Thursday, November 22, 2007
I saw the most amazing thing this morning when I woke up. I was laying in bed reading whatever mystery novel I'm reading right now. My bedroom has french doors that open to the balcony that overlooks my view. It's a gray day that we aren't complaining about. The sign down at the Downtown Hartford Citgo, that usually says something like "Go Vols!", still says "Please Pray for Rain". Anyway, there was this eerie updraft that came up from the holler. Huge oak leaves, brown and damp came floating upwards. It was as if they were being sucked into the sky. They rose and rose until they were just specks in the misty sky. Quite something to see, really.
My dear friend Betsy invited me to go out with her family to Carver's Apple Barn for lunch today. It was wonderful as always. Her husband's brother was there and I enjoyed meeting him. I had turkey and dressing, fried apples, green beans and sweet potato souffle. Apple pie cake for dessert. There were some memorable characters there...though I suppose everyone was looking at our table saying the same thing. One lady had the most amazing hair. I hadn't seen mall bangs of that height and width since the '80s.
But I had splurged on half of a Smithfield ham and came home to put it in the oven. I scored it and put my cloves in it. Tented it and put it in the oven. It's not that I don't like turkey...I do. But you must admit that it is rather the tofu of the meat kingdom. Dogs seem to know turkey better than we do. It has some quality that drives dogs mad. The boys were a bit disappointed that I'd decided to do ham this year. Usually I do a small turkey...but I did a ham this year instead.
Fat Buddy got over his disappointment fairly quickly. Once the ham was on the stove he began the incessant barking that always accompanies large pieces of meat going into my oven. It's an obviously thankful noise. If it were a turkey, though, he would have stationed himself in front of the oven door for the entire time the bird was in there.
I'm telling you...dogs know something about turkey we don't. Not sure what it is...they just do.
Glad you had a good time with the family- we are a mix of the Addams Family and Cold Comfort Farm.....
So I definitely agree with you...and Happy Thanksgiving!
In my entertaining days in the US I once through a theme party for 100 friends at which I served a delicious 25 pound brine cure Smithfieled Ham. I had to soak it twice to get some of the salt out of it. Then it took 9 hours to cook: three hours with the stove on, 3 hours with the stove turned off but not opened and then three hours again with the stove on. It was wonderful, melted in you mouth and served with hot mustard. I believe the pig was fed on peanuts. I have tried to get such a Smithfield ham here in Canada without luck.
Just made myself hungry!
Mine was great - too much food, but we did some good hiking today, and I'll be paddling tomorrow & maybe helping to put the Sebago common beds to bed on Sunday. I'd been so deskbound of late that I was fighting this intense desire to just hide from the finally-setting-in fall weather & hibernate 'til Spring...hike today sort of got me over that. Phew.
Plenty of rain up here. Wish I could send some your way.
My mom once had a boxer who could open the fridge. She would only take turkey and cheese. Everything else, she left alone. Unfortunately, she never learned to close the door, so mom had to get baby locks.