Turkey Day Help and/or Rant Thread

[tickledkitty]

Alcoholism is a disease, Freddie. The guy obviously can't help himself. That doesn't mean he can't see what he's doing to his family. This is no reflection on you or what you tried to do to help them. No, you probably can't help the guy, but you did something nice for the little girl, which she'll probably always remember. Maybe some day this incident will remind her that there are decent and kind people in the world and that she can be one of them.

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Alcoholism is a disease, Freddie. The guy obviously can't help himself. That doesn't mean he can't see what he's doing to his family. This is no reflection on you or what you tried to do to help them. No, you probably can't help the guy, but you did something nice for the little girl, which she'll probably always remember. Maybe some day this incident will remind her that there are decent and kind people in the world and that she can be one of them.

Yeah, I know it's a disease, but he's become more than a stranger to me. He used to have a good job. He was layed off. He lost his house. He lost his car. He lost his credit. He lost his family. Then, he started drinking.

There are a million stories like him. He's not so different or special. He's what we see now at the shelter.

Years ago it used to be bums having holiday meals. Now, it's families. There are many more kids than there are bums. It's not the fault of the children that Daddy lost his job or that Mommy is a prostitute and is hooked on crack. They are still hungry. They all are still needy.

Instead of helping them, out politicians cut services to fund a war thousands of miles away. Instead of giving her Daddy a job, they arm a soldier. It's wrong.

 

[Guest]

Public school teachers see this every day.

Abuse, neglect, kids living in shelters, many foster kids, kids who eat breakfast and lunch at school who will probably go hungry during holiday breaks, kids arriving on the first day of school without so much as a pencil, who wear the same clothes day after day because they have no others that fit -

I won't go on but you're quite right, BFW. Politicians need to see this. It's epidemic.

 

[Safe_Bet]

By the way, not that any of you believe me and I don't care if you do or don't. This is the first year that I didn't have a Thanksgiving Day meal. I went home hungry. Normally, I sit at the table and have the same meal that they do. This year, when I finally got home, I had a bottle of water and an apple. That was my Thanksgiving meal.

This year was different. We didn't have enough food. Parents were sharing plates with their kids. Normally, every year we have extra food so that those who want it and need it can have second helpings. Not this year, this year was extra bad. We ran out of food.

Besides, I lost my appetite watching some of the people eat. I've seen people eat fast before but I was watching this one guy eat as if he were a dog. He had his arms around his plate and he shoveled the food in his mouth without taking the time to swallow or to take a breath.

I can't imagine being that hungry.

I only wish our politicians could be there to witness this.

~ Big honkin' thank you hug.

(and kindly remove you hand from my ass; I haven't changed my preferences, you perv!)

 

[dr_mabeuse]

God I wish I could produce a turkey that wasn't dry. Happy to say the wine was not too dry though. Hic Hic

Cook the sucker breast side down!

Honest to god. Think about it: All the fat and dark meat is on the bottom. It all melts right into the pan when you cook it breast-side up and goes to waste.

If you cook the bird breast-side down, the fat and juice melts into the breast and makes it succulent and juicy like you wouldn't believe.

The only downside is, it won't come out all crisp and golden brown on top like in the photos. If you want that, you have to turn the bird over for the last hour of cooking -- a tricky operation, but doable with a pair of oven mitts that you'll probably have to throw away afterwards.

But this is well worth it. You won't believe how well this bird comes out. No screwing with foil or basting or any of that stuff. Just cook it breast-side down.

You can also brine the bird first. This helps a lot too and produces a much more juicy and flavorful bird. Check out "brined turkey" on Google.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

doable with a pair of oven mitts that you'll probably have to throw away afterwards.

Nah, just soak the mitts in Oxiclean for an hour and then wash!

(Brilliant idea, Doc... next time I cook a turkey, I'm gonna try it!)

 

[DesertPirate]

Nah, just soak the mitts in Oxiclean for an hour and then wash!

(Brilliant idea, Doc... next time I cook a turkey, I'm gonna try it!)

Reynolds Brown n Bag works well too

 

[voluptuary_manque]

For the ultimate turkey, nothing beats a rotisserie. However, getting the blamed thiing to balance is a right pain in the butt!

 

[JagFarlane]

