T-1 day

[dawnyp]

Happy day before Thanksgiving. Today is a crapload of prep work and I'm babysitting my neice. Brining the turkey, making soup and a few sides to pre make. Going out for a beer tasting with my sister tonight. Busy busy day.

[Deleted]

I made it out of Costco last night unscathed. Actually, like MK said, it wasn't terrible. Stupid me agreed to a lunch meeting today or else I would have worked from home. I'm probably taking off after lunch though.

Happy Wednesday!


Looks like great minds think alike, dawnyp!

[larzhope]

our turkey is still frozen solid

[mkate710]

Larz, oh no! I'm sorry I'm terrified of buying a frozen turkey for that reason. Costco has lots of fresh ones if yours doesn't thaw in time!

So much for sleeping in today :/ Coco is super excited because she knows there's a turkey in the fridge (she keeps walking over and smelling the fridge door, goof) so she got me up early then ran to the fridge. But, we do need to get the turkey in its brine, so I guess she's on to something. I do refer to her as the sous chef, maybe she is just taking her job seriously.

Lots and lots of cooking and prep work to do today. I'm really excited. Cooking is therapeutic for me and I haven't gotten to spend a whole day in the kitchen in who knows how long.

[larzhope]

MK that is so cute that Coco is so excited, though annoying that you couldn't sleep in. I also couldn't sleep because Riley thinks she deserves to sleep on top of me!

Thanks for the heads up about Costco - I originally bought a fresh one on Saturday but didn't realize it wouldn't last until Thanksgiving... clearly I'm not so good at this Thanksgiving thing!

[jennlin]

good morning!! h and i went to costco yesterday, too. it wasn't toooo bad, but we did see several people we knew. it was like a costco reunion since everyone was there haha. we got soap, bc that's all we need costco-wise from now until the end of the year. no more costco trips for us!!

i'm very excited for the 4day weekend! it's kinda a ghost town out in my manufacturing department...11 out of 70 people came in today. i'm envisioning a quiet day.

hope everyone has a great long weekend!

[jennlin]

MK that is so cute about coco!

[mkate710]

Larz, I had no idea how quickly fresh turkeys have to be used until this year!! I was debating when to shop for my turkey, trying to avoid crowds, but thankfully I googled how early I can buy a turkey. I was really surprised. Turkeys are freaking finicky.

[mkate710]

Nov 21, 2012 10:04:57 GMT -5 jennlin said:

MK that is so cute about coco!

She is ridiculous. Turkey and pumpkin are her favorite foods in the whole world, I swear she has a little radar for those things being in her house! I'm sure PIPs of her watching the oven door will happen at some point before tomorrow is over...

[dawnyp]

Nov 21, 2012 9:25:29 GMT -5 larzhope said:

our turkey is still frozen solid

According to Alton Brown you can quick thaw. Put the turkey in a cooler with a drain spout inthe tub. Fill with water so the the turkey is covered. Drain and replace water every 2-3 hours to keep water at 40 degrees. You don't need to put the cooler in the tub but it makes it a lot easier to drain.

[larzhope]

Thanks dawnyp! I'll go get that set up now!

[Kahala]

I put my turkey in a brine last night (eating tonight) i had left it put to thaw all day and it was stoll frozen inside. Got yo take it out in a bit to start drying out

[jennlin]

Nov 21, 2012 10:55:19 GMT -5 @jennuinne said:

Last night I went to dinner w/ DH. He also got me a couple silly presents and two cards. One was a Happy Birthday card. The other was a congratuations on your baby card that was really cute and inside it said, "So happy for you." But, he crossed out you and wrote us. It made me . I also mentioned I wanted to hang two big stockings and one little one this year and he acted like I was crazy, but he bought me a little stocking. He can be so cute sometimes!

this is really cute. all of it.

[kwpnjumper55]

I'm super tired today. Last night we went to the melting pot and then saw Skyfall, it was pretty good!

I am going to run up with the boys to feed our horses and then I need to come home and bake an apple and a pumpkin pie. Tomorrow is TG at my moms house but my MIL and SFIL are coming too, oh joy...

[madDawg228]

({) LL (})

MK: That is super cute about Coco, I lol'ed at "sous chef"

The office is pretty empty today, I'm hoping the VPs tell us we can leave early asap!

[georgeharrison]

Good morning! Tman gets out of school at 12:30 today (typical on a Wednesday). I'm hoping James will take a half day as well, but I can't count on that.

Made a quick stop at Fred Meyer this morning for real stamps and milk, and found a couple more Christmas gifts. I'm getting close to having our out of town packages ready to mail.

I'm going to be doing some light housework today and then getting us and the house ready since we are leaving for the weekend. I also need to try to finish writing our Christmas cards since I like to get them in the mail the day after Thanksgiving. I think I'm about 3/4 of the way done.

