Happy Thanksgiving!
[guest post by Dana]
Happy Thanksgiving, Patterico readers! I just put the bird in the oven (with fresh oranges and balsamic vinegar marinade). I hope your day is filled with the company of loved ones, great food, and lots of thankfulness. And may your gluttonous turkey coma in front of the big screen bring the pleasant agony that you’ve been dreaming about.
About that dinner: if you are inclined to break the established etiquette of not discussing religion or politics at the table, a number of sites are posting suggestion lists to help navigate the minefield. Funny, though, most are for dealing with your crazy right-wing relative (because what other kind of right-wing is there, right?) Or perhaps conservatives don’t need suggestion lists of how to respond to that crazy left-wing uncle who won’t shut-up about how there are no real borders because all of our friends south of the border of us need access to Obamacare! We already know what we believe and why we believe it. And we know that having an unforced, rational and congenial conversation that organically unfolds is no big shakes. We are not into shoving our conservative principles down anyone’s throat because we don’t have to: the value of conservatism which benefits everyone, speaks for itself.
With that, some columnists have tried to make an effort to appear even-handed in their advice:
Progressives, engage your conservative family members. Tell them you accept their apology for endlessly pounding the drum of Benghazi when even the Republican House now admits that there was nothing scandalous there. Reassure them that the president is wholly within his authority to defer deportations on 5 million undocumented immigrants — but encourage them to demonstrate really loudly against this executive action so that Democrats can win the Latino vote for a generation.
And conservatives, please, challenge your lefty family members. Boast proudly of your well-fought electoral victories this fall. Point out how, despite all its populist propaganda, the White House has still managed to deliver only full economic recovery for the country’s wealthiest, while everyone else struggles. Embarrass the liberals with jokes about the administration’s screw-ups on Obamacare, Iraq and the Veterans Administration. Encourage them to keep overreaching so that your party can take the White House in 2016.
Vox has some nifty advice cards of controversial issues that might arise. So if a hot-button issue like immigration comes up, just click on the immigration card and the reader will be advised on how to respond – from the Vox viewpoint.
National Review has a list of the eight most outrageous talking points liberals have posted to try to convert conservatives. Because being thankful one day out of the year for everyone’s guaranteed freedom to hold their own political views and be respectful of such is simply asking too much.
From Ace comes this spot-on insight about the left-leaning proselytizers:
So why is it so many of them seem to need these bluffer’s guides to explain to them why they believe the things they believe?
It doesn’t really make sense, does it? They’re anxious because they’re going to a Thanksgiving dinner where they won’t have an Automatic Affirmation Clap Circle applauding their poses and posturings, but instead might be asked things like “Where are you getting that claim from?”
And this produces in them a terrible anxiety — an anxiety disclosed by all these articles in their first paragraphs, which note the anxiety and fear before proposing a way to combat it.
But if they believe all these things so terribly fiercely, shouldn’t they already sorta know why they believe them?
It’s incredible, when you think about it — they go through the whole year believing in their progressive catechisms zealously but only bother to ask Why do we believe this progressive religious nonsense again? one single day of the year, the one single day of the year where they fear they might be questioned about their religious beliefs.
And because nothing smells more like teen spirit than two annoyed teenage girls having to be front and center with all eyes on them:
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:05 amThe bird just went in the oven here, too. I use the slow cook, breast down method and it always works. Now, we can relax until it’s time to peel and dice veggies. The kids are surfing and the temp is supposed to be 80 today. Southern California on display
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:09 amHello and Happy Thanksgiving, Dana. Our conversations will be along the lines of spray on elastic sealer for the gutters; whether frangible solid-copper .380 ammunition is legal in Illinois; the daughter’s ombre hair which she got as a reward for straight As; stuff like that. The talk might touch on politics if we talk about how big a nuisance over-sensitive tire pressure sensors are (they were Obama’s idea) when you have aluminum rims and live in a place where the temperature drops 30 degrees overnight.
nk (dbc370) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:25 amDon’t understand why Thanksgiving Day is the day family would talk politics.
seeRpea (ff2cfe) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:27 amJust stick to a safe subject , like sports and how it is obvious the SeaHawks are the team to beat this year.
At one holiday gathering I was confronted by a couple of in-laws who said that I was a socialist and therefore a hypocrite because I am employed by government. Never mind that I work in a law enforcement job that is considered an essential function of government.
