Thanksgiving coming early this year, and Gregory never fails

So this year I had agreed that whatever day Handsome Son gets off from his retail job we'll do Thanksgiving, hoping it would be on the day.  

For many years he fitted in with my total inability to be free on holidays, because of the petcare service, the holidays usually meaning 18 hour days.  He was always good humored about it, and now it's my turn to fit in.  

Well, turns out it's Tuesday instead.  So Thanksgiving comes early this year.  Good thing I shopped ahead. So here's the doings, the corn still in the freezer

Since that pic, the mushrooms are now cooked, in butter and oil, big pinch of baharat, salt, till the liquids cooked down with the flavor coming better and better.  Rewarmed they will be great.

And the sweet potatoes are cooked, mashed with butter and nutmeg, and set ready.  Ditto with rewarming, and flavors developing.

The cranberries are opened, set in the nice glass container dogonart gave me years ago, which shows up all the time to hold festive stuff.  

Game hens are nice, not too big, easy to roast, but a festive sort of poultry. There won't be a mad rush of cooking at the last minute. In fact we do a kind of potluck, where he always brings the cheese and crackers, and the dessert, also some interesting soft drink of his choice.  I provide the main course and wine.  And we exchange leftovers.  It's surprising how many dishes you still do for two, same as for a crowd, but smaller quantities.

And I am getting to work to decide on fun things to do for a solo Thanksgiving Day.  Plenty of ideas happening.  Another Philippa Gregory on hold for my Kindle, hoping it will materialize in time, but if not, never mind. Plenty of videos, etc.  And with any luck there will still be a few leftovers.  And prosecco, just because.

 
So here's the latest, to me, I'm years late on books, Philippa Gregory, great storyteller, wonderful historical research behind really good, lengthy, goodread sort of novels.   It's long but so well paced and full of exciting stuff, set in the time of Mary Tudor, complete with the story around Calais, and the hazardous life of being a Jew. Particularly a Jew with second sight, as the Queen's Fool is.  It's wonderfully written.

So that's where we are.  The washing machine arrived, is working a treat, fits into the limited space, and the installer thanked me with tears in his eyes for getting the advance prep, and plumbing, done ready.  

He tells me a lot of people expect him when a snag arises, to suddenly do all the plumbing and shutoff replacement if necessary, and get mad that he can't do that!  Different trade, for one thing.  And we did re use the steel hoses, since the machine comes with rubber ones, no longer up to code in this town, in fact.  Handsome Son is pleased with his new appliance.  So it's done, and it's good. And they came in the first hour of the four hour window they gave me.