Nix the acorn squash...

So we had a bunch of things to cook tonight for tomorrow. So what did we do? We watched Live Free Or Die Harder IV With a Balding Vengeance and the Mac Guy Too. Fun flick.

And then we got to cooking. And we were amazing. All three of us in the kitchen, rocking out, and each cooking something different. No collisions, nobody got hurt, nobody needed so much as a Band-Aid - and everything came out great. I even put on my checkered pants.

First we wash our hands.

Here's what it looks like to make Lola's stuffing...


That's the celery, onions, garlic and parsley in a whole lot of butter. Here's the meat. Which I may have neglected to mention you need to brown first. Hope nobody tried that and got sick.

I can't bring myself to do veal. And butcher's don't seem to carry it anyway. So I did a mix of ground pork, ground beef, and ground turkey. Seasoned with a little salt and pepper. And, of course, since I love it so much, I did a double batch. And then found I had no container big enough to fit it all. Until I remembered our gigantor stainless steel bowl. That was somewhere in the garage. And I eventually found it.

It really is gigantor.

Rachel did up this boiled blueberry goo with 10 Cane rum and a lot of sugar that is going over a cheesecake.


Jake decided it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And I didn't get it together early enough to make pumpkin bread this year. So we let him have at it.

And he had a mixer catastrophe. And it was funny to everyone but him. And the dogs liked the bits that got on the floor. (That's it now puppies, out of the kitchen!) And he got really upset and went to play his bass for a while.
Nice that he's got an outlet in music to help him calm down when he gets frustrated.

We gave him some time and then showed him that it actually worked out perfectly because the recipe was for ten inch pie shells and we only had 9 inch pie shells.

And we gave him some time to settle and then reminded him that you only get good at something if you practice and learn from your mistakes. Like my pomegranate mistake in the squash last week. And this Indian dish I made a few years ago that tasted like a salt lick rolled in boogers.


And if this were the Brady Bunch, or a very special Blossom, I'd say Jake learned an important lesson today.

And they came out great. I don't particularly like pumpkin pie, but I'm sure it will be delicious to those that do. And he did it.

Also, Rachel cut up the yams so I could make the yammy marshmallowy casserole.


It was a lot of fun cooking together. And now I need to get some sleep so I can drive to Petaluma and eat all of this and a bunch of what everyone else is making.

Oh, and the stuffed acorn squash got cut from the menu. Lauren and Paul are bringing two vegetable dishes and I don't think we will have enough time to bake them tomorrow. So that's that.

Again, I wish you safe travel and a fantastic holiday.