Then there was the woman who shrieked that anyone voting Republican hates women.
I go because I love my wife.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:31 amHappy Thanksgiving Dana and Patterico readers.
Rutabagas are about to meet their masher!
Jon Gabriel (@exjon) had a notable hashtag yesterday to troll liberals upset that we celebrate this national holiday which is rooted in genocide. He suggested renaming it #Shamesgiving. A holiday when we privileged can name the things we’re most shameful for. The turkey is emblematic of how colonists carved up and devoured Native American land. The cranberry represents their bloodshed.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:34 amA blogger on the NYT webasite
elissa (b8d331) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:36 amSorry–that@7 was a cat-aided premature submit from the laptop I’m using in the kitchen. What I was trying to say is that a blogger on the NYT website has an interesting piece about trying to observe Thanksgiving with multi-generational/blended/broken/geographically spread out families that is worth a read.
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/this-thanksgiving-setting-my-family-free/?smid=pl-share&_r=0
Also, I posted a link to Ronald Reagan’s 1985 Thanksgiving address on the earlier TG thread for anyone who’s interested.
Have a safe and wonderful day, all who comment (and lurk) here at Patterico’s.
elissa (b8d331) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:44 amI fully plan on torturing the starry-eyed 20 somethings at the gathering I am attending if provoked.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:48 amWell, daley, there is Unthanksgiving Day on the books.
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:49 amtoday i give thanks
Colonel Haiku (3bf827) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:52 amnearly only two more years
putz is in white house
elissa,
I read that, too. It’s by Nina Camic, who has a lovely little blog in which she chronicles daily life living on a small farm as well as her world-wide travels. She was Althouse’s colleague…recently retired. Anyway, I loved her theme of setting the kids free from holiday dinner obligations. Most of us have either been on the kid or parent end of the stick. It certainly can be a stress-filled proposition to try to make it to everyone’s abode on the big holidays.
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:55 amHere is SoCal w/son, his wife and our new granddaughter. Younger son and daughter remained up in NorCal. We are so blessed to have our family and to live and work in the USA!
Colonel Haiku (3bf827) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:57 amHappy Thanksgiving to all! http://t.co/9oIGkssACy
Colonel Haiku (3bf827) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:04 am“It certainly can be a stress-filled proposition to try to make it to everyone’s abode on the big holidays.”
Dana – We had no relatives in town and used to rotate Thanksgiving and Christmas between my folks and my in-laws. A year or two after kid number two and too many holiday airport delays we decided to stay put for the holidays and let people come to us if they wanted.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:11 am“Happy Thanksgiving, Patterico readers!”
Shouldn’t we be known as “Pattericans?”
someguy (37038b) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:19 amremember!
you can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant.
(excepting Alice… 5-)
redc1c4 (4db2c8) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:19 amHappy Thanksgiving to everyone!
We will be at home today enjoying a traditional turkey plus some other less-than-traditional items on the menu as is our tradition over the last few years. So our tradition is to be non-traditional.
WarEagle82 (b18ccf) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:23 amthat was supposed to be %-)
i have apparently worn out *another * keyboard…
no family or friends here today, besides the cats…so fewer arguments. i’m sure she’ll find something though: she always does.
dinner is to be a two bone, dry aged ribeye steak from Whole Paychecks, grilled rare, with James Beard blue cheese & garlic spread melted on top, and a Paso Robles zinfandel or two. maybe some taters as well, with steamed asparagus ala red…
redc1c4 (4db2c8) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:23 am@ redc14,
no family or friends here today, besides the cats…so fewer arguments. i’m sure she’ll find something though: she always does.
The cat???
What a mouth-watering dinner.
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:30 amIt’s a quiet Thanksgiving here for my family. My mother passed away a bit over two years ago, and I got my distraught father and my brother to come up for a reflective Thanksgiving. My father has had a heart attack and two strokes since, and is operating at reduced capacity, which breaks my heart (thus he cannot travel). Then last year, my widowed brother and one of my wife’s relatives visited (the latter with bagpipes which certainly kept the mood from being too dark). The sadnesses every family experiences make the happier events all the sweeter; we tend to ignore or take for granted all we have—which is why Thanksgiving is such an important holiday.
So this year, just my wife and our children. Nothing special with regard to food—we just are together this day of days. Everyone is cooking something.
