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So! Thanksgiving at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadesong and yendi's place this year was nothing short of amazing. Once again, I was honored to be accepted into their kitchen as the third post of GOCTADS (the Gojirawicziev Official Culinary Triumvirate and Ass-whup Delivery Service), and I think I speak of all of us when I say that we could not have hoped for a better holiday. After an early bit of zomigod-stress and panic attackery early on, things went as smoothly as they ever could; although things got busy or even hectic, they never got unmanageable or into the freakout red zone. The food was gorgeous, the company was wonderful throughout our stay, and…and…and I'm going all bouncy-hand-wavy trying to unearth enough superlatives.
Things went so well for the entire trip before, during and after the holiday, in fact, that for this year's write-up I am proud to present the first- (and last-) annual Thanksgiving Weekend Awards:
Most Notable Thing Left Behind in New York
3rd Place: One ofrafaela's prescriptions
A problem, but thankfully not a crisis.
2nd Place: The Hat That Looks Good on Everyone
An oversight. I think this was the first Boston event in years that the hat did not tag along for. I was saddened.
1st Place: My guitar
Emphatically not an oversight, as it totally got me out of that "88 Lines About 44 Fangirls" thing. (And many thanks toeustaciavye and ringoffire75 for leaving early, and taking your guitar with you.)
Best Thanksgiving Non-Cooking Pastime (Daylight Hours)
3rd Place: The now-annual No-Fun Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
A.k.a. "driving around trying to find a frickin' bottle of vanilla extract in a town where grocery stores are required by law to close on major holidays."yendi and I have gotten rather used to this little pas de deux (last year it was cloves), but not to the point that it has become anything resembling fun. In fact, why is it even in this category? Move along, folks, move along….
2nd Place: Dancing in the kitchen
At least whenever "Jump Around" by House of Pain came on iTunes. No, I can't dance. No, I don't care.
1st Place: MST3King the Macy's Parade
That and playing the Greatest Rickroll Ever on the Tivo over and over and over again. Never got old.
Scariest Horror Movie
3rd Place: Zombie Strippers
Inflicted upon the masses late on Thursday after the traditional Princess Bride and the semi-traditional Clue, and apparently the most weird-ass adaptation of Ionesco's Rhinoceros ever committed to film. Sadly, I did not make it past the half-hour mark or so, as my low gore tolerance kicked in when things got too, um, viscous and/or sinewy (well before the fabled billiard balls scene). So I set up camp in the zombie-free room, where I was joined by a couple of other equally queasy folks. (Sorry for all the noise over there, folks.)
2nd Place: The Apple
My Black Friday revenge for Zombie Strippers. Those who would argue that The Apple is not a horror movie has neither heard the songs not seen the costumes. We got about halfway through, which was a good half hour longer than I'd anticipated. Kindred spiritultra_lilac absolutely adored it, which means I probably owe mgrasso a big, demonstrative apology.
1st Place: The Turkey Neck That Ate Boston
The turkey for the feast, privately raised and butchered for the occasion, was safely swaddled in plastic prior to Thursday, which meant thatshadesong and yendi didn't see that the neck was still attached until we unwrapped the beast and found this icky phallic-looking thing sticking out. After much shrieking in terror and hiding behind furniture, and after noting that this sucker wasn't going to budge easily, we called in experienced hunter and knife-wielder lbitw, who was kind enough to remove the offending appendage, but not before posing for some seriously unwholesome hentai-ish photos. Which, of course, got shown to everyone who came in the door. (lbitw's comment: "I've had bigger.")
Most Notable Food Not Actually Available at the Feast
3rd Place: Homemade gravy
It didn't turn out to be necessary in the end, as the turkey, stuffed with aromatics and panned with broth and other good stuff, turned out beautifully moist and succulent. Which is good, because the last-minute recipe we found online was made with a two and a half cups of FAIL.
2nd Place: Braised cat
Oft discussed, never carried out. Jack, Tori and Max, the Feline Big Pimpin' Crew, mostly just gave us dirty looks and reminded us that they know where we sleep.
1st Place: Oat Bran
"Ooot braahn! I's got ooots! I's got braahn! I's croonchy!" No, don't ask, but suffice it to say that I've been giggling and jumping into a bad Scottish accent at random intervals for days now.rafaela is about ready to murder me.
Best Place to Sleep
3rd Place: Under the dining table
Where I ended up all three nights. My apologies toharkalark and lbitw, with whom I shared the air mattress on Wednesday and Thursday night respectively. (No, we didn't spoon. Go away.)
2nd Place: The turkey
Mofo was 24 pounds, people. It could sleep a family of three (no pets or smokers, please).
1st Place: With someone cute
Because it got awfully chilly in the morning. Yeah, that's it.
Best Post-11 PM Pastime (Not That, Pervs)
3rd Place: Deciding on our new band name
Personal favorite: Tenured Concubine. Rawk.
2nd Place: Heckling the smokers
Gojirawicziev,shadesong and yendi's cozy sovereign enclave, is a smoke-free environment, which meant that anyone wanting a puff had to exit through the front door, and thus face the Gauntlet of Non-Smokers (of which I am a proud member) who were more than happy to be sanctimonious asses for the greater good: "Happy emphysema! Enjoy your suicide on the installment plan!" We're probably going to hell.
1st Place: Determining ifshadesong does, in fact, snore
There was much controversy surrounding this issue, with passionate arguments from those on both the "doesn't" side (i.e.shadesong) and the "does" side (i.e. anyone who has ever witnessed shadesong sleeping). To her credit, she was willing to put the matter up to scientific trial by joining the slumber-partiers in the downstairs living area on Friday night, and it must be said that she did not snore on that occasion, although elionwyr did claim that she "whinnied" at one point. I, however, still sounded like a hacksaw on rebar, so I'm going to change the subject now.
Most Notable Thing Left Behind in Boston
3rd Place: Half a bag of arborio rice
The pumpkin risotto came out beautifully, so perhaps the remains of the bag may be put to good use.
2nd Place: My rotary cheese grater
Dammit, now I need to find some other way to feel like an Olive Garden waiter in the comfort of my own home. Maybe if I took up smoking….
1st Place: My DVD copy of The Apple
Great. I'll never see it in its pre-immolated form again.
Best Help the Kitchen Crew Could Have
Bazillion-way Tie
Many, many thanks togwynraven for stepping in when needed, to elionwyr for actually volunteering to head up KP duty, to lbitw for being the kitchen bouncer/hired muscle, to Elayna for rockin' the house on the cookies and other prep, to everyone who brought food and wine, and to everyone there who helped things go so much more smoothly than any of us could have ever hoped. And of course to our hosts, shadesong and yendi, who made this all happen.
Best Thanksgiving ever. 'Nuff said.
shadesong and yendi's place this year was nothing short of amazing. Once again, I was honored to be accepted into their kitchen as the third post of GOCTADS (the Gojirawicziev Official Culinary Triumvirate and Ass-whup Delivery Service), and I think I speak of all of us when I say that we could not have hoped for a better holiday. After an early bit of zomigod-stress and panic attackery early on, things went as smoothly as they ever could; although things got busy or even hectic, they never got unmanageable or into the freakout red zone. The food was gorgeous, the company was wonderful throughout our stay, and…and…and I'm going all bouncy-hand-wavy trying to unearth enough superlatives.Things went so well for the entire trip before, during and after the holiday, in fact, that for this year's write-up I am proud to present the first- (and last-) annual Thanksgiving Weekend Awards:
Most Notable Thing Left Behind in New York
3rd Place: One of
rafaela's prescriptionsA problem, but thankfully not a crisis.
2nd Place: The Hat That Looks Good on Everyone
An oversight. I think this was the first Boston event in years that the hat did not tag along for. I was saddened.
1st Place: My guitar
Emphatically not an oversight, as it totally got me out of that "88 Lines About 44 Fangirls" thing. (And many thanks to
eustaciavye and ringoffire75 for leaving early, and taking your guitar with you.)Best Thanksgiving Non-Cooking Pastime (Daylight Hours)
3rd Place: The now-annual No-Fun Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
A.k.a. "driving around trying to find a frickin' bottle of vanilla extract in a town where grocery stores are required by law to close on major holidays."
yendi and I have gotten rather used to this little pas de deux (last year it was cloves), but not to the point that it has become anything resembling fun. In fact, why is it even in this category? Move along, folks, move along….2nd Place: Dancing in the kitchen
At least whenever "Jump Around" by House of Pain came on iTunes. No, I can't dance. No, I don't care.
1st Place: MST3King the Macy's Parade
That and playing the Greatest Rickroll Ever on the Tivo over and over and over again. Never got old.
Scariest Horror Movie
3rd Place: Zombie Strippers
Inflicted upon the masses late on Thursday after the traditional Princess Bride and the semi-traditional Clue, and apparently the most weird-ass adaptation of Ionesco's Rhinoceros ever committed to film. Sadly, I did not make it past the half-hour mark or so, as my low gore tolerance kicked in when things got too, um, viscous and/or sinewy (well before the fabled billiard balls scene). So I set up camp in the zombie-free room, where I was joined by a couple of other equally queasy folks. (Sorry for all the noise over there, folks.)