Well the last of the dishes are finally soaking and almost ready to be cleaned up, place has been straightened and leftovers properly stowed away. Quite a bit of work, but worth it. LOL spent more than I had planned, but still worth it.
Cooked up a ton of food, and glad I did. Roommate and I had planned to take over a bunch of food to the people on his ship, stuck on duty for the day. Initially we had only planned to bring food for a few people, but we just kind of had a feeling, and ended up packing a lot more food. Turns out it was a good thing indeed. The "Culinary Specialists" screwed everything up in a matter of not caring because they had to work. Turns out the food was, well put, fit only for a dog. This is actually kind of a surprise, usually the food is subpar, yes, but generally for the holidays, CS's show they actually deserve the title and do a good job.
It was so bad, about 10+ people just smelled it, looked at it, and turned away. It made them want to puke. Instead of the 4-5 people we fed, we ended up feeding, at last count, before we left, 10 people with food leftover. One was a BM who had just gotten to the ship, fresh from bootcamp. He hadn't eaten for a day, and when invited to join in, looked like he was about to cry. Here he was, 18yrs old, first major holiday away from his family, didn't know anyone, in a place he wasn't familiar with, and the cooks had royally screwed up their job. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had cried, I wouldn't have blamed him.
Sometimes, thats the way it has to be. The politicians don't care, they don't really consider the human side of things. To them, military personnel are often just government property. Every year, there are the few, often chiefs, lower ranking officers, and a few other supervisory level personnel who take up the task of ensuring people have a place to go. The BM's situation isn't unique, happens more often than you'd like to think, young kid, first time away from home on a holiday, no home to go to, in a place they just got to, and surrounded by people they don't know. Just a nice feeling to know, at least that kid got to feel welcomed.

 

[JagFarlane]

By the way, not that any of you believe me and I don't care if you do or don't. This is the first year that I didn't have a Thanksgiving Day meal. I went home hungry. Normally, I sit at the table and have the same meal that they do. This year, when I finally got home, I had a bottle of water and an apple. That was my Thanksgiving meal.

This year was different. We didn't have enough food. Parents were sharing plates with their kids. Normally, every year we have extra food so that those who want it and need it can have second helpings. Not this year, this year was extra bad. We ran out of food.

Besides, I lost my appetite watching some of the people eat. I've seen people eat fast before but I was watching this one guy eat as if he were a dog. He had his arms around his plate and he shoveled the food in his mouth without taking the time to swallow or to take a breath.

I can't imagine being that hungry.

I only wish our politicians could be there to witness this.

-nods- We have a radio station down here, that works with one of the local restaurants. The station does a food drive to collect Thanksgiving type food, and the restaurant, with a few volunteer employees, opens its doors to local kids in need and feeds them for the day. They normally serve a couple hundred kids in that one day. Any extra food goes to the local food bank.

At our building on base, we're trying to get some donations together. There's a kids jacket drive, as well as a Christmas tree that has requests for kids for Christmas gifts.

Military wise, we have the CFC, which is a program where military personnel, federal employees, and postal workers can have donations pulled directly from their wages into the charity of their choice. Last year, we raised $273 million...somehow, still not enough.

 

[Safe_Bet]

...Roommate and I had planned to take over a bunch of food to the people on his ship, stuck on duty for the day. Initially we had only planned to bring food for a few people, but we just kind of had a feeling, and ended up packing a lot more food. .

Well done, dude. * big ass hug!*

We covered part of the Pac Fleet for you. We had 18 people total. It was suppose to be less, but I ALWAYS cook WAY too much food so there was plenty. About half the people there were Navy or Marine Corps.


When you are gay or lesbian in the military, you can't exactly let yourself be yourself in public so it was nice to give them a place they could enjoy themselves and have fun@ without having to look over their shoulders all the time. We made sure that everybody had at least one plate of left overs to take home to the ship and/or barracks.

What was kind of funny was that my fundie neighbors from across the street came over for dessert. I'll give them an "A" for effort at least, but "She" was WAY uncomfortable. Everybody but one person was exceedingly nice and pleasant with them, even though most of them knew that she was going to plant a Yes on Prop 8 sign across from my house. I was proud of my kids because when he made his smart assed comment both girls told him he was NOT going to be rude to somebody in THEIR house and to knock it off (Amy also had a "little chat" with him and he very meekly apologized later to her for being an asshat). "He" had a nice time cuz when they found out that he had served in the Navy, they all made him feel like part of the "crew".

I guess this year we emphasized the "Giving" part more than the "Thanks" part, but that made it kind of special in its own right.

@ = (within reason = the girls were there, damnit!)

 

[SensualCealy]

God I wish I could produce a turkey that wasn't dry. Happy to say the wine was not too dry though. Hic Hic

Cook the bird upside down for 3/4 of the time , flip it right side up for the last 1/4 so the breast browns.

C

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

-nods- We have a radio station down here, that works with one of the local restaurants. The station does a food drive to collect Thanksgiving type food, and the restaurant, with a few volunteer employees, opens its doors to local kids in need and feeds them for the day. They normally serve a couple hundred kids in that one day. Any extra food goes to the local food bank.

At our building on base, we're trying to get some donations together. There's a kids jacket drive, as well as a Christmas tree that has requests for kids for Christmas gifts.

Military wise, we have the CFC, which is a program where military personnel, federal employees, and postal workers can have donations pulled directly from their wages into the charity of their choice. Last year, we raised $273 million...somehow, still not enough.

I've been donating my time and money to this particular shelter for several years and this year was the worst I've ever seen it. There was a line outside waiting for people to be seated. It's a real shame and it's all across the country. Shades of 1929 with the soup lines, let's hope it gets better instead of worse.

Bless you and your friends for all the effort they have done for those in need.