Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you were able to spend the day with family and/or friends!
This Thanksgiving marked the first one where I was in charge of the cooking. I actually offered and thought this was what one does when one buys their first home. So I managed to delegate everything but the turkey, stuffing and gravy. I had done my research, ordered then picked up my fresh turkey and made sure I had all the necessary ingredients.
All week coworkers were asking if I was nervous about my first Thanksgiving turkey and whether I needed recipes or advice. I actually wasn't nervous at all. I should have known that the calmness I was feeling was some type of omen, because this is just the type of thing that I would freak out about.
Perhaps it was an omen, because then, well, the "great Thanksgiving story" started. You know, that one holiday when everything seems to go wrong? Well I guess I got it out of the way the first time out of the shoot.
It was a nice calm Wednesday evening around 5pm. I was going out to dinner and a movie with Diane and then just before I left, I placed one last call to my Mom asking her to bring flour for the gravy. Well thank goodness I did, because while I one the phone, I heard this strange dripping sound. "What is that?" I thought. I walking into my kitchen and realized that water was coming out of the recessed light above my bar. I thought "you have got to be kidding me!" Then, it started coming out of the sprinkler head in the kitchen. I put a bucket under the sprinkler head (thanks Nancy for that as a housewarming gift, it is quite multipurpose!) and a vase under the recessed light. I shut off the light knowing full well I didn't want to add a fire to the mix. The speed of the water fluctuated. I noticed that it was a brown color--almost like Chicken broth. It actually smelled sort of like chicken broth and since it was coming into my kitchen I was relieved to figure it was kitchen water and not bathroom water. Then I realized it was also coming out of a light socket. I had no idea what to do. So I ran upstairs to see if the people above me were home, but no such luck. So I left a note.
Back in my apartment I tried to clean up the disgusting water as soon as it flowed from the various lights. With three sources of water (a fourth would start later) it was a bit tough to keep up. Then a knock at the door. I was hoping it was the people upstairs. No, it was Brian, the awesome guy next door who moved out last weekend. He wanted to let me know that there was a pretty fast leak in the garage. He had no idea it was also happening in my apartment. I had no idea what to do this whole time. I own this place now, it isn't like I can place a call to my landlord. Brian said he would go knock on the door of the prez of our HOA, Ed. Good thinking. I loved having Brian and Suzanne across the hall, so it was no surprise that Brian was so helpful. I was hoping that Ed would be helpful too. Heck, the guy was in my high school class, so I hoped that Matador blood still mattered.
By this time, Diane had come over (after I sent frantic text messages saying I couldn't meet her for dinner and a movie). I felt horrible for bailing on her, but was soooo thankful she came over to hang out. If nothing else, she helped keep me relatively calm and thought to ask all those questions I was too flustered to think about. She was even nice enough to run up and get some takeout Thai (yummy!).
Ed, the guy who runs my HOA was so awesome! I'd like to chalk it up to our formative years as Matadors, but I think he is just a nice guy in general. He went around knocking on other people's door trying to find out the source of the problem. In the interim the girl above me came home and then down to see me when she got my note. Apparently the problem was in her apartment and her place was flooded--her kitchen and dining room. Additionally, there was some type of sediment all over her floor in her kitchen and dining room. Apparently a few spiders too. I thought my situation was horrible, but to hear her's was worse helped put things a bit in perspective.
So to make a long story short, Ed found a plumber to come out pretty quick. It turns out someone on the 4th floor had been cooking all day and using a ton of water. All our pipes are connected through our kitchens, and the pipes in the condo above mine just gave up and flooded their unit, mine and the garage. Everything is ok now (I hope). I spent a lot of time cleaning, but I was certainly better off than the people above me. The water was so corrosive, it appears to have ruined my new kitchen floor. And when my circuit breaker blew (that's what they're for) it reset my already confusing high tech lighting system so now the only way to turn off the lights in my kitchen is with the circuit breaker. That's a bummer, but I suppose it could be worse. We'll watch for mold in the wall and ceiling and so long as I don't smell anything, the plumber said it will hopefully dry out and not need to be opened up and then rebuilt.
So needless to say, Wednesday night I was pretty sure I was going to cancel Thanksgiving. I had a ton of cleaning to do. But alas, I got up early and pushed back dinner.
And if I say so myself, my dinner was fantastic! I figured I could make a decent dinner, but I have to say it was outstanding! I very much impressed myself and I think my family too! It looks like my family has a new Thanksgiving tradition!
Here's my stuffing. I loved it! It is a Rachael Ray recipe that I saw her do on her show. I loved that it had apples in it and it was delicious! I half cooked it on the stove and then stuffed half in the turkey and half I baked in the oven.
I then stuffed the turkey and put him in the oven. As he cooked, the smells were just awesome! I went outside at one point and when I came back in, I could smell the turkey down the hall. It still smells even now!
Look how great it turned out! It was perfectly cooked. Moist and juicy! (You'll have to excuse the stuffing come out of his cavity.)
Here is what my dinner table looked like. You can ignore the boxes that are still packed! My bookcases come tomorrow so I will soon be rid of them! This was the first time I have been able to use the china that belonged to my Great Grandmother Sullivan. She actually lived until I was about 2. Unfortunately I have no memories of her, but I think I'm pretty lucky that she left her china to me. It has been boxed up for basically the past 34 years, so I was glad to unpack it and use it.
And my family enjoying my dinner!