My Obligatory Football Whinge

Hah! I'll bet you thought I wasn't paying any attention to football this year, just because I haven't mentioned it so far. At least I don't think I've mentioned it this season. But, no, I'm still hanging in there, taking perverse pleasure in the agony of Being Loyal To My Team No Matter How Terribly They Play. (Some concepts simply demand capital letters.) Thus the LOLcat picture featured above.

The family was kind enough to let me watch the Raiders play Thanksgiving day. I don't have a television hookup myself so it was a treat. Sort of. The problem was, they won their game last week, when I couldn't watch them. It would have been nice if they'd repeated that feat while I was able to witness the miracle. But nooooo. They not only didn't win Thanksgiving, they looked really pathetic in the process of losing.

See, there is losing and there is losing. Losing can be heroic when the play is up to snuff and from the heart. You might shed a tear but you'll also be proud in a bittersweet way because, by golly, they gave it all they had and that's all anybody can do. On the other hand, losing is when the play is so bad you can't decide if it's comedy or simple stupidity. That's when you realize you're actually lucky not to be able to watch the train wreck every week.

Because I would. Oh yes. You couldn't stop me from watching if you turned the whole defensive line of the Green Bay Packers loose on me. Because you never know when my erratic Pigskin Paladins will storm the field with inspired play and cunning strategy, reaping victory as their just reward. Hey, don't smirk. It doesn't happen often anymore, I'll admit. But it does happen and is all the sweeter for the rarity.

Meanwhile, I do try to keep a stash of therapeutic chocolate available at all times. And celebratory chocolate for other times. It gets me through.

Rainbows and Remnants

As an apology for being awol for most of the month, I give you a rainbow. Oh. Wait. I'm not the one giving the rainbow. (Sorry, God. You know what I meant, right?) What I'm saying is, I'm happy to share my good fortune in being able to capture this rainbow amidst all the November rain we've been having. There has been sunshine, to be sure, but the appearance of vertical liquid approaches something like eighty-eleven percent of the monthly weather. Give or take a gallon or three. The rainbows are to cheer you up -- sort of like the lollipop the doctor gives after the shot.

I could have laid some food photos on you but since food has been a major component of our lives this past week, maybe a short vacation from the subject will be in order. Not that I'm taking a vacation from the consumption of food. Nay! I finished my share of the Nantucket Cranberry Pie and Albert's sweet potato pie but there's still a little of Patti's pumpkin pie left. Yay! And I can get one more meal out of the Casserole a la Leftover that I cobbled together. It went like this . . .

Took a couple of cups of Roger's turkey stuffing and dumped it in a big bowl. Added a couple of cups of chopped up leftover turkey, both white meat and dark. Whisked one egg into two cups of chicken broth and stirred it into the stuffing mixture. Let it sit so the bread cubes had time to absorb more liquid. In the meantime, I grated a chunk of cheddar cheese (half a cup?) and mixed it into what was probably a cup of mashed potatoes. Lightly greased a casserole dish and packed the stuffing mixture into it. Spread the tater and cheese mixture over the top and leveled it off, like a mashed potato crust. Sprinkled it with paprika and baked in a 350 degree oven for half an hour.

Nothing particularly original about it but it efficiently used up the leftovers and gave me, all together, 5 meals. Not too shabby. That last meal (mentioned above) will be teamed up with the last of Patti's fruit salad. I don't think I'll be able to handle the rest of the pumpkin pie until tomorrow. That works. It'll make an excellent breakfast.

And just in case it's raining where you are, here's another shot of God's nice rainbow.

Shaking Out Perfectly

Boy, did I score big today! My grandson Albert-the-chef and his Holly and my favorite short person, great-grandson Archimedes, all came over for a visit this afternoon. They even brought me a big bowl of a wonderful soup Albert had just fixed -- sort of a Mexican Minestrone, with black beans and corn and about a kajillion other ingredients, perfectly seasoned. Oy vey, aiiii caramba, wowsers!

Archimedes was, of course, the main attraction. Such a child. I haven't managed to teach him how to say, "Yay, Raiders!" yet but we'll get there. He is showing signs of understanding the concept of the high five, however. At this point, he seems to prefer the horizontal version but the vertical can't be far behind.

Eight months old and he's built like a line backer. Solid. And he's not that far from the toddling around stage. That's going to keep 'em on their toes. Because, of course, everything is interesting at that age and simply must be explored and examined and tasted. Oh yes. I wonder if they'll learn to do what I did when the kids were little. The cupboards they were allowed to explore were stocked with beat-up pots and pans and plastic bowls they couldn't hurt. They always liked that sort of thing over any regular toys.

And the sun was shining all day. Isn't it great how some days just shake out so perfectly?