TALKIN' TURKEY

I thought I'd start with my Personal History blurb this week:
PH - Louisiana
I know we were in Flagstaff, Arizona for a little bit after our time in El Paso, but I don't remember anything about it. I know my parents liked it there. But then we moved again for Dad's work to Louisiana.

Louisiana was a whole different story. Louisiana is the thing of legends in my family. My folks call it Lousy-Ana. Don't be offended if you're from and/or have fond memories of it. It's just, Louisiana is not for everyone. And it wasn't for us.

Where to start? We lived in a duplex with a short (like, two feet) fence behind it. Why? To keep out alligators. Seriously. There was some swampy land behind that fence and some interesting critters inhabited it. It harbored all kinds of things: one day my mother found a huge, fat caterpillar in the middle of the kitchen floor. It was big enough to be a pet! Needless to say, we kids didn't spend much time back behind the house.

Mom was pregnant with Meri (1973) at the time and was abjectly miserable. She couldn't handle the food at all. Not only was it overly spiced for her taste, it was just strange. She talks of ward dinners where the tables are covered with bread and they bring in huge pots full of steaming hot crawfish/crawdads. She said they looked like big red cockroaches. People would bite the heads off and suck the insides out. Mom stuck with bread.

The whole place creeped her out. Because the water table is so high, they don't bury their dead in the ground, but in above ground mausoleums. If they put them in the ground, it would only take one good rain storm for the caskets to pop right back up! It was the stuff of nightmares, even to my practical mother!

Then, there was the prevailing attitude about race there at the time. People would chastise my mother for letting me (5 years) play with the children of color. Kids don't know that stuff; they are taught that! I didn't care; I just wanted playmates.

Here's an amusing blurb from my dad's personal history about the racism existing there: Linda was pregnant with our fourth child when we went to Baton Rouge and was delivered during a snow storm, only one of two that year. When she mentioned she was pregnant one of the sisters in the Ward told her not to go to Women’s Hospital because they had no single rooms and she might be lodged in with an African American. Linda just laughed and said she did not want a single room, because she would be bored.

That's my mom. Laugh at 'em.  How ridiculous. And, yes, Meri was born in a snowstorm, on the heels of a heatwave. Shortly after that, my parents had had enough (the construction project had been a tough, crazy mess) and we headed to California for a short time before moving to our next home...Reno, Nevada.

An Instrument in His Hands
Last Sunday, I was concerned. A pregnant sister in our ward with a large family had her baby son in the hospital with RSV and her son with spinal bifida had a swollen foot. She was all-absorbed in getting them better, but Thanksgiving was approaching. Did they have food? Would they be able to have the time to fix it?

A few sisters offered a little help, but I needed to do more. Ken had mentioned that during one council meeting someone had offered to provide food for some needy families. I asked him: was this family one? Yes, and I needed to contact them. Well, I couldn't get through to them Sunday.

I had to pick up a few things from Walmart Monday. As I was there, talking with someone in the Branch, I saw the sister of the couple who had offered to provide. She was so eager and animated (she's a true genteel Southern belle and a darling to boot!) and just planned to get the stuff right then and take it to the family's home. I had even found out from the pregnant sister that her husband prefers ham and this sister was eager to get one of those, too!

Now, I didn't do much. Just coordinate. But let me tell you, the Belle's husband had said NOTHING to her about the food and nobody knew about the ham except I contacted the sister to ask. But the Lord puts everything into place. And when I checked, they'd received the food. I was thankful to be able to do my little part and the Lord spoke to me!

LIGHTS & ACTION
Monday night for FHE we went to the park to see the Festival of the Lights. There was a second reason to go - Analiese is in charge of planning a scavenger hunt for some of the closer wards' youth the middle of December and we were going to take pictures and get ideas.

Last year, Jonathan and I had driven through the park. This year, we walked (and walked and walked) all over the park. There was so much more to see!  Here's some of my favorites:

Reflections in the pond

The famous bridge with guard

I just loved the fact this one was off the ground

Cuz I like popcorn (note the sponsor sign)

Beautiful!

You can see this from the freeway. It is a different color every night

We really liked the 3-D effect on this one.

Park entrance

The local hospital sponsors this Nativity.

This made me laugh; it's by the snack stand and gift shop

I liked the snowflakes the best. It's hard to see, but they were blue & white and twinkled!

Ducks & geese are unphased by the light show

Breathtaking!

Ready, Set, COOK!
We got an invitation to have Thanksgiving with another family (One of my Ministering Sisters - MS). She's also pregnant, so I told her she was not to do everything. I had my own stuff planned for, anyway, so we divided our list in half and I planned my week accordingly.

Tuesday was Pie and Rolls Day. I made two dozen rolls, because the other family has five kids and what kid can resist rolls? I nearly messed them up by not putting in enough water at first. I risked it by adding the water later. They turned out all right...what a relief! That was eight cups of flour!

I made an apple pie in the afternoon. The other family is doing a pumpkin pie and a berry pie. I used my mother's recipe with the crumb topping. I forgot to cover the edges with foil, so they got a little overdone. But otherwise...scrumptious!

Wednesday was Sides Day. I made dressing (you do NOT call it stuffing in the South unless you shove it inside the bird) using a box mix (gasp) that I leveled up with my own onions, celery, butter and seasonings. It tasted nearly like if I used fresh bread. I also made a green bean casserole and my super-scrumptious, needs-no-gravy crockpot mashed potatoes. They all went into the fridge to be heated Thursday.

I had to be up by seven Thursday to get the potatoes warming in the crockpot; the dressing and beans went into the oven at ten. Then we packed up the food and some games and drove a short distance to our hosts' home.

It was definitely a feast! She had brined her turkey in apple cider and maple syrup; Ken and Jonathan really liked that. It was very moist and flavorful. She made homemade cream corn, which was a first for me and I liked it. There was also one of those jello pretzel salad that my kids went crazy for! Even Analiese, the anti-berry child ate it and had seconds.

Silly pic with the kids (and the Big Kid)

Sadly, Ken and Jonathan had to leave early (we had dinner at 11!) for work. That left me and Analiese to play games with the dad and kids whilst preggo mom took a nap. We had brought a couple of favorite kids games and taught them. Their three little girls couldn't get enough of me and my lap was always full...sometimes overflowing!

Lately, the mom admitted her kids missed having a grandparently influence. I thought, "Me? A grandparent? I'm a ways off from that!" But then, I do have friends my age who are grandparents and my kids certified that I was definitely "practicing" my future grandmother moves at the other house. One thing, though. My back and neck ached the next day from all the kiddie-tugs!

These two turkeys are supposed to give me grandkids?

Anticlimax

The rest of the week is boring. I cooked my turkey Friday (it was already defrosting when the invitation came), we ate leftovers. Ken was sick; Jonathan had to endure Black Friday - he came home in a BLACK MOOD. 

Analiese started putting up Christmas decorations Friday and Saturday. I'm just not ready for that step, I guess. But it'll be here before you know it.