HEAD COOK AND BOTTLE WASHER!

Again, the Thanksgiving season was upon us.  It was going to be an extremely busy week!  Along with a meal to prepare, the World Cup was starting and England was playing on Monday morning.  The match was starting at seven my time, and I would be listening to the first half and watching the second, provided I could access stations that were 'streaming'.  

Bertie XIX was taken out of the freezer Sunday afternoon, and placed in the fridge to defrost, slowly, as per the instructions.  It seemed amazing that we have cooked more 'Berties the Turkey' than there were Louis' on the French throne!  Having purchased said Bert last year and frozen him from fresh, I noticed that the 'sell by' date was very much 'out'.  I messaged my daughter.  She reminded me that it was bought fresh, and that we had checked at the time, as to how long a turkey would remain good in a freezer.  The answer, apparently, was 'indefinitely'.  It is best eaten within the year, but up to two is good, and beyond that depends on whether your freezer has lost power, etc.  The only problem that I had was the lack of room in my fridge.  "I need a small fridge", I said to my husband, as I maneuvered my cold items around to allow access to the bird.  "What is wrong with the fridge you have?" he mumbled, not paying particular attention. 
"Nothing, it is just not big enough".  Admittedly, I had been contemplating buying a second fridge for many years, but had managed to somehow juggle to accommodate!  A fridge was ordered, and the bird sat nestled among the eggs, butter and various items that were awaiting consumption.  

The match was reasonably exciting.  Several goals were scored, and in typical English fashion, the win was not hailed as such, but the focus was more on the goals against our team.  The 'standard' appears to be negative rather than positive, and whilst the score was six to two, those two should never have been and the encouragement for the team was sore lacking!  The USA team played in the afternoon and were held to a draw, which was rather surprising.  My affiliation to Wales was not really as it should have been for another British team, until the second half when I cheered very loudly at their performance, and the encouragement was rather fierce!  "Who's side are you on?" came the question from the other room.  "Mine!" I announced.

Although my Spanish is not fluent, I can understand some words, such as 'Goal'!  The channel which I was able to access on my work computer only played in Spanish.  It mattered not.  "Am I going to get any work out of you this week?" came the question from the next room.  I answered that after the match, I had my contests to do, then I would take care of the work!  Of course, I kept up and my work was completed.  I am British!

Bertie was defrosting nicely, although I did think he may need a bit of encouragement, which I was happy to give.  Bertie was not playing football!  Had Bertie been playing football, he would probably be playing for Team USA, or as the coach's teeshirt read, 'States United'. The encouragement, therefore, would have been very prolific.  

The news that my son-in-law's car was not working properly would not have usually been a problem.  It was overheating and he was probably going to have to get it taken to the dealership to see what was wrong.  The fact that it was on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving would not have been too much of a problem for me, other than I was going to lose my sous chef!  I suppose it was more of a case of the 'sous chef' was going to be promoted to 'chef' as I am usually the 'sous' in my kitchen when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner.  Despite the fact that my daughter can walk in, take the whisk and stir whatever it is that I have on the stove, generally means that I end up doing the washing up!  However, I was going to have to be the not only the 'head' cook, but bottle washer too!

The fridge arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  I maneuvered it into place with the help of my 'wheelies' in the sun room and plugged it in.  Bertie was put in his bath and I transferred some items that just needed to stay cool into the new appliance, to make room for the bigger bucket in which the bird now sat!  I started on the vegetables and did as much as I could to prepare myself for the morning.

