An Irish Thanksgiving

What’s an Irish Thanksgiving, you ask?  It’s when you’re forty-nine years old and the husband asks what you want to do for your fiftieth and you casually say something like, “We should go to Ireland.”  Then you forget about it because you have three children to attend to, among other obligations, and approaching the half-century of your life doesn’t seem like an actual event because you’re still seventeen, immature and oblivious to the process known as aging, even though it may explain the … [Read more...]

Gabrielle Giffords, and a few words about next Thursday

I was over at MomsLA.com today with a post about Gabrielle Giffords and the purpose of life.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.  Head on over there and read it, comment at will.  I’ll wait. Back so soon?  All righty then, I have a few thoughts on Christmas: It’s thirty-eight days away.  Before then, there’s another national holiday we’ll call, hmmm…let’s see...how ‘bout THANKSGIVING.  Thanksgiving is seven days away and I feel strongly that we should all put the damn breaks on that other holiday – … [Read more...]

The 7th day of Thanksgiving: yams with marshmallows

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF THANKSGIVING, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: SEVEN YAMS A-SWEETENING, 6 cups of green beans, 5 decorative gourds, 4 colanders, 3 fancy breads, 2 turkeys brining, and a pork shoulder of carnitas My mother is a very practical woman, so I was aghast and conversely pleased when I discovered that her marshmallow yams were made with the real thing – peeled, boiled and smooshed. No canned yams for my mom, oh no, not her. The dish is as much for the kids to get their potassium, fiber, … [Read more...]

The 6th day of Thanksgiving: green bean casserole

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF THANKSGIVING, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: SIX CUPS OF GREEN BEANS, 5 decorative gourds, 4 colanders, 3 fancy breads, 2 brining turkeys, and a pork shoulder of carnitas.Let’s be honest. There’s a reason why all of those Betty Crocker-type/back-of-the-box/side-of-the-can recipes stick around year after year. They taste really good. Each Thanksgiving at my sister’s house, I always go back for a second helping of the broccoli-cheese casserole. The Ritz crackers proudly lay crumbled … [Read more...]

The 5th day of Thanksgiving

(This is not an endorsement nor admonishment for either company, but I switched from AT&T to Time Warner Cable today and my internet has been down during the install – hence, this late post. I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats about the 5th day so...) ON THE FIFTH DAY OF THANKSGIVING, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: FIVE DECORATIVE GOURDS...4 collanders, 3 fancy breads, 2 turkeys brining and a pork shoulder of carnitas. You have to respect gourds. They’re the elephant man of the plant … [Read more...]

The 4th day of Thanksgiving

We’re getting closer. I know I’m a day behind, but I had to go to the doctor over the weekend so we could figure out why my head is taking on the curious shape of a soccer ball. I’m like Camilla in A Bad Case of Stripes – too much soccer and not enough lima beans.  Onward. ON THE 4TH DAY OF THANKSGIVING, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: FOUR COLANDERS…- three fancy breads- two turkeys brining- and a pork shoulder of carnitasGet it? “Four calling birds” vs. “four colanders”. All right, let’s get into the … [Read more...]