THANKSGIVING IN ARIZONA

Much of the eastern United States is dealing with winter storms this week.  Snow, ice, rain, high winds, even a tornado - - pretty much all bad.  Meantime in Arizona . . .

These foolish turkeys had better stay out of the road or they're going to wind up on someone's Thanksgiving dinner table.  Perhaps outside.  By the pool.

Yes, some people do like to rub it in about our wonderful fall and winter weather.  But certainly not me.  (Our high temperature today is supposed to be close to 75 degrees.)

I just heard from our neighbors.  They're going to barbecue steaks for their meal today.  But we can forgive them.  They're Canadian, after all, and their Thanksgiving Day is the second Monday in October.  This year that was the 14th.

As for our house, it will benefit from the wonderful aroma of . . . (wait for it) . . . meat loaf!  Due to a good price at the grocery a few weeks ago, we had a turkey breast with all the trimmings then and having finally just finished off the leftovers the Thanksgiving menu at our house was changed.  But I'm not complaining.  SWMBO makes a great meat loaf. And she did make a pumpkin pie yesterday.  'Course we had to sample it last night.  But there's still some left for dinner dessert today.

Whatever you're eating today and wherever you are and however your weather is . . . I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

CHILLY WEDNESDAY

Know the feeling?

Well I do have to clean out that slow cooker from yesterday's semi-disaster.  I mentioned yesterday that I was making a mac and cheese recipe in it.  About halfway through the cooking I decided to stir it. EGADS!  The pasta-cheese mix seemed to be turning very brown on its edges and sticking/burning to the sides of the cooker.  At that point I realized with dismay that I had overlooked the first step in the recipe: "Coat inside of slow-cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray."

Oh, man.  I confirmed with SWMBO that there was nothing I could do at that point but she sweetly pointed out that I was going to have a helluva time getting the bowl clean.

Well the mac and cheese was wonderful and my bride did give me a tip: pour in a half-cup of baking soda, fill the bowl with hot water and let it sit overnight.  Most of the "crud" has come loose and off and I'm now going to tackle it to remove the rest.

So if you try a new recipe, don't overlook any of the instructions.

BTW, it's not really that chilly here.  The thermometer just hit 65 degrees and the sun appears to be shining.  

TURKEY WEEK . . . OR NOT

2013.  One of those rare years when Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same date.  The "wags" are dubbing it Thanksgivukkah. Now you have to decide what to serve for dinner that day - turkey or pastrami! SWMBO has made her choice.  We're having meat loaf. Actually the reason for that is because there was a great price on turkey breasts a few weeks ago and we had our turkey meal of the year.  She doesn't really like it.  I love it but when I have to eat ALL of the leftovers, enough is enough.

She's always thought my family was a little crazy because when I was a kid we had roast turkey on Thanksgiving, on Christmas and again on New Year's Day.  I'm not sure why.  We weren't turkey farmers.

But I'm okay with meat loaf anyway.  I mentioned our menu choice to several people in the grocery store today and they all responded "I LIKE meat loaf!"  (I didn't invite any of them to join us.)

I'm trying out a new recipe today which SWMBO shook her head at when I mentioned it yesterday.  Slow cooker macaroni and cheese. She said it only takes about an hour to turn that meal out on the stove top.  But we have a new slow cooker and I wanted to try it. Besides instead of just the standard bright orange cheese you get in a boxed dinner of the stuff, this has a combination of American, Cheddar and Gruyere.  My mouth is already watering.  And it still has about two hours to go.

So have a happy Thanksgiving, folks, no matter what you're eating and remember this:

BEER BREAD

I made a loaf of bread this afternoon.  It's a quick bread called Beer Bread.

Fresh from the oven, aromatic and still hot.

Someone once said something like "what's not to like?  It's bread and it's beer."

This loaf was made with a bottle of Dos Equis Amber.  ("I don't drink beer often but when I do . . . .")

SPORTS TIME

I know some (most) of you will be bored silly by this but I have to brag about our state's football teams when they do something good.

First, the unranked University of Arizona Wildcats hammered #5 ranked Oregon yesterday 42 to 16.

A short time later, the 19th ranked Arizona State University Sun Devils outlasted 14th ranked UCLA in Pasadena 38 to 33 to win the PAC-12 South title.

And today the (professional) Arizona Cardinals routed the Indianapolis Colts 40 to 11.

Next weekend U of A and ASU meet in Tempe for the annual Territorial Cup.  If ASU wins, they'll host Stanford a week later for the PAC-12 title and a chance to play in the Rose Bowl.

Sorry for the hubris.

THE RAIN'S BOUNTY

(Attention readers: an update follows this post)

Just clipped in the garden, this big pink (no, really, it is) rose still has raindrops clinging to its petals.  It has been raining here in the Arizona desert almost continually since Friday night.

Our rain guage shows about an inch and a quarter since yesterday morning.  Yesterday's total, before I dumped it, was about three-quarters of an inch.  So, figure 2 inches or a bit more since the rain started falling lightly but steadily.  Doesn't sound like much until you realize that the desert only gets 4 to 6 inches in an entire year.

It leaves water pooling in unlikely places.

Because of the saturation even the grassy lawn is having a difficult time accepting it.

Now just to prove that the rose that started this little essay actually was pink, here's one of it's sisters from the same plant.

And more to come.

I remember saying once, years ago after several days of continuous rain, "doesn't the sun ever shine in Arizona?"  I was joking, of course, and the weather wizards say the sun will be back tomorrow as the rain moves away.  It's been nice while we had it.

UPDATE: 10:30 a.m. Saturday.  We have put off plans for an ark.  The sun is out and the sky is once again mostly blue.

THE FRIDAY FOLLIES

And one for you dog lovers.  Let's face it . . . they are simple.

Have a jolly weekend, y'all.  It's raining here in Arizona!

What day is it?  Oh, c'mon you know what day it is!

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