Thanksgiving safely, we hope

Smile with your eyes, ladies!

Navigating the need to see one another, and the need to keep one another safe was the theme of yesterday's feast.  The host and hostess masked, except for when eating and drinking.  Lacey's mom and I followed suit.  Son did a good job of distancing himself, while keeping Carl out of trouble.

 

Our close contact fellow, keeping his social distance

Carl was in heaven, with FIVE people to give him pets and praise.  And bits of acceptable treats, of course!  He feasted, too.

Grandpa Bob and Carl

The meal itself was traditional perfection.  The turkey done just as we all arrived.  The mashed potatoes were brought by Lacey's mom, and were excellent.  They paired well with the gravy that Lacey put together.  Well, I'm sure you all had your own favorites, and I did not take photos of the food... although Lacey did get one of her second turkey!

After dinner, before pie, we moved to the living room for the puzzle of the day, Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving:  What ARE those little "cheetos shaped things" in multiple colors?  They are too big to be jellybeans, but shaped and colored such that they should be just that.

We concluded that the relative size was unimportant to the artist, and they MUST be jellybeans.  Peppermint Patty does not name them in her listing of the foods, either.  So... question to the readers... if you are familiar with the film, have you ever thought about what they are?

From the movie to the video games.  This is a gaming family!  I found another point of commonality with my fellow "mom of the young couple".  We were both hooked on the original Legend of Zelda, with the gold-colored cartridge for the Nintendo machine.  The kids laughed at memories of how their mothers were playing their game!  I recall I was not the only mom in Newark Valley, back in the day, who grabbed her kids' game and played that game through to completion!

I like this pie photo of the blind baking "done" test.  If the knife, inserted halfway between the center and the rim comes out clean, the pie is done.  This test works for all custards, and my pumpkin pie recipe is even titled as "pumpkin custard" in the recipe book.

So, yes, we did break from games to have the pie with decaf coffee.  And whipped cream.  There must be whipped cream.  Tradition!

At the end of the pie and coffee, I started my fast.  Not too much damage on that front.  The program is intact, as long as I defer breakfast this morning until 8:50 a.m. or so.  And to be honest... not... hungry... at all.  Typical of after feast, right?

Now we all monitor our health for the next couple of weeks, to make sure we did NOT get infected by the invisible hand of Covid, and son's close contact.  His co-worker did the responsible thing and let him know.  She did not have symptoms until after the workday, and then she lost her sense of smell, took a test, and bingo... positive.  Given that Son had an appointment at a house with cats, he showered before entering his house after work, so hopefully between that and all the vaccinations and boosters, and everybody doing their best to distance at the gather, we'll all be good.

Some of the gamers, we rotated the three controllers.

Masked hugs and a careful drive home (it was after dark) closed a most satisfying holiday.  Friday morning, I'm still on kitty care duty for my sister, so I'll head over a bit after sunrise and take care of that, then I'm on my own for a peaceful day.

Hope you all had a similarly satisfying and health-conscious holiday!

Life is Good!  Spark on.