So all the political stuff on this holiday just makes me shake my head. I really liked this Ricochet guide:
https://ricochet.com/talk-progressive-niece-obamacare-thanksgiving/
It is actually about *not* talking politics on Thanksgiving. Instead, we need to give thanks for our family, our friends, our health, and the things that truly make life worth living. Let Twitter rave insanity, and FaceBook slavishly repeat slanders. Family is more important.
And so are friends, even though I have never met any of you in person. Best wishes to all.
Simon Jester (8c377c) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:32 amHere’s what the astronauts in the International Space Station are having to eat today in orbit:
http://nypost.com/2014/11/27/what-astronauts-eat-for-thanksgiving-dinner.
elissa (b8d331) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:56 am16. I vote for ‘Pattericians’.
Life is good.
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 10:58 amIs thermostabilized when you subject a food to heat, through radiation, convection or conduction, or a combination thereof, at a certain temperature and for a certain amount of time, in a suitable container or on an appropriate heating surface or suspended over a heat source, in order to alter its organic composition to such a degree that it facilitates mastication, ingestion and digestion, and also tends to make it less perishable if properly stored?
nk (dbc370) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:05 amirradiated smoked turkey, thermostabilized candied yams and freeze-dried cornbread dressing
Gazzer (cb9ee2) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:06 amElissa, that’s so weird, that’s exactly what me and Mrs Gazzer are having.
GMTA
nk (dbc370) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:07 amDana… 😉
i, of course, was referring to Resident 3b1L,
asparagus ala red:
arrange asparagus spears in large skillet with water, and gently steam until just starting to be tender.
remove from pan and place on warmed plate, sprinkle with paramecium cheese, and cover with skillet lid.
dump remaining water and return skillet to the stove. melt butter and use to saute chopped garlic.
when garlic is done to taste, add lemon juice to pan (approximately equal volume to butter, adjust to taste), and bring mixture to a boil.
remove lid from dish, pour butter/garlic/lemon juice mix over the spears, re-cover and serve immediately.
goes great with roast tri-tip and other traditional SoCal meals.
redc1c4 (269d8e) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:19 amat least the astronauts aren’t eating a turkey ala king MRE…
redc1c4 (269d8e) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:21 amI recommend the Socratic Method if politics do come up, as in “what county would we emulate then to have a successful single payer?” Or recommend primary sources that changed your thinking (rather than newspaper reading), as in The Road to Serfdom by Hayek or Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:24 amBTW I love the looks those girls give their Dad, LOL. My sentiment exactly, kids!
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:25 amHappy Thanksgiving, one and all. I am alone this year; my children live hundreds of miles from me, and I have been traveling too much lately, so I decided to stay home.
I got into a verbal tussle with someone over certain retail stores being open on Thanksgiving. Here’s what I wrote about the subject:
Peace and blessings to everyone.
Chuck Bartowski (3e0e89) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:34 amThankful to see my wife smile, watching her 88 year old father enjoy his meal.
mg (31009b) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:39 amDementia and health problems for him, but Annie keeps him and the rest of her family together.
some of our favorite Paso wineries, in no particular order, for those so inclined
Grey Wolf
Zin Alley
Hunt Cellars
Tobin James
Wild Horse
Opolo
Poalillo
for starters, anyway… 😎
redc1c4 (269d8e) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:48 ami has apparently run afoul of the “too many links” filter in the software here… my previous poast is “awaiting moderation”
guess it thinks i’m emulating Sam the Sham…
redc1c4 (269d8e) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:52 amVery quiet Thanksgiving for just the two of us this year; we’re both coughing and sneezing and having all kinds of the 3-day crud she brought home from work Tuesday. We called and skipped of exposing the sisters-in-law’s party, not wanting to expose them or their kids. We’ll celebrate Sunday. We’ll be well in a couple of days.
A happy thanksgiving to all of you and yours. Ours is populated with Kleenex, buried in Love, and is a very grateful Thanksgiving for many reasons.
htom (9b625a) — 11/27/2014 @ 12:00 pm“even though I have never met any of you in person. Best wishes to all.”
Likewise. I am spending the day with my former wife after we have been divorced 25 years and are now back together since last June.
We cannot erase 25 years but we can enjoy what we have and what we have left. Our daughter is here and a favorite niece that I missed over the years. I stayed in touch with her but she was my wife’s (ex-wife’s) niece so we didn’t share holidays.
