Oh, that's cool, Cash, thanks.

Nice, Cash!

Reason # 456,798 why I love my job!

Dinner with my in-law’s extended family went well. Their house was nice, large, and well set for entertaining. I’m glad I upped my usual price point for the wine I brought. Everyone was nice and welcoming to my white, cis, apparently straight self, and I was forewarned to Not Talk Politics. My immediate family have drifted leftward, but the extended in-laws have apparently not. The teenage kids in the house are artsy and tattooed, so I’ll leave it to them to talk their parents around. The food was amazing. Thanksgiving classics flawlessly executed. If I’d known them slightly better I would have run off with the smoked turkey like an ill-trained dog.

On the way home I got a message that my worldly goods would be arriving this morning—a full day before the earliest possible delivery time they’d quoted me. One less night on an air mattress! So now I’m listening to the cats demand their lawyers from the bathroom jail while I wait on the movers.

Happy unpacking, Calli!

I've had pumpkin pie for breakfast and next on the list is pulling out the decorating boxes.

Brendon is sick, so I ordered COVID/flu tests to be delivered, and they are to arrive in about 5 minutes. I left mine up north, so I ordered more of the free variety to have on hand, but the pharmacy offered free same-day delivery, so why not? He did go to the dog park and ball practice, masked. Some not~something~awful~ma would be good. He sucks at staying put.

Sounds like a lovely inaugural Michigan Thanksgiving, Calli.

Get well quick, Brendon!

We had a good Thanksgiving. Matilda's friend, Mia, joined us (as she has since we moved to the new house) so we had five, and later Matilda's friend Veronica dropped by and nibbled on stuff.

Dinner report: One of the best turkeys I've ever made. Did the dry brined recipe and followed the NYT recipe closely and it came out so flavorful, moist, with bronzed crispy skin.

Mashed potatoes: perfect. So one of the things that is perfect about the mashed potatoes is that they're perfectly easy. It's the least amount of prep for the best result. I get small yukon golds so I don't even cut them up. I leave the skin on. I just boil them until they're soft, drain the water, and add cream, salt and pepper and garlic and two sticks of very fancy butter. And then I just mash it with a barbecue fork. Which doesn't make it perfectly smooth but I prefer it that way.

Stuffing: Followed the Bon Appetit simple-is-best recipe for bread stuffing, adding mushrooms, apples and celery. Came out great.

Mushroom Stew: came out exactly like it's supposed to. Emmett did the pastry cups which has been officially his job since I concocted this recipe.

Mac and Cheese: Emmett made it from scratch and it was fantastic. Super sharp cheesy flavor with a crunchy crust.

Spanikopita: Emmett and Matilda nailed it on the second try.

Appetizers: Matilda laid out a beautiful charcuterie board.

Desert: EM made pumpkin pie and an apple crisp. Delicious. She's a good baker.

I think we're retiring the composed endive salad we've been doing for years. We don't have the proper pear dressing we used to get at Trader Joe's so it's not as good. Conversation was fun. EM got tipsy and during a discussion about how the word "retarded" had been retired, I said the preferred term now was "cognitively delayed." She kept asking about "comically delayed" instead which made Emmett roar with laughter so hard his abdomen hurt.

Matilda is having a Friendsgiving today so she can take some of the spanikopita she made and I have the entire kitchen to clean by myself. Huzzah.

In House of Representative news: "Democrat Adam Gray has taken a slim lead over Republican incumbent John Duarte in District 13 while Democratic challenger Derek Tran was declared winner over GOP incumbent Michelle Steel in the District 45 race."

Those are two Dem wins by razor thing margins that flip seats back from the Republicans. Considering how fractious the GOP coalition was when they had a bigger majority, this gives me some hope.

T-Day reports are sounding lovely and yum, as it should be. Well done, team!

We're almost home - about an hour left.

Feel better, Brendon.

We’re home. ltc is staying at Mom’s for a few days. So, I’m being incredibly lazy today. We did most of the cooking, but mom hosted. So, we have no clean up, but a lot of leftovers.

That sounds like win win win, sj.