We Did It!

For you Dora fans . . . "We made it through the prep, we cooked the bird, oh yeah we did it. We ate it all and cleaned it up, oh yeah we did it. We did it!"

All in all, the day was more "excellente" than "ayudame." The kiddos woke up very excited that it was finally "turkey time," though they looked for Goo, Gong, and Ma right away and we had to distract them. And that parade starts late when you wake up at 6 a.m.! Our guests were here before they cut the ribbon on the Upper West Side but we watched some of it together. Wow, Sesame Street! Wow, Police Officers! Wow, Marching Bands! I love the parade and have been many times (5? 4x in Times Square, 1x in actual seats my sis got at the starting line. Each time a great experience. Though, it'll be awhile before we take the kids--a little taller, fully potty-trained.)--Garfield is my favorite balloon. And Of course, DS was mesmerized and could've sat through the entire parade--the only one in the nation (except the band parents), probably, to eagerly anticipate the marching bands--but that his stomach called. DD was soon playing with everybody, not as entranced with the tv. She'd go from Goo (Uncle), to Gong (Grandpa), to Ma (Grandma) and back again. I always get teary at the end of the parade when Santa Claus appears--no one was watching by this point. DP is so sweet-- she managed to know when Santa came on and called me into the living room so I could see it live, even though we were taping. It's my favorite part.

We snacked early and often as the day progressed. Ma had brought some Thai "khanom" or sweets to share with the kiddos. DS wolfed each piece down while DD waited for her plate to fill first. There was the "green jello" called Kanom Chan, which is multi-layered squares of coconut-flavored gelatin which was DP's childhood favorite. I like Khau-Niew, which is a coconut custard over either red or sticky rice. Kuam Dow comes in either flowers, shredded strings, or little balls and is yellow sweet egg paste, which doesn't sound as good as it really is. Nung Led are like deep-fried Thai rice krispies with palm sugar drizzle. The only ones the kiddos didn't get to try were the Mekrop, which is red, tamarind-flavored deep fried crispy noodles--DP is close to finishing the whole lot of it. Later in the day, Ma made Thai iced tea with sweetened condensed milk and light cream (you can make it with coffee too). And she told how when she was younger, they spread sweetened condensed milk on toast and sprinkled it with sugar.

While DP finished various dishes, the rest of us enjoyed walking in the balmy weather, yellow leaves falling around us like snow. We visited neighbors, took pictures, petted the local inflatable turkey, and played on the playset. The only hiccup was a neighbor's dog. DD continues to be scared of dogs, including the nice, gentle one down the street, after her run in at the mall pet shop this spring (a dog jumped the glass where she was standing, scaring her). So we had to leave visiting with a little friend because she was upset.

We got home, though, and she was thrilled that it was almost lunchtime. She helped DP finish up while DS played on the deck in the sand with Gong--it was that warm! Well, "helped" is an exaggeration. She helped us set the table with paper plates from my folks and then sat asking for turkey every five minutes.

And when we asked her later, at dinner--well, lunch, I'm part of the eat early crowd (we ate at noon, on time--didn't the NYTimes publish an article this week that it was healthier to eat early? The article claims the Pilgrims did it early, after church services, but considering how long those went on, I imagine it was midday at least!)--what she was thankful for, she said, "Turkey." That was her favorite part of the whole day--turkey--I think she ate an entire breast of the 12 lb turkey herself. And gravy--DP had found an organic, gluten free gravy by Pacific which we doctored with drippings--DD loved it on everything. Meanwhile, DS was inhaling Martha Stewart's tangy and sour cranberry sauce--he tried to take it off Goo's and my plates as well as following the dish of sauce around the table with bits of turkey! The turkey was delicious--golden brown, juicy, and perfectly cooked. We even remembered to get a picture this year. DP did a great job. We did a toast in the middle, having forgotten in the beginning, with sparkling cider, which we drank out of little dinosaur dixie cups, the only clean ones we had--but it tickled the kiddos' noses--their first carbonated beverage--and they didn't finish it (actually, I think DS thought it was juice and the bubbles bit him, poor thing). But they do like toasting. It becomes a contact sport.

The menu was perfect--they could eat everything on the table--and I think we'll use it again for Christmas. I will try not to process the veggies for the dressing so small but that was about the only thing (the bread crumbs could've been bigger too--hmm, maybe use vegan cornbread). Oh, and not enough brown sugar in the sweet potatoes. And they loved dessert! DS thought Crown Jewel jello was the best ever--he kept waving cubes of jello and saying he liked that color best. Then he would change colors. He wasn't that interested in the pink jello/cool whip binding as it hid the cubes of jello. Can't wait to see what he does with fruit in jello! DD on the other hand danced around the house when she learned we were having pie. "Pumpkin Pie! For me? PIE!!!" And she ate two pieces--one of regular pie and one of pumpkin fluff pie, which she liked better (mainly because I think she likes cool whip). Later, she asked for pie for snack. And for dinner. With turkey. And gravy.

The rest of the day was spent playing (DS and Gong had a catch and hide the purple bouncing ball game going, while Ma and DD played dolls; everybody played trains) and NAPPING!!!!! Somehow, we managed to get a nap, the first nap in beds in 3 months!!!! DD napped for an hour, DS for 2.5!!!!! And I got an hour. The best early Christmas present ever. Who needs shopping?

By the way, don't get me started on shopping. I'll blog about that later. No, wait, gotta rant now: I think it is pitiful and embarrassing that on the one day off that most of the nation has that is not committed to a kind of ritualistic celebration (i.e. 4th of July picnics, egg-hunting, turkey dinner, present-opening, etc), that as a nation we express ourselves by shopping and watching football. This points to rampant consumerism and the fragmentation of the family or division between the sexes. It's gross. Yeah, yeah, I know, you can save money at Kohl's tomorrow at 4 a.m.. But what does that mean, especially when there are workers who therefore must be there before 4? I won't be spending money tomorrow. We're going to come up with some other way to "spend" the day together as a family. If we didn't have kittens, we might put up the tree or something. Maybe we'll test run salt dough or cinnamon cut out ornaments. Or bake the apple pie we didn't get to today.

So, it's almost midnight now. The cats and kids are sound asleep (or at least in their rooms) and DP is asleep here beside me. We spent the evening watching The Incredibles while I worked on my woven scarf project (more on my weaving class someday). And ate some more leftovers and khanom while reading email replies to our Thanksgiving wishes. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Thank you.