random thoughts – Day 1,341 – (Saturday) – season’s eatings

The season of merriment and excessive eating has officially begun. I had sort of been inadvertently training for it with the laser focus on food for the past couple weeks, so I felt ready for my sister’s Friends and Family potluck event today. Each year, she and her husband rent a hall, and the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a parade of crockpots, sterno pans, and desserts carried by an assortment of friends and family members files into the space for an afternoon of conversation and eating.

Prep work.

This morning, while chugging the usual pot of coffee, I was also playing little Betty Crocker. There was the chopping of onions and celery, peeling and cutting of apples, slicing of cranberries, smashing of walnuts, and sprinkling of cinnamon. The prep work was followed by a sauté in butter and a toss with cornbread stuffing. It’s one of my favorite winter food side dishes. 

There is always so much food. This year was no different. The tables stretched for about mile and were loaded with food.

There was toss salad, finger sandwiches, and Cowboy Caviar bean and veggie salad. There were tiny tartlets stuffed with buffalo chicken, and various dips and chips. Sterno cans heated trays of turkey with gravy and ham with pineapple. Crockpots held beef stew, loaded potato soup, mashed squash, beans with hot dog bites, meatballs, and stuffing. Chicken pot pie and piping hot trays of shepherd’s pie appeared as if by magic. Trays and bowls held various hot and cold pasta dishes and veggies with chicken.

And then there was the dessert table, marked by a sign declaring “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.” It was loaded with pizzelles, whoopie pies, brownies, and assorted cookies. So, so amazing and tasty. Yes, I think I tasted it all, savory and sweet. Ok, almost all. I missed out on the meatballs, which were clearly a bit hit. 

My season of eating will continue with a plate of leftovers from today. Then, it’s on to Thursday and Thanksgiving dinner at Mom’s. On Friday, the plans are for dinner and a concert with friends. And so on, likely until the New Year. I really need to buckle down and get back on a regular gym schedule.