Tday is Monday

 It's official, to accommodate Handsome Son's schedule, Thanksgiving chez Boud will be celebrated Monday starting at noon.

So, let the cooking commence.

This is that chicken thing where you pound chicken breasts till your aggression is dissipated, then roll the sections up with ham and cheese, then in panko.  Then spoon over melted butter and sprinkle salt and pepper,  arrange artistically in the glass dish you just emptied from the recent lasagna caper.

Done. In the fridge now. Next cranberry sauce. Roasted potatoes will cook along with the chicken thing on the day. Stuffing that day, too, and reheat the squash dish.

Meanwhile before I tackle the dishes and continue peacefully reading my Lucia book, here's a puzzle. 

Remember to give clues, not the answer, in the comments. Don't give it away!  

Happy day everyone, what the heck is the name of the chicken thing I'm making??

Enjoy your day even if your memory's failing.

Fast food and the return of the light, oh, wait..

So I had a post thought up for today, peaceful, unaware that stuff might happen. Or not happen.  I went out for the morning start the car ritual, and it didn't.  Flat as a pancake. Oh.  So here was my chance to learn how to use the new portable charger.  I sound a lot calmer than I felt, literally dropped the cables once because my hands were shaking! such a great mechanic.

And studied the little book, remembered how to pop the hood, eventually got the power cable inserted into the unit, shaky hands not helping, and went to fiddle about trying to figure out, after red to red, black to black, exactly what I was supposed to attach the alligator clips to.

Eventually got it, not the bit I expected, much easier, and the green light went on, saying well done, thou good and faithful servant, go thou and start thy engine. 

See below!!

So I did and it started first try.  Yay me.  Then I had to study how to detach the unit safely.  Good thing, because you're supposed to separate the unit from the power cable before unclipping the ally clips.  Ah.  Done.  Now the unit's back in the house, charging, found out how to do that, too.  It had arrived 80 per cent charged, fortunately, because I hadn't had the chance to charge it fully anyway before I had to use it.  

Did I mention my phone's losing its charge faster and faster, meaning I may need a new one soon.  The proposed tablet is sliding down the list of priorities around here, I can see.

Meanwhile, nature knows what she's doing. As soon as the solstice was past, here come new blossoms on the primula, unfailing.

And yesterday I found to my surprise I was out of soup, right before I planned to heat some.  Needed fast food, soonest.  So a can of cannellini beans, mashed, with capers,  can of chicken, egg, potato flakes, and I had a set of fritter things ready to go, with steamed broccoli.

 Then I remembered scallions in the freezer, so added them into the remaining batter.  Scallions always make me think of Chinese food, I guess they come in there.

So here's yesterday's lunch, sans scallions but with pickled beets, remember those, they're still going. And above that, today's lunch, with scallions, and I'll add the beets again, I think.

Just as well I had a lunch already set up, considering the excitement earlier. There's a limit!

And now Blogger refuses to insert this pic where I asked, repeatedly. Bear with me, tech is not friendly today. But here's the operation in full swing.

I'm having a restful cup of tea now.  Then I'll go see about getting a mechanic's licence.

Thanksgiving 2014 indoors and out

Indoors food prep to save work tomorrow, a chicken/ham/swiss cheese thing, with flavored breadcrumbs including lemon zest, all the pounding and spreading about and rolling up and crumbing and buttering done.  

Ready to bake tomorrow. And I remembered to put a tape on it reminding me of the temp and time for baking, to save scrabbling through the cookbook to find out.  I must invent a fancy title for this, Thankful Chicken! Or possibly Poulet au jambon et fromage et miettes de pain!  Hm, by the time you've finished saying it, it's gone.  And you will note that there will not be endless leftovers to deal with.  Some to eat tomorrow, some for Handsome Son to carry off home, a bit for me for the day after.

Then the squash, already steamed, just add butter and nutmeg and heat up, mushrooms and onions to be sauteed together, potatoes ready to bake or roast, or maybe both, corn, a legal requirement in this state, fine diced green bell peppers because otherwise the whole meal might look golden.  So far so good, great fun to do in a leisurely sort of way.

Then outdoors it looks as if we are in for a very unusual white Thanksgiving.  

Handsome Son is one of the people who drive for the holiday.  Almost two miles, clear across town!  And he brings the hors d'oeuvres and the dessert, his decision as to what.

I like Thanksgiving very much, no present pressure, giving them, that is,  and no  history of Tdays of childhood, all that, since I didn't grow up with it, but like it a whole lot more than Christmas. 

There's a lot to be said for arriving at a holiday for the first time in adulthood.  Not unlike arriving in a new religion at the same time of life. I notice that people who have converted seem to be a lot happier with their religion than people who were born into it.  Probably because they chose it, didn't have it thrust upon 'em, to misquote a bit.  And I don't hear people like me fussing about having to see relatives and who said what to them as kids, and all that.

Anyway, what I'm grateful for this year:  still alive and well and active, still have friends in same situation, still live in a great neighborhood, have constant support and encouragement and good humor from blogistas all over the world, still have lovely Handsome Son coming faithfully to celebrate with me.  In fact I have a lot to be thankful for.

So if I don't make it in here tomorrow for some reason, thank you all for being in my life and allowing me into yours!