Word of the Day

Monopulate - To manipulate others into accepting a certain viewpoint or idea by controlling a conversation.

It rained this morning. Gypsy did not want to go outside. And...even though I forced the issue, she decided to test my patience and...I had to clean up a piddle accident when she pee'd on my carpet. Grrrr!!!!! She earned an hour in the kennel for that and several swats on the butt. It's not like I wasn't outside getting wet right next to her. At least she had the protection of the tree. I just got wet. Normally, Gypsy is a very trustworthy dog but... D Buddy figures that she's the dog equivalent of Paris Hilton. She doesn't like getting her paws and hair wet....unless someone is giving her a bath.

Oh well...while Gypsy was in her kennel, I got the brine mixed up for the turkey. My Thanksgiving turkey is sitting in a bag-lined cooler right now. Brining. Along with the turkey, I have about 5# of ice and some blue ice. My cooler is one of those that promises to keep things frozen for up to five days. With all the ice and the blue ice, I figure my turkey can safely sit in the brine for one day. I'll have to rinse it off and pop it into the oven tomorrow morning at around 8 AM.

In the meantime, having freed up some refrigerator space, I decided to make some of the side dishes. I baked four sweet potatoes and one yam last night before sticking them into the fridge. This morning they were really easy to peel up and make into HTP's favorite sweet potato casserole. I've always used canned sweet potatoes before. I had no idea that baking up the fresh ones would be this easy. Aside from the prep time (one hour of baking), slipping them out of their skins took about a minute. If fresh are available in the future (at Christmas), I'll use fresh from now on. My sweet potato casserole is sitting in the fridge right now and all I need to do is heat it up tomorrow, top it with marshmallow and stick it into the oven as soon as the turkey is done. Right next to the sweet potato casserole (in the fridge) is my green bean casserole. I still need to make the stuffing but...that will have to wait until...

I'm cleaning the oven. Normally, I cook my stuffing inside the turkey but I've been warned that it might get too salty this year if I do that, since I'm brining my turkey. So...I'm going to bake my stuffing outside the turkey this year, which means that I can bake it ahead of time. Today...after my oven is clean. I was thinking about making the mashed potatoes today too but I prefer fresh mashed potatoes so I'll wait until tomorrow to make them. Besides, I don't want to use up all my fridge space. It won't take me long to mash up some freshly boiled potatoes tomorrow. No point in trying to do EVERYTHING in one day. Besides, I'll have to leave space in the fridge for the sides that my friend is bringing. And...I still need to put the pickles in the fridge and the wine. Nope...I'll save making the mashed potatoes and gravy until tomorrow.

I know I'm making too much food. I always do. There's only going to be four of us. I could have made one of those turkey breasts and we'd still have had leftovers. Oh well...this way I can send some leftovers home with my friend and her husband.

Murphyism of the Day

Dedera's Law

In a three-story building served by one elevator, nine times out of ten the elevator car will be on a floor where you are not.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

One person can have a profound effect on another. And two people...well, two people can work miracles. They can change a whole town. They can change the world.

- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider