What people may not realize about wild game is that it's not tender like the nice cuts of meat at the supermarket. It's tough, and you have to cook it the right way. A goose takes 25 minutes per pound, and at twelve pounds it took about five hours. Turkey might take five hours, but we're talking a twenty-pound turkey.
At any rate, tonight we had goose, squash, peas, greenbean casserole (honest to god, mom still had those damn French's Onions or whatever they are. Guess they never go bad), potatoes, apple-walnut-raisin stuffing (my idea--putting fruit in a goose sounded good), and for the first time real cranberries, not the stuff out of can.
To be honest, I still like the canned jelly better. I'll adapt.
Everything but the cranberries was local; do cranberries only grow in New England? And we had pumpkin pie made with real sugar pumpkins. But again, I still prefer the canned mush. I guess I'll get used to it.
But, seeing as today is Thanksgiving, this is what I'm thankful for:
- my family, especially my husband
- I'm still employed
- we still have our house
- that Pennsylvania has a lot of farms
- that I'm still a pretty-good shot with a rifle.
November can be a dreary month, especially when it rains. We just sit at the computer, checking patents, breaking for lunch, breaking for dinner. We try to get the week's work done in about three days, so that we have four days off. The company pays us by the work we do, not by the hours, so it makes sense.
So we spend our days trying to fill the time. I've started crocheting again; I used to do it as a teenager, but never kept up with it after I went to college. Just wasn't that interested, and besides, I can always buy a sweater--why make one?
Well...
So I'm trying to make a blanket, but I'm not very good at it. I keep having to unravel and start again. And it's only one color--I can't really do much else.
To be honest, I'm bored.
Survival--when we're talking about just getting through the day, when every day will be the same--when survival means "here, eat this canned food that you've been eating every day this week"--when survival means you don't go to the movies anymore or buy CDs anymore because that money's going towards the heating bill, and besides, there aren't any movies being made and the theaters are mostly closed, except for the occasional repertory theater--when survival means just getting through the damn day, it can be pretty damn boring.
Maybe the depression's just getting to me. I've been off my medication for months now, and while sometimes I'm too busy to feel anything, there are other times--and I know the winter will be like this--other times when I despair.
And I still can't figure out what to give Den for Christmas. I dunno, I guess I'll crochet something. Last year, I bought him a Playstation.
Omnia vanitas...
2 comments:
You could grow cranberries if you are in PA. You just need the correct soil- or adjust it to work- lower the pH and add sand and peat moss. I LOVE real cranberry sauce......
And if you're bored- come on out here and I'll put you to work- no time to be bored here! I sort of crawl into bed gratefully at the end of the day.....
Blueski
You know, it's actually the stems that bothered me. I thought we'd picked them all out, but I was still crunching on stems.
As for being bored, well, there's part of me that would love to just quit the job and farm instead. I love working in my garden, and I'd rather be doing physical labor during the day instead of sitting in front of a computer terminal.
But then I think about the mortgage, the bills, and realize that for now, I'm stuck at the job I have.
As for the cranberries, that's good to know. What I didn't realize is that Jersey, which is practically next door, is the highest producer in cranberries. Goes to show what I know.
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