We hosted Thanksgiving in Bowie this year. Alison's Dad and Sue were there, along with Alison's Uncle Dennis and Pam. Of course, Nicholas and Sarah's cousins Twila and Kendra were there, along with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Treva.
All the food came out great - and Alison really timed everything well. Thanks to Alton Brown for the roast turkey recipe and the gravy recipe. It was so warm and beautiful during the day; the kids got to enjoy the backyard playset in the sun and leaves before dinner.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Magic in the Night
On Monday night, David and Alison went with some friends to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in DC. Our seats were in the very last row of the arena - we could touch the ceiling when we stood up - but at least we were "center ice". The show was simply outstanding - it was David's favorite show of the ~10 or so times he's seen Bruce (with or without the E Street band) so far.
There were rave reviews in both the Washington Post and the Washington Times for the Sunday night show. The Post reviewer also did a song-by-song recap of Monday night - and a colleague of his did the same thing (hilariously) from The Big Man's perspective.
David's (My) personal favorites were a loud bluesy version of "Reason to Believe", the appearance of the rare (and my favorite Bruce song of all-time) "Backstreets", and a smokin' duet with Bruce and his wife Patti on her song "Town Called Heartbreak". But the emotional highpoint of the night was the last three songs: "Last to Die", "Long Walk Home", and "Badlands". Just before "Last to Die" started, Bruce said "This is for John!". Now David (I) KNEW that it wasn't dedicated to my cousin John - but that's not what my heart heard. I'd visited his grave site at Arlington National Cemetery earlier that day for the observation of Veterans Day. The next day, it was reported that the song was dedicated to John Kerry, who Bruce campaigned for in 2004 and who inspired the lyrics to "Last to Die" (and who was in the audience). The encores were all better than the last, and included "Thunder Road", "Born to Run", "Dancing in the Dark", and "American Land".
There were rave reviews in both the Washington Post and the Washington Times for the Sunday night show. The Post reviewer also did a song-by-song recap of Monday night - and a colleague of his did the same thing (hilariously) from The Big Man's perspective.
David's (My) personal favorites were a loud bluesy version of "Reason to Believe", the appearance of the rare (and my favorite Bruce song of all-time) "Backstreets", and a smokin' duet with Bruce and his wife Patti on her song "Town Called Heartbreak". But the emotional highpoint of the night was the last three songs: "Last to Die", "Long Walk Home", and "Badlands". Just before "Last to Die" started, Bruce said "This is for John!". Now David (I) KNEW that it wasn't dedicated to my cousin John - but that's not what my heart heard. I'd visited his grave site at Arlington National Cemetery earlier that day for the observation of Veterans Day. The next day, it was reported that the song was dedicated to John Kerry, who Bruce campaigned for in 2004 and who inspired the lyrics to "Last to Die" (and who was in the audience). The encores were all better than the last, and included "Thunder Road", "Born to Run", "Dancing in the Dark", and "American Land".
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Turkey for me, Turkey for you
It turns out there we're hosting Thanksgiving this year. We usually go to Ali's Dad's, but there will be a few more guests and not enough room. We're more than glad to host - the only problem is that we've never cooked a turkey before!
So, today, Alison had a "dry" run and cooked a practice turkey. The turkey didn't turn out dry at all though, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Turkey is a weird bird (ha!) - it cost about as much for the roasting pan as it did for the turkey. But Ali certainly spent enough time defrosting the turkey over 2+ days, brining it, and then preparing it to be cooked. It only took a little over 2 hours in the oven, and came out great (except the skin wasn't crispy enough for Ali). There were some spills and "uh oh"'s and "oh cr@p"'s along the way; hopefully, we worked out most of the kinks in the system. The whole house smells like Thanksgiving, because we made some turkey stock as well. Wish us luck - and leave us some advice!
So, today, Alison had a "dry" run and cooked a practice turkey. The turkey didn't turn out dry at all though, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Turkey is a weird bird (ha!) - it cost about as much for the roasting pan as it did for the turkey. But Ali certainly spent enough time defrosting the turkey over 2+ days, brining it, and then preparing it to be cooked. It only took a little over 2 hours in the oven, and came out great (except the skin wasn't crispy enough for Ali). There were some spills and "uh oh"'s and "oh cr@p"'s along the way; hopefully, we worked out most of the kinks in the system. The whole house smells like Thanksgiving, because we made some turkey stock as well. Wish us luck - and leave us some advice!
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