and coarse black pepper, quick-steamed asparagus with butter and coarse sea salt. H made two low-sugar pumpkin pies in store-bought graham crusts--so good! But the neighbor sent over two generous slices of her made-from scratch with heavenly perfect flaky piecrust, plus a little bowl of whipped cream so we'll be having those tonight.

StY and GF had brunch of deviled eggs and drop biscuits with honey and/or preserves. Their turkey and sides were finishing when we spoke an hour or two ago. I'm very grateful for both of them.

As I'm grateful for this place and all of you. My mainstay through joy and sorrow, and troubles and clear sailing. ::raises glass:: to us--Happy Thanksgiving!

We ordered Thanksgiving plates from a local restaurant, which I supplemented by quick-cooking a batch of collard greens since we felt like we needed a green vegetable. And if I do say so myself, the collards turned out delicious. I made them Brazilian style (at least according to the website where I found the recipe), i.e. sliced into thin ribbons, then cooked in very hot oil with garlic, red pepper flakes, and half a lemon squeezed over everything at the end. I hated collard and turnip greens as a kid, so it kind of amazes me to have stumbled upon a version that's so quick, simple, and tasty.

Most of the good things in my life, including my current job and how it's weathering the current crisis, have come about by chance. I'm very thankful for all of that, including this place, which is definitely on that list.

I went over to Mom's with a roasted turkey breast from the supermarket, some microwavable petite potatoes with Herbs de Provence, and a gigantic pan of dressing I cooked this morning. She provided the salad, rolls, corn, and pumpkin pie. After stuffing ourselves and resting a while from said overeating we went out on a leisurely drive around the local lake/park. A low-key holiday compared to what we usually do, but very nice nonetheless.

May everyone else's holiday be similarly enjoyable!