Thanksgiving Dinner in Maryland

Dad and I returned to Maryland for another Thanksgiving dinner with the T.s. I began driving on Thanksgiving day and picked Dad up from the airport in Baltimore. Traffic was generally not bad and we made it to our old neighborhood during the daylight hours. The T.s were our across-the-way neighbors for pretty much my entire life. They and my parents went to Royal Ascot together for quite a number of years, and I really appreciate their ongoing family friendship and their willingness to include us in their holidays. Here is a very cute cream cheese Dorito pumpkin that B. made.

Here is the dinner table.

There were two kinds of turkey this year...I think one was a bourbon glazed variety, grilled...and the other perhaps a more traditional roasted turkey? I feel like this was the first year I really tried stuffing with oysters...I've never been a big stuffing person, but I have to say that particular stuffing (there were about 6 different varieties) really spoke to me.

As in past years, the birthdays of R. and me fall quite near the Thanksgiving holiday...so we each had the opportunity to blow out some candles and sing the 'happy birthday song to one another.

Mmmmmmm. Sweet heavenly dessert.

B. and T.'s nephew and his wife recently had a baby, who did quite well during the entire evening, I would say. Here is a picture of him meeting his cousin-uncle for the first time.

I really am thankful for being able to spend this holiday with a great group of folks whom I have known in one way or another for quite a number of years. I'll have to post some of the photos that B. and D. gave me for my birthday...major throwbacks from childhood, and images I feel like I've never seen or only saw at the time. Very neat.

Thanksgiving Dinner and Beyond

Once the deep fried turkey was out of the oil, had its rest and was expertly carved, it was time to dig in. In addition to the two turkeys, there were a number of other dishes to partake in, including corn bread, two kinds of stuffing, brussels sprouts with pancetta, mashed potatoes with gravy, turkey shaped cranberry sauce and butter, and I'm sure at least two other things I've forgotten.
Deep fried turkey in the foreground, roasted in the oven turkey in the back.
Plates full while the Thanksgiving prayer is read.
Some late arrivals busied up the place after dinner and dessert.
Not sure what prompted this, but B. giving R. some motherly love.
Again, not quite sure what this was about. There was a healthy serving of two different kinds of riesling during dinner.
Our hosts, to whom I am so grateful for giving Dad and I a place to be and celebrate on this holiday.
Just hanging out.
I remember when both of these guys were shrimps and now they tower over me. My face conveys my feelings on this matter.
Later.
And then the Glenfidditch is brought to light.
A wonderful Thanksgiving meal and subsequent time of revelry and fun.

Thanksgiving Pre-Eating (With a Side of Eating)

After I returned from my walk, the Thanksgiving preparations notched up a gear (wow, that makes sense). I was generally in the way or not overly helpful, but at least I documented some things? I guess? I did help with the mashed potatoes? In any case, here is what the dining room table looked like. Turkey and its babies!
A beautiful cornucopia of fresh flowers.
A refreshing blend of champagne, cranberry juice and pineapple juice. This day was the first day that I ate a cranberry straight up ... and promptly spit it out due to its intense pucker-sour effect. Who needs sour patch kinds when you have cranberries? Other than Method Man, of course.

I got very, very excited when it was revealed that one of the two turkeys that we would eat was going to be deep fried. I have long wanted to see the process and try the results, but without being responsible for the whole situation. So I was glad that I could simply observe R. and C. and their process. Here are the oil jugs, emptied of oil, that it took to fill up the pot.
C. had rubbed the ten pound turkey with some Cajun seasoning. At this point they're skewering it on a base that would then be lowered into the bubbling oil.
There is some dignity to this turkey.
D.'s sister made a spinach dip that was brought out during the turkey prep. Seriously it was 66+ degrees. I was so happy.
R. lowering the turkey, ever so slowly, into the vat of boiling oil.
C. protecting his cousin's nether regions from any spattering. Now that's family.
And all the way in!
I bet there are now over 200 photographs of these guys doing their turkey dance, as we all gathered and took our respective angles on the process. Digital photography has ruined us all.

We all continued sipping on champagne and eating little treats while waiting for the second turkey to be complete (another was happily roasting in the oven).
Seriously a beautiful, beautiful day. This sunlight on the trees really got me.
And after about 40 or so minutes, it was time to remove the turkey from its scaldingly lovely home.
Then came the delicate process of getting it into a horizontal position and unskewering it.


I encouraged them to have 'triumphant' looks on their faces, I think that they a) had too many cameras to look at and b) perhaps didn't realize how truly triumphant they were.

Thanksgiving c/o the T.s

For Thanksgiving I drove down to Silver Spring, site of, well, my childhood. The T.'s, our former neighbors and close family friends, had extended the offer soon after Mom's funeral and Dad and I quickly, and gratefully, accepted. I left early on the morning of Thanksgiving, as I figured it would make for easier travel than right after work on Wednesday. I was right.
Appetizers that were eventually put out once the day got a little later included this crab/shrimp/cream cheese dish.
I wandered over to my former home and took a few photographs of the train rolling by and the new paint job.
This used to be my playground.
While the turkeys did their thing and other dishes were properly dealt with, I drank a sparkling drink with cranberry. I was entirely unhelpful with the cooking.
There were 13 of us, so two turkeys: one smoked, one roasted. This first turkey is the smoked one.
This is the roasted one.
Though I had heard much about them, this was my first time meeting B. and D.'s grandkids, and the first time in a long time that I had seen either of their parents.
Boy in the background is the older brother to boy in the front and his twin bro not pictured.
Mmmmmmm.
Mmmmmmmm.
Desserts were just as plentiful as the turkeys and sides. So much so that both I and B. and D.'s son R. got pies with candles and a round of 'Happy Birthday.' This is me pretending to eat all the pie.
There were also turkey cupcakes with gravy filling.
And apple pie. Man. I was definitely stuffed by the end of the meal.

After dinner there was much sitting about.
And being cat-like. Or at least I think this is what he's being.

Some even walked on ceilings with the help of their tall uncle.
And by some I mean all three people under four feet tall.
Eventually it was down to B., D., R., my dad and myself. All rather wiped from the eating and drinking, but pleasantly so I think.
Here D. and I are, looking how we look all of the time: perky.
Thanksgiving over the years has always been a relatively good holiday for me. My birthday falls on or around it, so there are presents and that's always nice. Growing up we'd go to a family friend's in D.C. and celebrate with her and her extended family, but as I got older I bowed out of returning home once or twice, then started hosting the holiday myself (to mixed and often drunken results). Since I left Chicago and haven't had a life partner type or good apartment for entertaining, my interest in trying to gather my parents and a motley crue of friends together for the holiday has gone by the wayside. All I can think about is all the dishes and time, and the lack of places for people to sit. If Thanksgiving was in June I'd do it on the deck. Anyways. My point is that it was nice to blend in with the T.'s larger crew on this first Thanksgiving sans Mom. Another point may be that there is some relief in the lack of traditions my nuclear family had, as this makes the holidays less of some sort of minefield of recollection and loss. This is only my take, of course. My overall point is that I was thankful for the longstanding friendship of B. and D. to my parents and me...which is how one should be on a day like Thanksgiving.