Ode on a Texan

There once was a girl named Jenn,
Who wrote Post-its to herself with a pen.
One day she came to Vancouver from Texas,
Driving up in a Mary-blessed Honda, not Lexus.
With her she brought belt buckles and cowboy boots,
Adopting a fleece wardrobe but not forgettting her roots.
She took baths and drank Wild Turkey,
Ate cranberry sauce and made many a cookie.
But alas, to Houston she must now return.
She will be missed; for her company I will yearn.

George (the Turkey)

George (the Turkey)
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

We named him after our not-so-favourite American politician knowing that we would be eating him at the end of the day. Boy was he tasty...

I am thankful for...Leftovers!

Whew...what a night!

The turkey turned out very nicely, thanks to the detailed instructions provided by my friends at Butterball. Definitely will have to work on the carving technique though. By the time Jesse and I had finished with it, we had a plateful of turkey fibre bundles rather than slices. According to the Food Network website you are supposed to slice the breast parallel to the breast bone. Now that I have a meat thermometer I will have to roast some chickens in practice for next year! Also will need to discuss with Kevin gravy-making tips, if Mr. Gravy (as we call him) will divulge his secrets.

So, in the end we had 14 people, including Jenn and myself, crammed into our laundry room. (I know...The ambiance at Chez J and J leaves something to be desired, but the food will have you talking for weeks!) I literally had a handle from the foosball table digging into my back throughout dinner. Luckily eating didn't take too long and we could dismantle at least one of the tables to make more room to move around. The final guest list was varied, and full of an entertaining cast of characters:
- Me (drunk, red-faced and divulging secrets)
- Jenn (empty stomach made her particularly sensitive to the brandy-filled cranberry sauce)
- Kevin (loud as usual and drawing Cock-turkeys on the fridge)
- Cory (Kevin's cousin. He brought us two cartons of Breyers ice cream...we like him.)
- Lindsay and Chris (newly married, and slightly ADD - they left before dinner)
- Rodolfo (random Mexican guy who makes a mean mojito)
- Lance (friend of Rodolfo, music snob, and a big big jerk)
- Kate (a redheaded Hawaiian, lives up to her AloHo status)
- Britta (maker of pumpkin pies, and former Burwash buddy)
- Jesse (my Hamilton homeboy and carver of turkey...you'd think 3 turkeys in one week would make him good at it...)
- Mike (left his flowers at home, and drew a butterfly for the fridge...go figure...)
- Leah (you can't make friends with salad, which is why she'll be eating her leftovers for the rest of the week)
- Rakel (emptied out her parents' fridge, and (yay!) brought leftovers home!)
- Karen (always entertaining...the crepes, the Igminer, the salsa dance...party wouldn't have been the same without her)

Anywho...it was a really fun time. I wish I had taken photos...but I only took one...of the turkey (stop laughing!). We have loads of leftovers...especially desserts. So if anyone wants some pound cake/mousse/pie/ice cream...c'mon over.

Flipping the bird

It seems there are pros and cons to blocking the "comments" section of my blog. On the one hand, I won't get irritating spam disguised as actual comments, but on the other I block access from anonymous other people that can be really cool. (Like the girl who said she liked my perogies!) I guess I will have to deal with the spam, unless someone has another suggestion for me...

So, this weekend will mark my first official Thanksgiving away from home. I know, last year I was also away. But, because I was in Edmonton and thoughts of turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie were far removed from our little cabin in the woods, it passed largely unmissed. On Monday, having been surprised by the imminence of the upcoming holiday (for some reason I thought it was NEXT weekend), my mind started quickly reeling to figure out how I would "celebrate". Flights to Winnipeg and Edmonton being well out of my price range, I would have to somehow make do here in the city.

Maybe I would make a turkey...but then, who would eat it? So, I came up with a (bright) idea. I would invite lost souls (i.e. those who didn't have a place to go for Thanksgiving) to our apartment to eat turkey. In exchange they only need bring a side dish of some sort. Jenn was in full support of this idea, Thanksgiving being the one meal where she can pretty much eat anything that is prepared without breaking out into a rash or becoming comatose. Not that she needs an excuse to eat cranberry sauce. Haha!

Yeah, so good idea...but, really most people that I know here have family here. So, I didn't expect much of a turnout. In fact, when i first broached Jenn with the idea, I added the clause "if no one comes, we can still make a chicken." Now, it has escalated to a point where we worry that our living room-less and definitely dining room-less apartment will not be able to accomodate the potential number of people that have agreed to come. Our current guest list stands at 13. With a possible 4 more people. Not that I'm ungrateful. I think it will be a blast. Or at least a good story for our grandchildren about the time when our landlady set a 'Thanksgiving surcharge" on us.

This also means that I get to make a turkey. I have never made a turkey before, but the websites make it out to be really quite simple. I have roasted a chicken in cooking class, and I imagine that it will be quite similar. And I have watched my dad make them before. I don't have a turkey lifter, or any fancy mechanisms to tie it up with, or a meat thermometer, but I'm sure these will be exciting purchases.

I will write on Monday to let you know how it went. Gobble, gobble everyone!

Approach

Approach
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

I enjoy the symmetry in this photo...The relief of seeing the shore approaching!

SOEH/BRIDGE longboat team 2005

SOEH/BRIDGE longboat team 2005
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

Still fresh after Saturday's race...and hey...the sun is shining!

The finish line

The finish line
Originally uploaded by Jadine.

During today's race I had to go bang the gong with a baton that we had picked up from shore earlier in the race. I am nearly ready to collapse from exhaustion in this photo.

My, my...what a longboat you have!

Once again, SOEH entered a team into UBC's Day of the Longboat event. Decked in red and wearing pink and green clown wigs, not only were we a sight, but we also kicked some longboat ass. The turnout this year was phenomenal. With over 200 teams and almost 3000 participants, this is the biggest voyageur canoe event in North America. And, we did our department proud...

All week long the meteorologists had been predicting rain for this weekend, but we lucked out on Saturday. It was sunny, and almost...dare I say it, warm...In our co-rec mixed heat, we came in a respectable second, moving us into the co-rec grad studies final today.

Today, however, the weather was not nearly as co-operative. As I left my house for the Jericho Beach Sailing Centre, little droplets of rain were moistening my face. By race time, the drizzle had stopped but there was a definite chill in the air. The water was also quite a bit choppier. Despite residual muscle strain from the previous day's event, we paddled along. And once again came up with a second place finish.

Second place, we figure, is the sweet spot. It's a respectable enough standing such that we are not embarassed, and also (thankfully) not good enough to force us into the co-rec final, which we would never have won anyway. Instead, we got to change out of our cold wet clothing into warm dry fleece (of course) and headed to the pub for beer and food.

Fresh from a hot bath, and still wearing Graham's oversized fleece sweater, I am now exhausted and sore, but warm. I think I will do some reading and hit the hay early tonight. Going for a site visit to the fibreboard company tomorrow and have to wake up at 6:30am...ick...