Everyday Stupidities

Since the communication lines have been down between us and the outside world, here's a brief message to the family and friends who wonder what my wife and I are doing for Thanksgiving this year. Simply put, we're staying at home and will be going to Stewart Anderson's Black Angus in the evening (couldn't get afternoon reservations, they were booked solid) for a turkey repast. We decided that as charming as going to The Arches, a real roadhouse up the street that I have had Thanksgiving dinner at -- twice, would be we wanted to go somewhere with more ambiance and fewer skanky people buying pulltabs.

* Why not my own family? Never heard from them. We don't want to travel across the state. And things just haven't been the same since Aunt Mayme left the table.
* Why not my wife's family in Yakima? Whole variety of reasons which shouldn't be addressed in a weblog on the Internet; what it boils down to is that they decided that I shouldn't come, and she decided that she didn't want to go alone and undefended. And we don't want to travel across the state.
* Why not my wife's brother nearby? One word: Gwen. We know that "spending the holiday with friends" means her friends and he's just stuck there seething. Plus the invitation was stated in the singular, not the plural, and that's not cool. If we were hosting a dinner we'd invite him and his kids so Gwen and friends would be undisturbed, but we aren't.

So along with our delicious dinner that we didn't have to cook, I made a double layer pumpkin cheesecake totally from scratch (pressed my own graham cracker crust, pureed the pumpkin I grew in the backyard - see photo). My wife thinks I'm nuts for preferring fresh over canned, since there is work involved to process the flesh, and some experts have said there's minimal difference in flavor... but I like the color of fresh over canned, fresh is orange to light tan while canned is always brown, and that's what makes it unique, along with the quantity of hands-on work it took to make that dessert ("the extra ingredient is love" as someone said). Happy Gluttony Day to my fellow Americans; happy name day to anyone bearing the moniker Kelemen or Klementína; have a pleasant feast day in honor of Saints Columban, Amphilocus, Wilfretrudis, Trudo, Rachilidis, Paternian, and Paulhen (plus Pope Saint Clement I and martyr Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro); and to the rest of you - our families included - have a nice Thursday.