Turkey Day 2013

This will be the first real “empty nest” Thanksgiving for John and me. Sarah is in Chicago for graduate school and will come home at Christmas break. Johnny has to work, so he won’t be able to drive down from Seattle. It will be the first Thanksgiving since we’ve had kids, twenty five years ago, that we’ll go back to it being just the two of us.  

I planned to shop for our turkey on Tuesday with the slim hope that is would be defrosted by Thanksgiving day. I have a history of trying to wrestle/pry the frozen neck out of the turkey on Thanksgiving morning, so you’d think that by now I’d remember to buy the bird earlier, but oh well, why ruin a well established tradition?

The advantage of there being just us two is that I won’t have to cook as much. The experts say to allow ½ a pound to a pound of turkey per person. I jokingly told John that it was going to be very hard to find a 2-lb turkey.

While I looked over the coupons in the newspaper I asked John, “So since it’s just the two of us, what do you want for Thanksgiving dinner?”

I had my pen ready to write the shortened shopping list. He answered, “Well, turkey.”

“O.K ”

“And mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.”

“What about stuffing?”

“Oh yeah, we’ve got to have stuffing.”

I wrote it down. “Do you want succotash?” That was the only vegetable Johnny would eat.

“No, let’s have Brussels sprouts instead.”

“That’s good. You don’t want the applesauce Jello that the kids always wanted, do you?”

“Oh yeah! We’ve got to have that! Oh, and rolls.”

I added King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls to the list. “Cranberry sauce?”

“Definitely! And don’t forget, pumpkin pie. Oh, and sausage cheeseballs!”

I had to laugh, so basically I’d be preparing everything I cook no matter how many people are here for Thanksgiving. I guess he wasn’t kidding all those times he’d told me that he liked everything I made for Thanksgiving. The bright spot of preparing 10 courses this time is that the timing is flexible for when I’ve got to have everything on the table.

At the store I loaded my cart with all the ingredients I would need, including things I’d forgotten to list like olives and Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider. I solved the frozen turkey dilemma by buying a fresh free range turkey (no thawing needed), and I bought enough groceries to qualify for a frozen turkey that I can cook later.  John got a new propane tank to cook the turkey on the grill. I’m looking forward to watching the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade and football while cooking at my leisure tomorrow. We will have plenty of time to count our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Laura Keolanui Stark is looking forward to leftovers. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.

Good News, Bad News for the Holidays

Bad News: This Thanksgiving we didn’t celebrate on Thanksgiving Day. Daughter Sarah was out of town. Johnny and his girlfriend had to work on the holiday.

Good News: We ate our turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It tasted just as delicious. Johnny and his girlfriend have jobs and got paid overtime for working on Thanksgiving. We were all just as thankful as we would’ve been the day before.

Bad News: For the Apple Cup this year, the WSU Cougars were going into it with a 3-8 record and not a single win in the PAC-12 conference. Coach Leach is under investigation for allegations of abuse after wide receiver Marquess Wilson quit the team.

Good News: The Apple Cup state rivalry between WSU and UW was played in Pullman this year. It wasn’t snowing. In a nail-biting overtime finale, the Washington State University Cougars beat the University of Washington Huskies 31-28. I have no doubt that the cheering, jumping, and celebratory whooping it up at our house could be heard in Pullman. 

          My favorite play of the game was when 6’1” Kalafotoni Pole reached up to snag the football from UW’s quarterback and then ran with all his 277-lb. might toward the goal line in overtime. Go Cougs! For more details about the game: Overtime Ecstasy for WSU at Apple Cup

Side Note: I’ve noticed an absence of Cougar t-shirts, and other merchandise at several local stores including Wal-Mart and Victoria’s Secret. They’ve opted to go with just UW stuff. My guess is that someone at the national level is focusing on the area surrounding each university, not realizing that most of the Cougars come from the west side of Washington.

