My Latest Chalkboard Creation
Happy Friday!!! Last night I had a fabulous time with one of my best friends! We got together to view the double-feature of The Hunger Games Catching Fire (which aired after the audience watched the original movie first). It was a fun and thought-provoking movie, to be sure.
The above photo is of my newest chalkboard combined with my new chalk (Prang Ambrite). I ordered both online since I could not (for the life of me!) find Prang Ambrite chalk in any local art supplies stores. They all carried ONLY the chalk brands that have been found (by the state of California) to contain toxic materials that could cause cancer. No thanks!
I'm very happy with the quality of the Prang Ambrite chalk. The colors are vibrant and the chalk is soft yet firm, gliding nicely over the board.
I am having some trouble doing faces on the chalkboard, which is why I gave this guy a darkened face. My story (and I'm sticking to it! ha-ha!) is that his face is shadowed by his hood. Also, in Waldorf traditions, dolls and toy figures often have very simple faces with little or no discernible features. I guess this chalkboard can also be in keeping with that as well.
The story depicted on the board is of Joringel and Jorinda, which can be found here. I changed up the story a little bit, making the castle golden in color, surrounded by a moat. I love playing around with different strokes and methods of making the chalk mark upon the board. I know one day my chalkboard drawings will be something to totally showcase, and until then I appreciate you all allowing me to put my very elementary drawings here for your perusal.
My theory is that you do not get better without practice, right?
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I am getting more excited the closer we get to Thanksgiving! There is something so wonderful about having family together to enjoy a home-cooked meal. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, and I plan to celebrate by cooking - and then eating - a pretty traditional meal.
Here is my proposed dinner so far:
* Brined and then buttered and seasoned turkey, stuffed with onion and citrus before roasting all morning.
* Mashed potatoes (with real, organic butter and cream)
* Gravy, made from pan drippings and a bit of flour
* Squash (out of a friend's garden), mixed with butter, cinnamon and a touch of raw, local honey
* Peas
* Homemade Creamed Corn
* Homemade biscuits
* Homemade Apple Pie
* Homemade Custard Pie
* Homemade Peanut Butter Fudge
Our traditional Thanksgiving usually goes like this: I get up by 9:00am, turning on the TV to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We aren't big TV watchers in this house, but this is always a treat we enjoy each year. While the parade is going, I begin working on Mr. Turkey. He would have been brining all night, so I take him out of the brine, rinse him off well, butter and season his skin, stuff onions and citrus into his cavity, and then pre-heat the oven.
I do like to do any pies and other desserts the day before, but sometimes I save one or two for the day and so will begin them now. I then get the mashed potatoes into whatever pot they'll be cooking in and cover them with water to soak a bit. I put the peas into a pan of water (with a dash or two of sugar), but I leave the burner off for now. I have a small gravy pan I put aside, which cannot be added to until the bird has cooked at least an hour before it will produce enough juices for gravy. I admit that I have been known to cheat and add a jar of store-bought gravy as well, since sometimes the drippings just are not enough. It's Thanksgiving, a once-a-year day of delicious food, and I'll be honest: I do not get too concerned if I include a few less-than-healthy items on the table. We hardly ever have gravy the rest of the year, so I figure it's OK.
Squash usually is put into the oven the same time as the turkey so that it can roast for about 45 mins to an hour (depending on the squash). I then take it out, scoop out the insides, plop it into a blender, add my butter, cinnamon and honey and pulse until smooth. I then put that into a baking dish with a cover, add another pat or two of butter to the top, and back into the oven about 10 minutes before the turkey is done to finish it off.
Homemade creamed corn is fairly easy to do, and I do like to start it about now (if we are going chronologically). Some kernels get blended, some do not, throw in some cream, butter, a piece of bread ripped into pieces, and an egg. I whip it all together, toss into a baking pan, and get it into the oven for about 25 mins or so (I'll do that the last 40 mins of the bird's cooking time).
Normally, I have the dining table mostly set, but at this point I may tidy that up and finish that off. I put out any appetizers (often including nuts, olives, cheese and crackers) and drinks (mulled cider, hot cocoa, beer and/or wine for the adults).
The kids typically run around playing and peeking at the parade. I also find myself peeking at the parade while I'm cooking. During the last 30 minutes of the bird's cooking time is the most frantic. I am usually wrapping up a bunch of things at once so that it all pretty much is done at the same time. Once the bird comes out, we give it 10 mins or so to rest before carving, so I keep food in a low-temp oven. Then, everything gets put out on my counter top and everyone grabs their food buffet style (our dining table is fairly small, which is evidenced in several pics here on the blog). We then sit down to lighted candles and we say a benediction, always expressing our gratitudes.
Dinner is followed by lounging in the livingroom chatting while we wait for our stomachs to recover enough for dessert.
At the end of the day, we slip into jammies and have an early night in bed, since I like to wake up the following day and clear out Thanksgiving decorations in favor of Yule/Christmas ones. I don't do *ALL* of my Yule decorating that day, but I typically get a pretty good start on it.
What about you? How does your Thanksgiving compare to ours?
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