ivman's blague

I’ll start this blog post off with a Thanksgiving weather forecast.

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190° F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.

A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34° F in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.

Many Americans prefer the traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. It’s gotten a bit harder with the passage of time, though, since turkeys have started to figure out ways to elude gracing the table at the family gathering. Here are several ways they’ve done so:

For the turkeys who haven’t managed to escape the Thanksgiving feasting, I’m sharing the recipe my wife Becka uses for our Thanksgiving turkey. Very simple, and absolutely delicious!

Herbed Turkey Breast (from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)

(If you use this recipe for a whole turkey, you’ll need more of each ingredient, and you’ll need to lengthen the baking time - details given below for each)

¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary
6 fresh large sage leaves
1 (5- to 5½-pound bone-in turkey breast)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine the olive oil and garlic. Loosen the skin from the turkey without totally detaching skin; brush about one-third of olive oil mixture under the skin. Space evenly the rosemary and sage leaves under the skin. Replace skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; place in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

For turkey breast, bake at 325° F for one hour. Uncover and bake one hour more or until a meat thermometer registers 170° F, basting the skin with the remaining oil mixture every 15 minutes.

For a whole turkey, bake at 325° F for 3 to 3½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted in meaty part of thigh registers 180° F.

I keep telling Becka that she needs to start her own blog - kind of a “Hints from Heloise” type of blog, but so far she has resisted. If you’d like to storm the castle to try to convince her to have her own blog, please say so in the comments.

Speaking of people’s starting their own blogs, I’m going to talk a bit of turkey here. Knowing some of you as I do or at least seeing the caliber of your comments to my blog, some of you really need to make a New Year’s resolution to start blogging yourself. I plan to do a post next week with advice on how to start your own blog. Those of you who are currently bloggers, please send me your suggestions through my contact form - things to be sure to do, things to avoid, etc. as I prepare that post. I can credit you for your advice, complete with a link to your blog, or you can remain anonymous.

I’ll end this post with a link to a fun (read: humiliating) quiz on turkey knowledge. I got only 8 right out of 20 on this one! I’m sure some of you can beat that score! Take the quiz yourself by clicking here. Becka (a.k.a. Heloise) got 15 right out of 20!

What’s on the menu at your house this Thanksgiving? We’re having turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn pudding, luscious cranberry jello, a green veggie (yet to be determined), and pecan pie.

I’m taking a Thanksgiving break from posting, so I won’t be back at you until next Monday evening. Have a blessed Thanksgiving! Try to come up with more to thank God for than just the stuff He’s blessed you with. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Praise service on campus today with the total focus on Christ. Absolutely awesome!

quotation…

“Do what you do to display who Christ is.” - Dr. Drew Conley

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Rob

You know you’ve had too much to eat on Thanksgiving if they have to call in the paramedics with the Jaws of Life to pry you out of the recliner.

Tags: Southern living, Thanksgiving, traditions, weather

I love children and the wonderful things they say! At the end of this past week, our grandson Drew has come up with his special name for his grandpa - Papi (pronounced like the flower - poppy). His two grandmothers remain nameless, but I suspect that their special names will be revealed shortly.

Today’s instant vacation starts off with some four year olds’ ideas for Thanksgiving dinner. Some of you struggling with what to have for Thanksgiving next week may want to consider some of their ideas. That list is followed by some junior highers’ ideas concerning the Seven Wonders of the World.

Kids’ Thanksgiving menus

This comes from the teacher of a 4 year old kindergarten class. Their assignment was to tell about their family’s Thanksgiving meal.

Ashley - We eat pizza. Put it in a really hot oven. My mommy knows when it’s done. It has white cheese and pepperoni on it.

Jessica - For Thanksgiving we eat chicken. Put it in a pan and cook it. Check on it and when it’s all black it’s done. For dessert have chocolate chip cookies.

Emily - Put the chicken bones in and get them hotter. Serve it with cranberries, and carrots. For dessert have chocolate candy.

Christina - We eat corn and cereal. Put sugar on the cereal and eat it. Have cookies for a treat.

Mario - We eat popcorn. Put it in a microwave for 2 times. Put butter and salt on it.