    I’ve launched a one-woman campaign to get more crimson and gray over here, and I’m looking for other Cougars to join me. When there’s only UW purple in the store, ask a manager where the WSU merchandise is. Fill out a suggestion card. Tell them that most Cougars come from this side and that there are more than twice as many WSU license plates than UW (just go look in the parking lot), so we’re willing to spend money to support scholarships at WSU. Thank you to Fred Meyer’s for carrying a great, affordable WSU (and UW) selection!

Holiday Shopping

Bad News Shopping for Quilt Supplies: A few days before Black Friday, I studied the JoAnn Fabrics fliers looking for their bargains. My eyes zeroed in on a roll of cotton batting: 25 yards for $99. That’s a great deal! It was a doorbuster on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

I actually skipped Zumba that morning and rolled into JoAnn Fabrics at 9:15. I pushed my cart to the batting section to find my gigantic roll of batting. There was nothing there. I asked a sale clerk where the special batting was, pointing to my flier.

She told me that the store had opened at 8:00 that morning with a line out front. (Hmmm, I hadn’t noticed that on the flier. It normally opens at 9:00). There had been a line of customers waiting for the doors to open. And, the batting I wanted was sold out by 8:15.

Where I should have been lined up ahead of time.

She talked to another clerk and asked about the batting they were substituting. That was sold out by 8:30.

Alrighty then. I found a roll of Warm and Natural cotton batting that wasn’t on sale, but that I prefer anyway. I calculated how many yards of it I could buy for $99 using my 40% off coupon. I bought 11 yards.  

I missed the doorbuster batting, but I also missed standing in the cold rain with a crowd.

Good News Shopping for Quilt Supplies: I got an email from The Wild Rose Quilt Shop in Orting which I didn’t read before their Black Friday sales. Instead, I went on Sunday and got some great deals on fabric. There were $5, $7 and 60% off tables. As if those savings weren’t enough, if you bought two yards, you got the third yard free. Most high quality cotton fabric now costs from $9.99 – 12.99 a yard, and this was the good stuff: Moda, Northwood, etc.     

The Wild Rose Quilt Shop, Orting, WA

        Between the batting from JoAnn’s and the fabric from the Wild Rose, my sewing machine will be humming for a long time.

Good Shopping News Four Ways: I set a personal record. It’s still November and I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping!

Super Mall, Auburn, WA,

First shopping strategy: on what I’m calling Way More Civilized Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. John and I went to the Super Mall in Auburn and got a huge chunk of Christmas shopping done. We parked easily. There were no crowds. Everything we bought was on sale. We found the sizes we needed and things hadn’t been picked over. 

Second shopping tactic:  at 10:15 on Thanksgiving night (mere hours before the official start of Black Friday), even though I hadn’t planned on shopping, Sarah K., John, and I found ourselves at Target.  Parking took a few laps, but there wasn’t a line outside. A thoughtful lady on her way out of Target, handed us her shopping basket, “You’ll need this. There aren’t any inside.”

The three of us walked all the way back to one corner of the store past 32 rows filled with hundreds of people snaking through them aiming for 14 checkout registers.  John got in line immediately. Sarah and I hunted and gathered.

We found the things we’d come for and piled them in the basket. The line was moving pretty quickly, considering.

On our foray, we’d found out that if you were buying any electronics, which we were, you needed to be in a separate line in back of the store. John and I left Sarah with the basket in front, and went back to electronics. I showed him what to get and left him in that line, then went back up front to join Sarah.

The electronics line only had three checkers, so even though that line was shorter, it was slow going for John. Nothing like tag team shopping! Sarah had to go to work at 6am, so once we got checked out, I took her home. Then I turned around and went back to pick John up in the parking lot at midnight, the official start of Black Friday.

Shopping Technique #3: On Cyber Monday, while everyone else was at work shopping online, I was at the mall. (One of the perks of being semi-retired is that I can go shopping on weekday mornings).  As on Way More Civilized Wednesday, the parking was easy, and it was serenely un-crowded. There were lots of bargains for the picking. I even left the mall, coupons in purse, to look for something at a nearby shopping center, and returned to the mall easily with no traffic congestion.

