Happy Thanksgiving
I got up, got ready, poured coffee, then cooked and baked all day, save for a run to Decò and the ortofrutta, to get ingredients for my last-minute idea to make an apple pie.
That idea turned out disastrous, but the "pumpkin" pie is a reasonable facsimile of what it should be.
I ended up using parchment paper to create a pie pan; it worked better for the butternut squash pie than for the apple. Mental note to bring a pie pan here!
I roasted some vegetables, and decided to skip the yam chips, because I've been in the kitchen for 10 hours and it's almost time for dinner!
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We got to Elena's and saw Fina and Giovanna there; they had to do the three-time refusal to join us for Thanksgiving dinner before finally saying yes!
My contributions were hot when we arrived, but timing them for 8:00 pm and eating at 10 pm meant that I did a round or two of nuking.
We ate in Nonno's old home. A long table was set up in the living room, and there was still so much of "him" there. The photos of all of whom he loved, kept around the house, along with his many awards and recognition for his poetic works. He was quite a man.
Finally, Giuseppe Uno arrived with the turkey from Crispi. It was stuffed with pancetta and other things; it didn't taste like turkey, so I liked it better than most, but... it's still turkey. As Joe said, give me a plate of Mariella's pasta any day.
But the overriding theme here is that Elena, who's also planning a huge birthday party for Ettore tomorrow and just started a new mega job, organized and entire Thanksgiving dinner party for us, and invited all these people. The usual Rapisarda clan showed up, and also Giuseppe Uno's parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew; Giovanna and Fina, and of course Padre Giuseppe. She got the invitation out to everyone, ordered a turkey (and had it cooked by Crispi), set up Nonno's house for a party, and ordered all the desserts. Carmelo, Giuseppe's dad, brought his homemade wine. Padre picked up "Iris," a dessert that is a pastry dough stuffed with chocolate, rolled in crumbly cake crumbs, then quickly deep fried and coated with raw sugar. They're delicious. He or maybe it was Piera also brought a chocolate Pandora. I overdosed on dessert.
Surprisingly, people loved the pumpkin pie.
The kids went wild after a calm start of video games, and played in frenzied fashion until Matteo fell off a chair and hit his head on the marble floor. Wailing commenced, as did a big goose egg on his forehead. Bedlam!
Throughout all this, we called my sister and family -- twice throughout the evening -- but each time, the cacophony won. It was good to see everyone's faces, anyway.
I talked to all three of my kids today, which warmed my heart.
I know I'm forgetting something, but all in all, it was a beautiful chaos, and I'm grateful to have all these people (present here, on video, or phone call) in my life. It's indeed a full one.
And now -- poor Joe -- one of the after-effects of eating turkey is warming the linens tonight.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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