Nice to be a family again.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/27/2014 @ 1:31 pmI am Thankful that, barring a complete and disastrous reversal of fortune (or a continuation of the Status Quo) America can look forward to better times.
askeptic (efcf22) — 11/27/2014 @ 1:35 pmI wonder if the Obama girls are allowed to eat turkey. I imagine a Thanksgiving dinner of tofu, brussels sprouts, and stevia-based cranberries.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 11/27/2014 @ 1:52 pm36. I hate to be a downer, if only today:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/emerging-oil-petrodollars-idUSL6N0ST2YZ20141103
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 1:55 pmFaroe Island Salmon seared over wood coals.
mg (31009b) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:01 pmRoast Duck with oyster dressing, mashers with gravy
Apple pie and a cup of Costa Rican coffee
Fat and Happy!!!
Shrimp, oysters, crab, mussels, octopus, salmon, sushi, chicken, pork, turkey, asparagus, broccoli, noodles, jello, watermelon, and ice cream.
All on the buffet at my favorite Chinese restaurant, and under $20 bucks out the door.
ropelight (c944cd) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:19 pmHappy for you, Dr. K. Truly.
Simon Jester (8c377c) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:22 pmThe BEA just bestowed a 3.9% growth ribbon on Q3 GDP.
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:24 pmThat must be Gary. How about just being thankful for your ability to see gloom?
We all have different things for which to be thankful.
On this day, and on this thread, I kind of like to accentuate the positive. Because most of us are far, far luckier than most people in history. And for many—me in particular—luckier than we deserve.
Simon Jester (8c377c) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:29 pmMike K,
That is really nice about you and your ex-wife. May your years together this time round be the best.
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:33 pmTime doesn’t fly, Dana, it flees. So many good things slip away from us, or aren’t appreciated.
So I agree completely. I have known Dr. K. electronically for many years, and he deserves every happiness. He has had a remarkable life.
Simon Jester (8c377c) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:35 pmI agree re Mike K, Simon. Rich insights and an immense knowledge of history, science and well, most things. (I often feel that way about most commenters here. Rich, diverse, challenging and often, hilarious. It’s a great place to be!)
Dana (8e74ce) — 11/27/2014 @ 2:39 pm35, 43.
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 3:59 pmhttp://freedomoutpost.com/2014/11/new-york-times-reporters-put-darren-wilsons-address-addresses-made-public/
Thanks.
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 4:14 pmFor a future Thanksgiving:
http://suckersonparade.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-time-machine-leak-of-obamas-job-exit.html#.VHe_CGdAQ4e
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 4:23 pm“He has had a remarkable life.”
Thanks. I have made a specialty of making lemonade from lemons. I try to spend as much time as possible with young people. It yeps me and they need to see the wisdom of the past. We are having a thread on this at Chicagoboyz.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/27/2014 @ 4:43 pmhelps me. Goddam autocorrect.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/27/2014 @ 4:43 pmA lady about eight months pregnant got on the bus. She noticed the man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat. This time the smile turned into a grin, so she moved again. He seemed more amused. When on the fourth move, the man burst out laughing, she complained to the driver and he had the man arrested.
The case came up in court. The Judge asked the man what he had to say for himself. The man replied, “Well your Honor, it was like this:
When the lady got on the bus, I couldn’t help but notice her condition. She sat under a sweets sign that said, “The Double Mint Twins are Coming” and I grinned.
Then she moved and sat under a sign that said “Logan’s Liniment will reduce the swelling”, and I had to smile.
Then she placed herself under a deodorant sign that said “William’s Big Stick Did the Trick”, and I could hardly contain myself.
BUT, your Honor, when she moved for the fourth time and sat under the sign that said “Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this Accident”, I just lost it.”
nk (dbc370) — 11/27/2014 @ 4:56 pmJust tumbleweed blowing through…
Gazzer (cb9ee2) — 11/27/2014 @ 6:31 pmHappy Turkey Day, imdw!