Stanley - We eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Put jelly on the bread. Then put the peanut butter on. Have milk with it.

Shedric - We eat turkey. Put the turkey in the oven. Put bones inside of it. Have pie for dessert.

Brett - We eat cereal. Put it in a bowl. Add milk. Use a spoon. It tastes good.

Sara - Cut up the turkey with a knife. Have mashed potatoes. Eat pumpkin cake for dessert.

Briana - Put the turkey in the oven. It has to stay in the oven until night time. Stuff it with stuffing. Serve it with peas and mashed potatoes. For dessert have nothing.

Larry - We eat raisin cereal. Put it in a bowl. Put milk in it. Serve it with chips.

Amanda T. - We eat turkey. Put it in the oven for a really long time. Stukk it with ham. It’s black when it’s done. Eat it with white potatoes and corn. For dessert have chocolate pudding.

Joseph - We eat pork chops. Put ketchup on them. Put them in the oven at a whole bunch of degrees. Serve it with french fries.

Courtney - We eat macaroni. Put the macaroni in a bowl and cook it up. Serve cheese with it. Have salad with ketchup on top.

Cara - Cook the turkey on the stove. Stuff the turkey with chicken. Cook it for 16 minutes. Have yogurt for dessert.

Cassondra - We have chicken. Clean the chicken. Put butter on it with a knife. Then it’s ready to eat. Have butter potatoes. For dessert have strawberry yogurt.

Amber - We eat peanut butter. Put the peanut butter on bread. Put the jelly on the peanut butter.

Pangtala - We eat bananas and milk.

Nicholas - First you cut the turkey witha knife. Then you cook it in the oven for 12 minutes at 4 degrees. The alarm goes off when it’s done. Eat it with a fork.

Kelly - Put seeds on the turkey and put it in the oven. Put it on the table with spaghetti-O’s, toast, and pork chops.

Anthony - Put the turkey in the oven. It has to be very hot. When it beeps, it has to come out. Serve it with carrots. For dessert have chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Thomas - We eat pizza. Pat it and spread it. Put mushrooms on it. Cook it in the oven for 3 months. Eat it with corn.

Devin - We eat macaroni. We eat mashed potatoes. You make it in the kettle. Cook it 2 minutes, and you sit down. Then you go in your room. We drink water.

Gabriel - We eat pancakes. They are hard. My mommy makes them.

A junior high Geography class was studying the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what they thought could be considered the current Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:

1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. India’s Taj Mahal
3. The Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn’t turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she were having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many.” The teacher said, “Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help.” The girl hesitated, then read, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are

1. to touch
2. to taste
3. to see
4. to hear

She hesitated again and then added

5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love

The silence in the room was almost deafening. It is so easy for us to look at exploits of man or at spectacular things and refer to them as “wonders” while we overlook some of the seemingly little things God has given us, regarding them as merely “ordinary.”

May we all be reminded today of God’s ordinary blessings that are truly wonders. In connection with the Thanksgiving season, I try to imagine the reaction of a group of women at a bridal shower if the bride opened her gifts without comment, then at the end said, “I sure am thankful for all this!” without thanking any individual gift-giver or commenting on any gift along the way. Don’t you think we’re sometimes like that at Thanksgiving? “We have so much to be thankful for!” we cheerfully exclaim. As we are “thankful” at this time of year, let’s be sure to remember to say thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow, and not just be thankful that we’re blessed, forgetting the Giver.

I’ve put a new poll question in the sidebar about your Thanksgiving traditions.

quotation…

“When God is good to you, it’s not because everything is okay. It’s because He is good.” - Dr. Drew Conley

=^..^= =^..^=
Rob

Thanksgiving is not just a holiday - it’s an attitude.

Tags: children, geography, students, Thanksgiving, traditions

Traveling certainly does expose you to a lot of “local color.” But then, so does having e-mail! I received by e-mail the following picture of an interesting scene…

I’m sure the deer would move if anyone approached, but if not, jumping on this trampoline could be dangerous!

One bit of local color we enjoyed in Michigan and Ohio was coffee from Tim Hortons. Though it’s originally from Canada, it’s making in-roads into the northern states.

