The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[1muttsfan]

And Happy Birthday!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not a super big fan of dressing either. We're going to have steak, not turkey.
I made the 9-hour drive (thanks to traffic issues) to spend the holiday with my sister in Naperville (Chicago area) so hopefully the snow situation will be resolved before I head back Sunday.

Glad you got to go, Mary. I do like dressing, but it has never liked me. Best I avoid it unless hubs needs a pre-company taste tester. i can do that, but that's it. Be careful coming back!

 

[speckledhen]

And Happy Birthday!

Thank you!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Not my ancestors. Remember, I'm adopted so my actual ancestors on both my mother and father's sides started in New England and Canada where they have no idea what good Southern dressing is.
My husband used to make killer dressing. In fact, when I asked if he would be there on Thursday, my older son said, "If Dad is going to make turkey and dressing, I'm there!" I haven't had a Thanksgiving meal in years. I will make turkey salad, though, with the leftovers (if there are any). I can eat deviled eggs and I will eat my Crowder peas because, well, dang those are good! No desserts will be made, though. None of us need those! It's cheating, in a way, but not too extreme.

I’m adopted too, but the Thou Shalt Make Cornbread Dressing the Correct Way still reverberates through my head this time of year.

TG this year:

Broiled shrimp for warmup

Dry-brined roast turkey

Cornbread dressing, one plain, one with sausage and pecans

Mac and cheese

Steamed asparagus

Maybe Brussels sprouts, depending on how things are looking

Pecan pie

- for three people

 

[speckledhen]

I’m adopted too, but the Thou Shalt Make Cornbread Dressing the Correct Way still reverberates through my head this time of year.

TG this year:

Broiled shrimp for warmup

Dry-brined roast turkey

Cornbread dressing, one plain, one with sausage and pecans

Mac and cheese

Steamed asparagus

Maybe Brussels sprouts, depending on how things are looking

Pecan pie

- for three people

We haven't made this type of meal in literally years. No one was here, no reason to do it. We don't participate in Christmas or Easter, but this holiday has stuck with us more than any other. We have eaten brisket or roast every year for the past six or seven years. Family food history is interesting, so different from family to family, isn't it? And it's different from region to region in the country as well.
If we still ate the traditional way, ours would have just as many items as yours, maybe not exactly the same ones but the same variety. I grew up eating pecan pie (addicts shall not touch sugar, though!) and all the other pies my mom fueled my addiction and hers with, like lemon meringue, chocolate pie, sweet potato pie...pies, pies, pies!
My husband loves Brussels sprouts. I like them roasted. My husband doesn't put sausage or pecans in our dressing and neither of us particularly likes celery-my mom put celery in hers, but I never liked that crunch. We do use a little bit of celery seed. I don't like mac and cheese, too gummy or me. It's weird-I have eaten all those parts of a Thanksgiving Day meal most of my 69 years and never really asked myself if I liked them. Now, what I don't like 100%, I won't eat anymore. Conversely, most things I always loved are now verboten for my health, carbs, sugar, especially bread.
I used to make a Lemon Lover's Pound Cake that was to die for. My sisters-in-law went gaga over it. I have never tasted had a brined turkey or, for that matter, a fried one- I might like turkey better that way if I did!
My husband does turkey and dressing his way, not sure if he's making giblet gravy this time. I guess I don't much care because I finally realized that I have only tolerated turkey, that I really didn't like it. I can't eat it the next day except in turkey salad because the taste changes from okay to blech, can't describe how. Actually, since I have been eating mostly carnivore, I have lost my taste for chicken entirely. I tried making buffalo boneless thighs the other day and I was fine with the buffalo part, but the texture of thighs grosses me out-there are parts that are not just meat in there and I can't pick them out-I'm the same way about ribs and eating anything with bones and cartilage that pulls back when I bite it-if I get that experience, I immediately lose my appetite. I guess it's a throwback to growing up on 99% chicken breast, not the other parts.

We usually had yeast rolls with big meals. To summarize, lots and lots of carbs. If I was going to make a dessert today, it would be little cheesecakes (no sugar, only stevia) in little ramekins, lemon or chocolate ones, ultra low carb, but it's too chaotic in the kitchen to get in there and do cheesecake(s). My husband put the dang turkey in at about 3 a.m. in spite of me telling him that no earlier than 5 a.m. would be fine. It will be done way before it's time to eat. You can't tell him anything. He does what he wants. Typical almost 73 yr old man set in his ways. And turkey and dressing is most definitely his thing. Both my sons will be here at the same time for the first time in years, that's what matters!

I will eat the heirloom Crowder peas we have grown and canned for the past ten years, the one that originated on my grandfather's farm. We can them with ham and they are to die for!

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I am thankful for all of you!

 

[speckledhen]

For those who saw the poor little injured doe at my house on my video.... She finally began coming around again about a day ago, and I can see why she's sticking close in the photos. She was standing just below me as I talked to her off the deck. The skin on her leg is just peeling off in strips, look closely in the photos. She may have jumped a fence, which she still was managing as of a couple of days ago, and the dangling leg caught on it and tore the skin. She's so thin now. My husband had her in his sights briefly from up on the deck railing, but she kept turning and he didn't want to risk a bad body shot just to give her another torturous wound. We don't live far from other people and also can't risk a stray bullet going somewhere it shouldn't. He can't go looking for her because he is not steady on his feet and that's an accident waiting to happen. We have put out corn and a mineral lick for her to keep her close, and she was eating it late last night. She has lost even more weight and we are actively going to attempt to euthanize this poor animal. This is a doe, right, not a very young buck? I feel so bad for her, but we'll do what we can for her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Aww, poor thing. Can you call you DNR? They might want to get her to a rehab.

 

[speckledhen]

Aww, poor thing. Can you call you DNR? They might want to get her to a rehab.

I have no idea. I would have to find who to call. She isn't always visible, though I suspect she stays on or very close to our property. She's laying down next to the trail that goes past the back of the chicken pen on the way to the pasture right now, but it's not a clean shot. That leg is so bad, bless her heart. If the leg doesn't become infected, I suspect that it could dry up and fall off entirely. Then she'd have a chance to survive, though she is skin and bones at this point.

 

[1muttsfan]

What a terrible wound poor thing

 

[speckledhen]

What a terrible wound poor thing

It's awful, Mary. She was back today, laying down the trail. The first time I saw her, she had only a hole in her leg, looked like someone shot her right in the top leg joint at the chest. It started with only a round bullet hole at the top of the leg, the leg dangling useless. Next time I got close to her, there was a tear at the top of the wound, maybe from pulling at the wound and tearing her skin. Now, there is no skin left on the leg, basically. After my sons left, I looked for her and she had moved elsewhere.
When I put the Dirty Dozen Gang back in the barn as roost time, I saw her again-she had moved to a section of fencing that goes from the chicken pen across to the pasture fence. Just outside that fence, the grass is about 3 ft tall so she was well-hidden unless you were inside the fence. She watched me go in and out of the barn to put the group back inside and stood up, still watching. I spoke to her as I always have and she stayed put. It was not a good place to put her down, no clear shot. I just want her to stay close to the house so that we might have another chance to euthanize her. I wish my husband could walk better. He can't go find her, only wait until he can get a shot off from the porch railing.