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| Courtesy of Aolor |
Quote of the Day
A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well
than a fool can from a mountain top.
Unknown
Commentary
I've normally reserved personal commentary for my other post formats, but I think I'll start doing another feature to fit occasions like thisI love turkey. There are other foods I particularly like but rarely eat anymore due to dietary restrictions, including cretons and tourtieres (French-Canadian heritage ground pork specialties), boiled egg sandwiches, and my Mom's lasagna, but turkeys are right up there. But I live hundreds of miles from my nearest relatives, and a $600 round trip is a little steep for my budget: you can buy a laptop for that kind of money. Still, assuming I've got space in my refrigerator for leftovers, I've been known to cook one for myself (probably at least 3 times over the past 5 years). Of course, over the next few days of leftovers, I begin to wonder what possessed me and vow I'll never do it again. Still, when you see Butterball selling at under 90-cents a pound and some store brands selling under 50 cents/lb...
I prefer dark meat (yes, I know breasts are low-fat, but dark meat is only slightly more fat and has amazing nutritional benefits like iron; I'll never forget one Thanksgiving going with my male relatives to see the Longhorns get blown out by then annual rival Aggies. the women weren't going to wait for us to come home to have their meal and so we would have to have to settle for leftovers. One of my brothers-in-law whined on our way back from Austin for us to stop for hot dogs !?! And that's not the worst part--we get home and he cuts a big beautiful steaming slice of turkey breast and then douses it, not with Mom's giblet gravy, but ketchup! It's a sacrilege, I tell you! And my beautiful goddaughter, his second child, does the same! )
I usually got one of the drumsticks at family Thanksgivings. I remember flying in for one reunion at my second sister's. Her mother-in-law was going around with a camcorder and captured me in mid-bite chomping down on a leg and asking me how I liked it. How attractive, I said to myself. I'll never post that picture on the blog.
Apparently I'm not the only one who loves turkey. I remember I was doing occasional day-long visits to KRON-TV in San Francisco. There was a convenience store in the area which roasted turkeys once a week (Mondays) and carved the meat for fresh sandwiches and they usually had lunchtime lines stretching into the streets. Damn fine eating.
I also miss the extras, including my late Dad's outstanding stuffing (recipe in my memorial blog), his rutabagas, Mom's pumpkin pie and giblet gravy.
On a more serious note, I'm thankful to be living in a country and markets still relatively free, but we need to address unsustainable spending and regulations, exacerbated by economically illiterate . We still live in a country with the most innovative and highest quality healthcare, despite government meddling threatens it and we must be ever vigilant against the progressive parasites and parrots. I'm grateful for a loving mother and siblings, a brand new beautiful grandniece, for the best job I've had in nearly 20 years. I thank God for His generous blessings and unconditional love.
Ron Paul Gives Thanks
Corrupt, Discriminatory University Admissions
Choose Life
Political Cartoon
Musical Interlude: Childhood Christmas Memories
Red Skelton, "The Little Christmas Tree".This year's theme is not fully fleshed out out yet, but it will probably focus on annual TV specials (especially Bing Crosby and Andy Williams), infamous children's TV classics (Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Rudolph, the Little Drummer Boy), novelty hits (my two front teeth, the Chipmunks), traditional Christmas favorites, carols and hymns. I remember when I was little and Dad was stationed at Otis on Cape Cod, singing carols with my siblings on the way to our relatives in the Fall River area, real Christmas trees, etc. Christmas was a magical time. My Dad was struggling to provide for a growing family on an enlisted man's salary, so other family kids had bigger, better, more toys, but we didn't care.
My folks owned a few vinyl favorite LP's, including one on red vinyl. One of them was an earlier variation of the LP pictured below, including a beautifully narrated Red Skelton skit during the height of the Cold War (predating my birth), which has been dropped from later incarnations. (For those interested, I have found this vendor; I have no financial considerations (it would be great if Amazon or iTunes licensed the track), but judging from Amazon customers for later compilations, a lot of people are looking for the track.)
What libertarian wouldn't love Santa saying, "I come back each year hoping to find people living not by man-made laws, but the Ten Commandments...'
