Friday, November 25, 2011

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.



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Fishy,

I was wondering if Blowfish had burned down the neighborhood or not - glad it worked OK. Too bad about the blueberry pie :(.

Come join Haiku Monday. The theme is "energy/energize". We are at:

http://serendipitouswildmoments.wordpress.com/

Sharon Rudd said...

A most excellent post, dear Fishy! So glad you, Blowfish, and Mermaid had a fine - and safe :) - Thanksgiving meal outdoors on a beautiful day.

Sorry 'bout that pie. Next time try ganache? It worked for my quirky holiday meal, which I've finally posted about.

Thankful to swim in the same blogging pond as you do, my dear. You are always an inspiration.

xoxo, eggy

moi said...

Ooooo, sorry to hear about the pie. That's not good. But so glad to hear that the rest of the day went swimmingly and without incident. By the way, my first middle name is Adeline, after my father's mother. Since Blowfish is of Eyetalian heritage as well, I wonder, did his mom also pronounce the last "e," i.e., Ad-uh-leen-uh?

fishy said...

S,
Some sense of humor! Were you energized by this holiday?

Eggy,
xoxo to you too!
I see where you and your ramblin man had a quiet Thanksgiving together. I love that you did not settle for crackers and milk, but that you actually made a personal feast. Bravo!

It was a frozen box pie. I don't usually do those... for good reason. This will not happen again anytime soon. We did have ice cream and fresh fruits and chocolate sauce as a back up.

Moi,
How were your pies? I know yours did not come from the frozen foods aisle. Remember those beautiful French tarts Eggy posted? I should have tried making one of those! I have never been a baker so I thought it prudent to try on a less important day. Clearly a mistake as nothing would have been worse that that pie :-(

Good memory! Absolutely correct on the pronunciation of Adeline. Blowfish's Mom was a pure bread Italian. Her parents came to America via Ellis Island. Blowfish is only a second generation American on his mom's side, a 9th generation American on his dad's side.

Sigh .... his Mom and his Dad both baked great pies. Sure wish they had taught us the magic.

Jenny said...

First, I love seeing pictures of your dog. What a face! I love seeing the traditions and in some ways applaud Blowfish for bringing in a new tradition (as long as nothing burned down.) Boooooo on the pie? But considering what else could have happened, I guess that's right accident to have happen.

Enjoy your weekend. You have sun in your part of the world. We had monsoon rain and wind. Weeee? yah, not so much. :-)

moi said...

I finished my pies earlier this evening—chocolate mousse with chocolate cookie crust and a pumpkin creme with gingersnap crust. They're for a dinner party tomorrow night. I've made the mousse a thousand times, but this is the first for the pumpkin creme. Seemed pretty tasty, though.


Oh, and I forgot to mention how wonderful it is to see Fishy's dawg. Sweet thing . . .

fishy said...

Boxer,
that is our high energy bundle of joy! He came home from a horse show with us 12 years ago. He fit in my hand. If ever there was a creature put on this earth to be a joyful presence in the lives of others... it is this wonderful, wonderful dog.
You would never guess from the photograph his mother was a purebred, snow white poodle would you?

Thanks and xoxoxo

Moi,
send recipes and step by step. idiot proof instructions!
Thanks and xoxoxo

Aunty Belle said...

Yay!! The pond is in tact. Hooo-wheee.

How dear to see Ada leen-uh's fun treasures as part of yore decor,

As fer the pie? I vote ya add Eggy's pear tart and Moi's pumpkin cream pie to next year's menu.

fishy said...

Aunty,
Blowfish is an only child of parents who married at 18 and produced him at 19. In so many ways they "grew up" together. He misses them. Silly as it may seem, it is a comfort to him to have his Mama's little things around to spark a memory or a conversation.

Yes! I agree! Menu additions from Moi and Eggy would be an improvement.

Thanks for the prayers for our safety and joy. Clearly God does look after the impaired.
xoxoxo

moi said...

I used Pioneer Woman's recipe, here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/pumpkin-cream-pie/

Pam said...

Heheheheh. So glad there were no incidents of spontaneous combustion and that the turkey was edible. Pies can be tricky ... we usually do buy a pie from a local place and then make something else, like quick pumpkin bread or similar. Something I can't mess up. This year it is going to be Oreo truffles that I found over on Pinterest and that Sister Carole did a few weeks ago .... how hard can they be? Anyway, gorgeous doggy, just what kind of doggy I'd love to have. What a friendly face! Glad you had your nearest and dearest with you this holiday God bless, Fishy!