Without having my alarm set, I rose early and part cooked my potatoes. Having made potatoes fo
r Samantha last weekend, I decided to use the same method.  With the Yorkshire puddings in the oven (as you cannot have a traditional Thanksgiving without them, or is that a Sunday roast?) and Bertie having his first 'rest' of the day, I went for a walk.  I returned home to find the Yorkshire's risen to perfection and the potatoes beautifully browned.  Everything looked as if it was going to plan.  Famous last words.  Bertie turned out to be just a little too big for my oven!  Timing was everything, and if I did not get him into the furnace at a quarter to nine, we were not going to have a 1:30 sit down!  Of course I knew we were not going to have a 1:30 sit down, but I was so hoping!  I knew that the partition in my 'double' oven was removable, but have never cooked with it out.  I took out the said partition, realised it was hot, put it back, ran upstairs to get a towel, came back down again, removed it, put it on the towel, which was by the back door, put Bert back in the oven, and closed the door. (Are you as out of breath as was I?)  I then went to find the instruction leaflet to my oven, which of course, I have not read!

The instructions were not particularly clear as to what you have to do when taking out the partition, and the oven seemed to turn itself off. However, it was only the fan that had stopped, and it started up again after a couple of minutes.  On and off it went. After an hour I checked and Bertie was cooking beautifully.  

As if between acting jobs, Bertie took his final bow and came out of the oven and 'rested' a little after one, and the partition went back in.  Everything else went in too!  We sat down before two and I was ecstatic!  I had made it!  As usual the hours of preparation took less than half an hour to demolish!  It was a delicious meal and we had a lovely time.  Edward called his parents, and we all said 'hi' and then they went home around six.  Shopping was on their agenda, but the shops were not opening until five in the morning.

My Friday started later than usual, and we went for breakfast at Ihop.  A tradition has started!  As Bertie had already been 'hung', I set about drawing and quartering.  Before long he was separated into many parts, refrigerated and frozen, as were the vegetables.  I could not believe I was so organised.  Dana and I then sat down to watch the game!

A nil-nil draw was not what either of us wanted, but it was a fairly exciting game. I actually think the USA had the edge over the Three Lions, but no goal was forthcoming.  "Did you hear the USA, USA chant was over quickly? It seemed to be drowned out" said my husband.  I told him not to feel too badly about it, as we have many, many songs and chants, and as the USA are relatively new to the game, they have years to catch up upon. For example, the fans were not singing 'God save our gracious Queen' but 'God save our gracious Team!'  The 'post mortem' was the funniest.  The commentators on this side of the pond were giving their guys such encouragement.  They enthused as to their playing so well, and oozed praise, and told the team they should be very proud of themselves.  I told Dana that on the other side of the pond the team would be berated, and told they could, and should do so much better, that they should be ashamed of themselves, and they are lucky they are still in the running!

The UT Longhorns also won their game, as did Missouri whom I follow with as much pride as the pundits follow States United!

Moaning-Mother-in-Law Day approached, and as Edwards car went in to hospital, Samantha's truck became the taxi for the day.  As we approached Walmart she asked if we wanted a repeat performance of last week.  What should she do with her keys?  I told her just to give them straight to 'Customer Service' and tell them we would pick them up later!

Our day was not a great success, shopping wise, although I did my grocery shop and wandered around several stores.  It was a great success for my purse, as it did not feel much pressure!  I didn't need anything but then I rarely do.  There were no 'impulse' buys, and no 'must haves'.  I watched Argentina beat Mexico on the tiny screen and came home.  

Once again, the holiday season is upon us, with Christmas being advertised everywhere.  Walmart actually has the date signposted, just in case anyone forgot!  Thanksgiving has now become a memory and all that sailed in her!  The water temperature has become a little too cool even for me, and at 53 degrees, I am not sure I want to 'wet suit' it!  Beautiful as the day is,, I think I shall continue with inside jobs!

I think it goes without saying, although perhaps it should not, that I am most thankful at any time of year for everything and everyone who is in my life.  This time of year, however, everyone voices their thankfulness with abundance.  It is very heartwarming.

Next week will see the final matches of the 'groups' in the World Cup and no doubt there will be a few tears.  The prognosticators in this household are very verbose when it comes to opinion, and at least one becomes quite domineering with hers!  Another month is coming to an end, and another year hovers on the horizon.  However, we have another week to think about, and ............ another story!