Friday, November 24, 2017

Sometimes, three is not such a lucky number.


Thanksgiving day ... the sun had finally moved in to replace the rain, and Norie was on the way to help with dinner preparations.

I had found a can of pumpkin in my cupboard and there were two eggs left in my fridge. That would be enough to make an 8-inch pumpkin pie.

The crust was waiting in the pie pan when Norie arrived and joined me in the kitchen.

Now, in the "old" days, we had a nice can opener that you hooked in the top of the can, and using a pumping motion, moved around the edge, cutting tie lid as it went.

I think that was tossed out when my husband found one to buy with a right-handed turner. Well, I dug it out and clamped it on the top of the can and it went along for about an inch.

At that point, it would go no further.
Oh well, I had another one that might work. The second one had a red turner and came down from the top ... a little more both-handed ... but after cutting about an inch and a half, it quit too.

Hmm, well, when Marie had come for Paul's memorial service, she had bought me another can opener. A pretty green one that I had not been able to figure out how to use.
There is also a problem with the lids of cans changing in style over the years ... in fact, Norie had commented about the can of pumpkin not having a pull-tab lid. OK, now we are on opener three.

Oh my, this lid is a mess ... no way I can cut through that! Oh, for the good old days! I pulled out the bottle opened and pried the top off with the little triangular point. A bit hard to get the pumpkin out into the mixing bowl, however.
At last Norie was able to get the newest cutter to work and take off the bottom of the can... Well, she is right-handed so I guess she will have to come over next time I have a can to open.

It was not the only can either because there was cranberry sauce in the next can.

The rest of the meal went as planned.

Leia and Hiro carved up the mini-turkey ... chicken.

garnished with some new-to-me flowery broccoli - cauliflower.
And for dessert ....
Ta da!





The pumpkin pie.


















"One, two, three, smile." says Leia, and pushes the button.


Now the pots and pans and the dishes are all washed and put away,
but there are fun memories of the day.
The can recycling is next Thursday.
I wonder what the neighbors will think if they see that mangled can in the recycling bin.




And now I am trying to embroider Wally's initials on the napkin. (trying not to make the back side too messy. There is something to say for those machines where you just type in what you want and push a button.
But then, I will have plenty of time to work on this, surrounded by left-overs. Yummmm!

12 comments:

  1. Happy thanksgiving! We don't do much around here except wait for friends to invite us! It is sort of a tradition for three families to get together...whenever all of us are free! December 2nd will be OUR thanksgiving day! I'm supplying green beans. Great deal right? No cans!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We got the type that takes the whole lid off, so much easier to turn and get off and no mess or sharp edges.
    We are alike, I see what I have and figure out what I can make with it, lol. Love seeing the photos of the family and I am glad you all had a nice day together. I have one of those machines and never got lessons, so I have never used the embroidery arm and hoops, really would like to learn so I could do name tags and special writing.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is a bit like pens. We really need to throw out the ones that do not work, but they always seem to find a way back into the drawer.
    I am pleased you had a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. With my elbow and my tendinitis in my wrist, I finally broke down and bought an electric can opener. We still have a couple of the hand ones, but, since I'm the main one that opens the cans, it was worth it to get the electric one (not much more $$ than a new hand opener). I cheated and bought a pumpkin pie at Sams. We had brisket instead of turkey. Glad you had family over. We'll see family for Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pleased you had a lovely day with your family. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, though no doubt it won't be that far away as Halloween is now a practiced day. Can openers, I don't like them, each can is different and I really struggle using them to open each one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, Julie - I can relate to the can opener!!! My husband and kids would open cans for me - AFTER they were done laughing at my sorry attempts to make the dang thing work LEFT-handed - which, of course, it was NOT designed to do. Now I have an electric one - and a triangle-pointed one - just in case. So happy you had a good day - love the photos of the family and food - especially your mini-turkey - chicken - ;))

    ReplyDelete
  7. so glad it worked out... eventually! WHY does it have to be sooooooooooo difficult to use "modern" designs!! lol x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh .... that made me laugh (sorry) .... while we were babysitting this summer, my sister and I had an issue with can openers at her daughter's home and the planned lunch had to be replanned because we couldn't open a can. We put the partly opened can in the fridge and the daughter got the message. A new can opener was bought and ready for us next time. A simple one that works for either hand.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can openers can be such brats. :) I really enjoyed your Thanksgiving pictures - so nice to see your smiling face and companions!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh the adventures of opening a can. We have an electric can opener and I'm always amused that it knows when the lid is completely off. Even if I start it - stop it and move it a little ways on - it won't stop running until it clears that last little bit of lid - it must be magic. Your dinner looks lovely, so nice to have family around to celebrate.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very nice your blog and article. I like this blog thank for sharing.

    แตกใน xxx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just stopping by to wish you a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete