Thanksgiving Dinner - Recap

As you may have read in the comments our neighbor who was caught in the explosion died. It is very unfortunate but I am thankful they pulled her out of the house alive and perhaps she got to speak to her loved ones before she passed. Here is another article in the Times that quotes me. Apparently I was also on 1010WINS, a local radio station. I hope they didn't make me sound like an idiot.

Now onto the Thanksgiving recap. We didn't sleep well the night of the explosion but mostly because of loud generators out on the street where the gas company was working. In the morning the generators were still on so it was very loud in the house. Our street was also still closed to non-residents and we had no heat. Our furnace couldn't be turned on because of a bad valve. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to have Thanksgiving at our place but I had all the food so I figured I should start cooking and we would figure it out later. We made plans with our guests to bring the food to their house if things didn't improve. All day long firemen and gas company guys were in and out of our house taking readings and checking the inside environment. Levels were all normal. The neighborhood was still crawling with reporters but thankfully the police tape kept them off our front porch.

First up was the Turkey. Unfortunately I was mixing the Seitan dough when the stranger knocked on my door so it ended up sitting on the counter until 11:30pm and then I threw it in the fridge until morning. Lets just say it didn't work out. We ditched the turkey. I have photos but they are on the other camera. Although I doubt you want to see a nasty looking glob of fake meat. It was pretty gross.

The rest of the food turned out great. At about 2pm all of a sudden the generators our front stopped and it was quiet. Greg and I looked at each other and immediately ran up to the bedroom for a quick nap while there was peace and quiet. When we got up they had opened the street up fully so we called our guests and had them come over. The heat was still out but with the kitchen going strong and was keeping the house warm.

Our dear friends John and Aimee came over (with some really delicious potatoes by the way) and brought their neighbor Andrew who we know well. We enjoyed some yummy appetizers including some really stinky cheese (this was not a vegan thanksgiving). I was really pleased with the way everything turned out and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal. After dinner we played a few games and then enjoyed 2 rounds of dessert. The creme brulee turned out good but I put a little too much sugar on the top and had a hard time melting it with the brulee torch. Andrew brought us a couple pies to try which were also very yummy.

It ended up being a really nice day and we had much to be thankful for.