2nd Place: The Apple
My Black Friday revenge for Zombie Strippers. Those who would argue that The Apple is not a horror movie has neither heard the songs not seen the costumes. We got about halfway through, which was a good half hour longer than I'd anticipated. Kindred spirit
ultra_lilac absolutely adored it, which means I probably owe mgrasso a big, demonstrative apology.1st Place: The Turkey Neck That Ate Boston
The turkey for the feast, privately raised and butchered for the occasion, was safely swaddled in plastic prior to Thursday, which meant that
shadesong and yendi didn't see that the neck was still attached until we unwrapped the beast and found this icky phallic-looking thing sticking out. After much shrieking in terror and hiding behind furniture, and after noting that this sucker wasn't going to budge easily, we called in experienced hunter and knife-wielder lbitw, who was kind enough to remove the offending appendage, but not before posing for some seriously unwholesome hentai-ish photos. Which, of course, got shown to everyone who came in the door. (lbitw's comment: "I've had bigger.")Most Notable Food Not Actually Available at the Feast
3rd Place: Homemade gravy
It didn't turn out to be necessary in the end, as the turkey, stuffed with aromatics and panned with broth and other good stuff, turned out beautifully moist and succulent. Which is good, because the last-minute recipe we found online was made with a two and a half cups of FAIL.
2nd Place: Braised cat
Oft discussed, never carried out. Jack, Tori and Max, the Feline Big Pimpin' Crew, mostly just gave us dirty looks and reminded us that they know where we sleep.
1st Place: Oat Bran
"Ooot braahn! I's got ooots! I's got braahn! I's croonchy!" No, don't ask, but suffice it to say that I've been giggling and jumping into a bad Scottish accent at random intervals for days now.
rafaela is about ready to murder me.Best Place to Sleep
3rd Place: Under the dining table
Where I ended up all three nights. My apologies to
harkalark and lbitw, with whom I shared the air mattress on Wednesday and Thursday night respectively. (No, we didn't spoon. Go away.)2nd Place: The turkey
Mofo was 24 pounds, people. It could sleep a family of three (no pets or smokers, please).
1st Place: With someone cute
Because it got awfully chilly in the morning. Yeah, that's it.
Best Post-11 PM Pastime (Not That, Pervs)
3rd Place: Deciding on our new band name
Personal favorite: Tenured Concubine. Rawk.
2nd Place: Heckling the smokers
Gojirawicziev,
shadesong and yendi's cozy sovereign enclave, is a smoke-free environment, which meant that anyone wanting a puff had to exit through the front door, and thus face the Gauntlet of Non-Smokers (of which I am a proud member) who were more than happy to be sanctimonious asses for the greater good: "Happy emphysema! Enjoy your suicide on the installment plan!" We're probably going to hell.1st Place: Determining if
shadesong does, in fact, snoreThere was much controversy surrounding this issue, with passionate arguments from those on both the "doesn't" side (i.e.
shadesong) and the "does" side (i.e. anyone who has ever witnessed shadesong sleeping). To her credit, she was willing to put the matter up to scientific trial by joining the slumber-partiers in the downstairs living area on Friday night, and it must be said that she did not snore on that occasion, although elionwyr did claim that she "whinnied" at one point. I, however, still sounded like a hacksaw on rebar, so I'm going to change the subject now.Most Notable Thing Left Behind in Boston
3rd Place: Half a bag of arborio rice
The pumpkin risotto came out beautifully, so perhaps the remains of the bag may be put to good use.
2nd Place: My rotary cheese grater
Dammit, now I need to find some other way to feel like an Olive Garden waiter in the comfort of my own home. Maybe if I took up smoking….
1st Place: My DVD copy of The Apple
Great. I'll never see it in its pre-immolated form again.
Best Help the Kitchen Crew Could Have
Bazillion-way Tie
Many, many thanks to
gwynraven for stepping in when needed, to elionwyr for actually volunteering to head up KP duty, to lbitw for being the kitchen bouncer/hired muscle, to Elayna for rockin' the house on the cookies and other prep, to everyone who brought food and wine, and to everyone there who helped things go so much more smoothly than any of us could have ever hoped. And of course to our hosts, shadesong and yendi, who made this all happen.Best Thanksgiving ever. 'Nuff said.