South Hill Mall, Puyallup, WA

When my arms were exhausted from so many reps of shopping bags curls, I loaded my goodies into the trunk and drove around to the other side of the mall, to lessen the odds of my car being broken into. I popped into a few more stores. At JC Penney they didn’t have what I was looking for, so the sales lady told me to check for it online.

Christmas Shopping Technique #4: Following the advice of the Penney’s lady, when I got home, I logged in for Cyber Monday. She was right, they had what I wanted. Amazon also had what I couldn’t find at the mall, and with Amazon Prime it would be delivered to my door in two days.

Bad News: I’d tried to avoid Cyber Monday because I want to support local businesses and brick and mortar stores. I estimate that more than half of my Christmas purchases come from wandering through stores and finding the perfect gift that I didn’t start out looking for.

Also, I missed Waldenbooks and Border’s Book stores. Again, in bookstores, and libraries as well, I randomly search through the shelves. It’s easier for me to judge a book by its cover in person, than online. I’m still looking for a couple more gifts, a specific book, but after a few more unsuccessful attempts, I’ll go with Plan B.

Good News: I should have lots of time to get things wrapped up and in the mail. I’ll be able to sew a few gifts with minimal pressure, and it looks like I may actually wrap my gifts way before my usual Christmas Eve frenzy. Who knew the holidays could be so leisurely? Maybe I’ll also remember where I’ve hidden everything so that I won’t be giving Valentine’s Christmas presents in February.

Laura Keolanui Stark is starting to deck the halls and the rest of the house for the holidays. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.

Gobble! Gobble!

Although it’s Thanksgiving, it looks more like Christmas around here. It started snowing on Sunday and we ended up with about 6” of snow which is still frosting our yard and neighborhood streets. Our winter wonderland leads to the first thing I’m thankful for this year. I’m extremely grateful that my kids and their friends made it safely 300 miles across the state through blizzards and mountain passes to spend Thanksgiving at home with us.

I’m also grateful that I was able to get out of our driveway Monday afternoon to buy the turkey and the rest of the groceries for our Thanksgiving feast and that our power stayed on.

I have so many things to be thankful for, I’ll just list them. I’m thankful:

That my husband John has a great job, especially one that allows him to use his talents to make the environment a better place.

For two extraordinary kids that I like spending time with who are doing well in college. For all the great family and friends that we have sprinkled around the world.

That my family is healthy: my sister’s cancer is in remission, my brother has lost over 150 pounds and my parents’ diabetes is under control.

That I get to dance at Zumba with the Best Fitness Trainers in Western Washington and am still able to keep up.

For my pets: steady T-Bone and his sense of humor, Susie the lap dachshund who thinks she’s a big dog, Velvet the diabetic who I didn’t think would make it through Halloween, but is still lounging on her chair today, and Java, our ditzy manx, who is SO happy that Sarah’s home.

For my quilting studio, sewing machine, mountains of fabric, and time to quilt.

For the pilgrims who were gutsy enough to come to North America and the Indians who were hospitable enough to help the pilgrims survive their first winter.

For Thomas Jefferson and the rest of our founding fathers who came up with the best system of government in the world.

For our troops, ever ready to defend us and others who need our help.

For music, books, and movies to fit any mood.

For chocolate, tea, cougar gold cheddar cheese, shrimp, and steaks.

For my latest ability to qualify for a senior discount at two of my favorite stores, and yet get carded for buying beer at another.

I’m thankful that John is cooking the turkey this year in the grill we bought this summer. I hope that I’ll still be thankful for that in four and a half hours.

Lastly, I’m thankful that I’ve been able to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, football, and the National Dog Show while writing this blog on my laptop.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! 

Laura Keolanui Stark is stuffing herself for Thanksgiving. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@blogspot.com.