I got a picture recently that I shows some of the effects of local color up in Quebec…

In Quebec, Kentucky Fried Chicken is called “Poulet frit a la Kentucky” - hence PFK. Weird! Even in China it’s KFC!

On the radio near our hometown in Ohio we caught the intro to a program called Ag-Talk … I guess it’s a call-in program for Ohio farmers. We also saw an interesting sight in a town near our home town - vending machines that cater to some of the special needs of local residents…

That sight made me think of the first item in something I’d received recently by e-mail….

You may have had a redneck Thanksgiving if…

your secret ingredient in your stuffing came from the bait shop.

you had Thanksgiving dinner on a ping-pong table.

Thanksgiving dinner was squirrel and dumplings.

you reused a paper plate.

you had a complete set of salad bowls and they all say Cool Whip on the side.

you used your ironing board as a buffet table.

your turkey platter was an old hubcap.

your best dishes have Dixie printed on them.

your only condiment on the dining room table was ketchup.

side dishes included beef jerky and Moon Pies.

you had to go outside to get something out of the ‘fridge.

the directions to your house included “turn off the paved road.”

you consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.

you had Jell-o from an Elvis mold.

your secret family recipe is illegal.

you served Vienna sausage as an appetizer.

***
My wife and I decided to go up to Michigan for a couple of days during our Thanksgiving break. We thoroughly enjoyed our couple of days with our daughter Megan, son-in-law Jim, and grandson Drew. Here are a couple of pictures…

We had lunch at Panera on Saturday with two long-time (rather than old!) friends - Shirley and Laura. It was good to see them and to get caught up. Shirley is enjoying her many activities in her early retirement, and Laura always has interesting stories to tell about her life in Bangladesh, to which she’ll return on December 31. I hope they’ll forgive me for putting a picture of them on my blog.

quotation…

“Our ultimate goal is pleasing the Chief Shepherd.” - Dr. Drew Conley

=^..^= =^..^=
Rob

I wonder how many venues I’ve been in through the course of my life without even knowing it, simply because I didn’t know the buzzword “venue.”

Tags: funny pix, rednecks, Thanksgiving, travel

My wife and I enjoyed our family Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, November 11, since Nora, Aron (Nora’s boyfriend), Mark, and Katie will all be out of town this week. We have come up with “Plan B,” though, so we’ll have a nice Thanksgiving Day anyway. We can chuckle about what I’m posting today since an already cooked and devoured turkey is impossible to burn.

12 Reasons to be Thankful You Burnt the Turkey

1. Salmonella won’t be a concern.
2. Everyone will think your turkey is Cajun blackened.
3. Uninvited guests will think twice next year.
4. Your cheese broccoli lima bean casserole will gain newfound appreciation.
5. Pets won’t bother to pester you for scraps.
6. No one will overeat.
7. The smoke alarm was due for a test.
8. Carving the bird will provide a good cardiovascular workout.
9. You’ll get to the desserts even quicker.
10. After dinner, the guys can take the bird to the yard and play football.
11. The less turkey that Uncle You-Know-Who eats, the less likely he will be to walk around with his pants unbuttoned.
12. You won’t have to face three weeks of turkey sandwiches, soups, and casseroles.

I’ve discovered the “tags” feature of my blog. You can find the “tag cloud” in the sidebar of the blog. What are “tags” and “tag clouds”? Tags are used to categorize or label the main content of a blog post. To a post about baseball, for example, I’ve given a “sports” tag. Clicking on the sports tag will take you to all content, old and new on this blog, about various sports. It’s a good way to read all the posts about things of special interest to you. A tag cloud depicts tags (or topics) on a blog in a way that reflects the frequency of their usage. More commonly used tags are given greater weighting, appearing bigger and bolder, like this. At a glance, you can see which topics are given more attention on a site that uses tags.

Megan called the other day to let us know that Drew has learned to sit up all by himself now. Doesn’t he look pleased with himself?

Our son-in-law Jim is encouraging little Drew to be a Detroit Lions fan….

quotation…

“Any worthless thing that keeps me from a vital relationship with God is a curse to me.” - Dr. Drew Conley

=^..^= =^..^=
Rob

If you can’t find the time to do it right, how will you find the time to do it over?

Tags: family living, holidays, sports, Thanksgiving