(Yeah, we know you’re lurking)
Icy (697310) — 11/27/2014 @ 6:57 pmNext year might more of a stretch:
http://streettalklive.com/images/1dailyxchange/misc/Econotrarian-112614.PNG
DNF (3b2963) — 11/27/2014 @ 7:24 pmHappy Thanksgiving to all, a little late.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 11/27/2014 @ 8:32 pmRutabagas were tried and enjoyed by all. Half of the adults had not had them in years, the other half had never tried them, neither had virtually all the utes (anybody under 30). I was asked several times for the recipe, gigglesnort. Cut off the outside, cube, boil the living snot out of them until tender, drain, mash with copious amounts of butter and salt to taste.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 11/27/2014 @ 9:40 pmVideo of a turkey getting a little payback against a channel 10 Sacramento roving reporter.
The bird chases the reporter down the block and back into her car.
Soon as the bird notices her the lady starts backing up (mistake – stand your ground. More than likely the bird will leave you alone, but if it does attack just give it a slap on the head and it will leave you alone). Remember it’s just a bird. Not a poisonous reptile, or a dog. It can’t hurt you in any real way.
Discovery channel aired a show called “When Turkeys Attack”. Surreal. Hyped up the turkeys as “monsters”, “lethal” and described a guy getting out of his car to get a better look as “a fatal mistake”. That sort of white knuckle pearl clutching commentary running while the video shows the bird never even kicked the guy.
So over the top stupid, it reminds me of the media’s global warming coverage.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 11/27/2014 @ 11:25 pmdaleyrocks #57 – ever tried something similar with parsnips ? I took some to Thanksgiving with the in-laws and friends … and was surprised by how few had ever tried them before, and seemed to really like them …
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 11/28/2014 @ 12:27 amHad a lovely day. I used to brine the turkey, but a few years ago I found pre-brined turkeys at Trader Joes that are almost as good as mine without having to spend a day and a half brining the bird. Separated the skin from the meat and put a stick of butter cut up into pats under the skin. Rubbed some leftover butter on the outside, squeezed some juice from an orange on the outside, then salt and pepper. Put the Orange in the cavity along with some sage and thyme. Cooked the bird in our convection oven at 300 until it reached 165 then let it set for an hour. Nicely browned skin and moist too.
Green beans blanched earlier and then put in a bowl of ice water was later cooked with butter and garlic and salt and pepper in a cast iron skillet till done. Mashed potatoes, multi-colored carrots (purple, white, yellow, and traditional orange), stuffing cooked in the oven, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, a little wine, and sparkling apple juice.
Pecan pie and homemade pumpkin pie with hand whipped cream, and coffee for dessert.
Me, my wife, 2 stepsons, my youngest son, my wife’s cousin, some friends and 2 of their adult children, and a guest who would have been alone. 11 people in all and a fine time.
I’m thankful that God saved me, my patient wife, my children, my vintage 1967 MGB GT, I’m working, and my tremor is almost completely gone compared to last year.
God is good.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 11/28/2014 @ 12:33 amI made ribs in a slow cooker for Thanksgiving. That’s got to be traditional; at some point the pilgrims must have made ribs.
I had lots of sauce left so I just browned some sausage and sauteed some onions and threw everything back into the crock pot.
My Thanksgiving thought was put into my head by an ex-guest of the Hanoi Hilton. He said any day when you wake up and there’s a doorknob on the inside, and you can turn it and walk out, is a good day.
Also by the limeys of the HMS Sheffield and Coventry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life
Steve57 (c4b0b3) — 11/28/2014 @ 4:03 pmOK, I’ve been convinced! I am going to prepare some sort of mashed-up obscure root vegetable for Christmas Eve dinner.
elissa (f12602) — 11/28/2014 @ 4:16 pmI hope it wasn’t anything I said. I’m thinking I need to kill some hogs between now and Christmas. For two reasons. It’s not only legal in Texas, it’s practically a prerequisite. Plus when I was at the store I couldn’t find any Italian sausage. What kind of store doesn’t have Italian sausage? Anyway I figured it was God’s way of telling me to be a good Texican and do some hog killing. For the children. And then have the whole thing processed into Italian sausage.
So I got kielbasa, andouille, and green chili pepper sausage “chilling” in the crock pot along with a onion and my secret sauce.* But no Italian sausage.
*five cups of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of honey, two tablespoons of cajun spice, 1 tablespoon each of garlic and onion powder.
Steve57 (c4b0b3) — 11/28/2014 @ 4:51 pmelissa #63 – as far as I know, the idea is to have such things as parsnips as a side-dish, not the entire dinner … (grin)
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 11/29/2014 @ 10:17 pm