The Great Blowfish Inaugural Turkey Frying Event

   

Our Thanksgiving was blessed.
Mermaid  traveled  safely home without much in the way of traffic miseries for her or worries for her folks. Even before  the headlights of her vehicle  lit up the back drive our spanielly pup felt her  vibe and started turning joy circles out in the drive. He always likes to be the first to welcome her home

This turkey has been part of our decorations near about Mermaid's whole life. The year she was                 born  Blowfish's mama came home with this fella,  a door prize from a holiday luncheon. She belonged to a group called "Sister Stitches". Some of the members knit, others crocheted, or cross stitched or did needlepoint or this stuff using yarn and a plastic grid.  Mostly these women got together once a month to be friends, to catch up on their happenings and to be supportive, encouraging, or
just a witness to each others lives.  Now this bird is
a witness to our Thanksgivings and a reminder on the importance of love, friendship and tradition.

Another Thanksgivng traditon is this pair of little pilgrims. They too are from Blowfish's Mama.  She has been gone for 18 Thanksgivings now. We always  include some of  her "treasures"  in our celebrations. This year,  it was such a beautiful day, we had our feast outside setting the table with  Adeline's pretty turquoise table linens. I know she was smiling with us.



We all had a bit of fun with all the activities surrounding the Great Blowfish Inaugural Turkey Frying Event.

                                         We moved  vehicles out of the combustion range.

                 Blowfish had spent part of Wednesday evening  getting the fryer assembled. After the cookies the breakfast and the third reading of the frying instructions, he headed out to get things set up out on the parking pad.

                                                 Mermaid and I added a few touches

                                      Our dog Will came to check out the new smells and commotions.

                                                  Clearly this expresses his disdain for our foolishness.

                              Or maybe he was hoping we would open the Ale and  pour some in his bowl

                                                I wisely watched some of this from afar.

                              The turkey displacement measuring and the test lighting went well.

These  cooking method is fast so shortly after the test phase I had to abandon my photo journaling and  get in the Kitchen to cook  the other menu items . There were a few issues with the turkey frying. There was occasional wind ,once strong enough to blow out the fire. Hum. Another issue was the frying  temperature dropped more than expected after lowering the bird into the fryer. The decision was to up the flame a bit and to extend the cooking time a bit. It is a  guess because the instructions say 3-6 minutes per pound.  Three could be underdone, six could be a 911 call. We settled on 4 minutes and our bird was a bit more done than we like, but still good.  Mermaid  stayed mostly outside with Blowfish during the cooking so she could be  on hand to assist should there be a problem. I am thrilled to report there were none :-)

 The biggest disappointment of the day? An absolutely horrible blueberry pie. But there was this for dessert.

Thank you all for your prayers  ... they worked ! No disasters and no injuries! The day was beautiful with bright blue skies and  balmy temperatures allowing us to enjoy our feast outdoors! Mermaid gleefully  skunked us in cards and  the Cowboys managed to  skunk our Dolphins by one lousy point.  Oh well.

I hope each of you had a very  happy Thanksgivings.
As many have noted, there is this amazingly smart. talented, funny, nurturing blog family to be thankful of.
I know I am as your presence in my life is very enriching. And often, a comfort. On this "Black Friday" I hope we all are in the black, not the red, in our business as well as our personal economies. I REALLY pray America will find the resolve (and the leadership) to return to the black as well. The free flowing Washington red is killing our nation. We need to staunch the hemorrhage. Do e-mail your congresspersons and senators to let them know your expectations. Stand up for America . Be a hero. Speak out.  Pray.