[fiddles]

Larz oh no!! How big is your turkey? How long has it been defrosting?

LL ({)

AFM ... I'm just at work to do a couple things and then I'll head out. I still need to stop at the store for a few last minute things before tomorrow. I hope my turkey is thawed. It has been in the fridge since Friday and it's 20 pounds. Crossing fingers. That's my biggest fear.

[Deleted]

Jennuine - that's all adorable Adore the little stocking!!
LL - it is OK. And AWFUL planning on the race people to have packet pickup downtown on black Friday! OOSh. I know it's hard to quit something, but you're more likely to injure yourself since you haven't been running and that wouldn't be good.
MK - waiting for that pic

I'm proud of myself, have managed to restrain myself from telling my boss off already (and it's not even 9:30). All she days nowadays is nag and pick at me for any tiny little mistake, no matter how minor or noncritical. I received art layout from person 1 and data from person 2 - I sent proofs back to person 2 with person 1 CC'd on the email and I just got told off for sending the proofs to the wrong person, even though both receive the email and I did NOT even write in the email "Person 2" or anything. Yesterday I got a talking to because the BACK made a mistake and did not look at all the paperwork. I hope I'm out of here soon.

I want to go to the store and get eggs as I currently got inspired to make peppermint chocolate or mocha madeleines. Won't happen though. Tonight I have to make the stuffing as it always tastes better the next day, and get the kitchen all cleaned so we have plenty of space for tomorrow. H has instructions to pick up sourdough bread after work (I forgot it last night) and to stop by Cost Plus to get napkins.

[sarack]

awwww- jennuinne- he is so excited! that made me tear up. i'm seriously a blubbering mess lately. ok, maybe not blubbering.. but the mention of babies makes me cry every freaking time.

happy day before thanksgiving. sadly, i'm not going to reach my goal by tomorrow. it was super hefty but i was definitely almost there.. and then i went out to dinner to celebrate my bff's bday and well.. that went out the window. lol. i'm so close, so it's ok.. and i only weigh 7lbs more than my bff, so it makes me happy. (she is also like 6-8inches taller.. but who's counting..) i gave it a valiant effort.. eating ok today, spin in the morning.. and then feast! SO EXCITED!

busy day. have a great day ladies!

[llh0211]

Good morning!

I made homemade(ish) bbq chicken pizza last night for dinner, drank nearly an entire bottle of wine (oops) and finished watching the last two episodes of season one of Dexter.

Tonight, I'm supposed to meet up with a friend for dinner/drinks. She's cancelled on me the last few times, so we'll see if it actually happens. She's a single mom, with two kids, so they've been legit excuses.

Tomorrow I'm heading up to my grandparents.

Larz: I hope the turkey gets thawed out!!
MK: You have to pip Coco watching the oven, so cute!
Jennuine: I also teared up at your story, so sweet!
LL: Hugs, I know it must have been a tough decision. There's always next year, right?

[amandasw]

Nov 21, 2012 10:11:00 GMT -5 @dawnyp said:

Nov 21, 2012 9:25:29 GMT -5 larzhope said:

our turkey is still frozen solid

According to Alton Brown you can quick thaw. Put the turkey in a cooler with a drain spout inthe tub. Fill with water so the the turkey is covered. Drain and replace water every 2-3 hours to keep water at 40 degrees. You don't need to put the cooler in the tub but it makes it a lot easier to drain.

yes, America's Test Kitchen said basically the same thing - so instead of 1 day/pound in the fridge it's like 30min/lb (so probably the whole day)

[tacocat]

I am at the store right now and it really is a madhouse. People are cheery though!

I will be baking away today and studying. Our whole house will smell like pumpkin!

[picksthemusic]

I made pie crust and spinach artichoke dip last night. DH premade stuffing, and the night before he did the cranberry sauce. Tonight is deviled eggs, prepping Brussels sprouts, prepping the turkey, prepping the yams, and baking the pumpkin pie. Then all we have to do tomorrow is heat/bake/roast everything!

It's times like this that I hate my kitchen and loathe that I only have one oven.

[picksthemusic]

Nov 21, 2012 10:11:00 GMT -5 @dawnyp said:

Nov 21, 2012 9:25:29 GMT -5 larzhope said:

our turkey is still frozen solid

According to Alton Brown you can quick thaw. Put the turkey in a cooler with a drain spout inthe tub. Fill with water so the the turkey is covered. Drain and replace water every 2-3 hours to keep water at 40 degrees. You don't need to put the cooler in the tub but it makes it a lot easier to drain.

I trust anything Alton says. He is a genius. I'd highly recommend this method.