Let the Nog flow!

Posted by Jordan

Today I have many reasons to beat my chest and grunt triumphantly: First, I fixed the clogged garbage disposal (you are welcome Sweetheart). Second, my oldest daughter has learned to have a bowel movement on demand (I will refrain from further commentary). Thirdly--wait, you have to mentally leave the bathroom now and go back with me to the kitchen. Sorry, there really is no pleasant segue from potty training to Thanksgiving dinner--THIRDLY, I have been consuming turkey and pie for approximately 36 hours straight. I believe that Tim Allen would raise a throaty growl on all three counts.

Yes, today is a day of rejoicing in the Knutson household. But it has also had its fleeting moments of remorse. There is a song in Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols that goes something like:

"I cry the day I take the fall wreath down
I want the Harvest to last all year round..."

...They were Thanksgiving carols, right?

Seriously, though, I love the fall. I love it. There is so much to enjoy about the fall, I just don't understand why some people see the first leaves turning in September and immediately think "It's almost Christmas! I can't wait! I'm going home to listen to some Christmas music right now!" Yeah, you know who you are...Shaelie. Tinselmonger!

And I know you think I'm a scrooge because I won't crank up Brenda Lee and rock around the Christmas Tree just as soon as I can tear off my Halloween costume. Truth is, I am as excited about Christmas as anybody! But for Pete's sake, let me have just a few weeks to savor the season of pumpkins and gourds and Indian corn, to relish the cornucopias and turkeys and pilgrim hats with buckles! Let me revel in the Harvest Holiday and all of its bounty! Give me just a moment to inhale the smell of wood burning stoves and frost-bitten grass as I crunch through the last of the fall leaves! It's Thanksgiving!! And I'm always thankful for a few extra days of Fall before Winter sets in.

This year, Jaicee and I set a personal record for making Thanksgiving pies. For me, the pie making has become a tradition which I greatly anticipate each year. I have made pumpkin pie (from a pumpkin, and not from a can) every year for the last 8 years, starting on my mission when I found out that Russians had never heard of anything like it (they eat pumpkin salty like squash, but not sweet like a dessert). So I made them a pie. They loved it.

Layered cheesecakes became a regular three years ago when Amy Anderson released her long-famous perfect cheesecake recipe. This year I made a blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry. The blackberry was my personal favorite.

And for this Thanksgiving, Jaicee and I baked our first apple pies. Because Jaicee did most of the work on the apple pies, I can say without reservation that they were as good as any I have ever tasted. (She learned from the best; thanks Moms and Grandmas!)

Naivie was anxious to help with the crust...



I have experimented with different kinds of pumpkins and found that Buckskin makes the best pies. It's got a dull, powdery skin that looks almost fake if it's a nice big one without blemishes. It can be a real nice ornamental pumpkin until you decide to cook it.

Their flesh is a lot like spaghetti squash; it's very soft and it scrapes out of the skin nicely after it is cooked. And it makes super-tasty pumpkin pies...bread...cookies...anything.

This year we also tried a recipe for Caramel Turtle Pumpkin Pie that Jake Neeley gave me last week. Thanks Jake! It was the first pie gone!

But I digress...

Thanksgiving is now behind us; the turkey and ham are dwindling, and the pies are waning crescents. Today being Black Friday, and having a day off from work, I took the opportunity to help Jaicee gather up all of the pumpkins and gourds from throughout the house (which turned out to be quite a few) and put away all of the Thanksgiving decorations.


After closing the lid on the box and wiping a small tear from my eye, I raised a glass of Egg Nog to a Fall season thoroughly enjoyed, and to welcome the kick-off of the Christmas season.

So HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone I didn't get to talk to yesterday!

AND NOW, MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO!!! Let's turn on some Christmas music, eh?

Which reminds me: The best version of Little Drummer Boy ever recorded--except, of course, for Steve, McLain, and I playing it as an accordion trio--is by Jars of Clay and is the first song on the playlist at the bottom of this blog. If you have good speakers on your computer, turn it up and take four minutes and twenty seconds to be enlightened.