the Friday after

Much can be written about the Friday after Thanksgiving. People shop and hunt for bargains. That's a given. How many emails have you been getting announcing best ever Black Friday deals?  It's also a day of regrets for those who do their shopping early. (Me!) What? I bought that at 10 percent off a week ago and now it's half price? Infuriating! And famously, it is a day of struggling with leftover turkey. Most people would agree that reheating leftover turkey is like reheating leftover seafood. Dryness sets in. Turkey and seafood do not taste good all dried out. The flavor's gone.

Cooks have long figured out that you have to lose those bits of turkey in saucy dishes that add moisture and taste. I'm sure if you google "what to do with leftover turkey" you'll hit a jackpot of suggestions and they all will include smearing something on that meat or drowning it in some moisture bath.

I dont disagree with any of that, but I do want to remind you that back in the 1960s, we had our own answer to the vexing problem of too much turkey in the fridge: we made Turkey Tetrazzini. Well, not "we." More like the populace out there. My mom never roasted a turkey and so we had no turkey leftovers. But, in my pre-teen years (like from about 10 or 11 onwards) I was responsible for cooking up my own supper (my sister and I ate dinner at 4 -- right after school) and there was nothing, simply nothing I liked better than popping a Stouffer's frozen Turkey Tetrazzini into the oven. That love stayed with me. When I was a young adult, starting out on my own, I'd also stack up on Turkey Tetrazzini frozen dinners. 

What is this dish, you ask? Oh, turkey bits and mushrooms smothered in a creamy cheese sauce, all mixed with some noodles. It was the brainchild of a San Francisco chef who named it after a popular Italian opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini who happened to be in SF at the beginning of the 20th century. The frozen dish, made by Stouffer's, came much later -- after World War II, when frozen dinners became the rage. I swear, the reason these so called TV dinners were always so addictive was because they had a huge sodium count. Excessive salt always strengthens the flavor of bland dishes. 

So here we are, at the farmhouse, with, would you believe it -- turkey leftovers! Is it Turkey Tetrazzini time??

It is not. The thing about youthful tastebuds is that somewhere oh between age 22 and 22.5 they get radically transformed. Things that were once heaven on earth take on questionable worth. You have evolved into the world of adult pleasures and nothing from that period of preadolescence is terribly impressive anymore. 

So heads up: Ed and I will not be eating Turkey Tetrazzini today and, too, we will not be shopping.

What's left in life for Black Friday??

To add to our misery (if Turkey Tetrazzini depravation is indeed reason enough to shed tears), the high temperature today (the HIGH mind you) is only going to reach 31F (-.5C). We haven't grown our winter fur yet! That's way too cold to enjoy the great outdoors (when there is no snow...).

Brisk walk to barn (it's nowhere near 31F yet -- that blast of "warmth" comes late in the afternoon) to feed the animals. 

Dumb chickens still get confused when I walk there to feed them. Some run at the clap of my hands, others halt dead in their tracks, as if wondering -- where is everyone?

Breakfast. Oatmeal. Back to basics. Dance is not impressed. 

And then we get ready for the rest of the weekend. This includes such tasks as house cleaning and figuring out all those details of who goes where and when and for what reason on Saturday and then again on Sunday. You'll see -- it's going to be complicated.

By late afternoon, I'm ready to sprint out for a hike in our local park. No biking today. We drive and I and so glad that Alpine Blue has warm seats!

(the cranes are still grouping, waiting perhaps for the right moment...)

(ducks, not minding the icy cold waters of Lake Waubesa)

And how do we manage our leftovers? Pretty much the same way we managed the Thanksgiving meal itself: arrange what you want on the plate, being mindful that on this day you should eat less because yesterday was the national over-eating day, but the Friday after is not. Then pop it in the microwave, pick a good movie (NOT the end of All the Light You Cannot See -- I reserve that for an overseas flight where the standards for movie viewing are much lower) and exhale. With leftover turkey and leftover gratitude. It's all good!