The week

I’ve written a number of posts in my head as I talked to my lights, but have been too busy or too tired to get them onto here, so this will be a bit more fractured. Today I am planning to NOT leave the house and not do too much inside of said house, either. I’m so fortunate to have had work off, except here and there, but it still has felt like a way too busy week.

Monday, I had some work to do and tried to finalize my shopping lists, etc. Tuesday, we got up early to get to the Cancer Center for Ernie’s radiation consult. A new (to us) radiation oncologist and we LOVED him. My beloved Renee had said he was the best and she is my north star for these kinds of things. He, of course, remembered Renee well and that made me smile.

Good news/bad news: he CAN do radiation on the tumor…yay…as we don’t want to run through too many other treatment options too quickly. However, it’s a complicated situation given the location of the tumor and his previous radiation…soooo, radiation will be twice a day and require a full bladder each time. Ugh. Way to make radiation far more difficult. I’m glad for the doctor’s thoughtfulness and care though.

Wednesday I did some meal prep and then we headed back to the Cancer Center for his simulation. We got there and his bladder wasn’t full enough, so sat in the waiting room for a while while he drank more water. The radiation waiting room has a totally different vibe than other waiting rooms (much friendlier), AND my favorite seat was open so I guess I can’t complain.

After that, we went to Fries and Peanuts for a post Cancer Center drink and then went home and had my meat pie. The premade gluten-free crust was a disaster (gotta conquer that one of these years) but I think it was the best meat pie (tourtiére) filling I have made in some years. What was the difference? I have no idea but it was great. We were so tired we just had it with cranberry sauce. I forgot the pickled beets and was too tired to make coleslaw (and I’m sorry, Debbie, but I don’t do the kidney beans anymore).

Then I slept like a rock until I forced myself out of bed on Thursday. Ernie did a yeoman’s amount of work over the course of the day, although overall we kept things pretty simple.

Roast turkey was from Triple S. We started it out upside down and then turned it over. I was afraid I’d overcooked it but it turned out great and it, well, it tasted like TURKEY….far more than supermarket birds. I will probably go back to a supermarket bird next year as the cost freaks me out but damn it was good.

Owen was supposed to bring the mashed potatoes, then eventually it became that he was going to make them when he got here. Eventually, we started them ourselves. He showed up, carved the turkey, made the potatoes and innocently explained, “Well, we usually eat an hour after you say so I figured I was right on time.” You know, that is a completely valid argument, so I could not complain.

My stuffing, made with Heather’s incredible sourdough, was wonderful but I ended up overbaking it a bit. I loved it, however. It is all I ate yesterday. Traditionally made sourdough is supposed to be ok for Low Fodmap folks. So far, so good! Here is Ernie after picking up the beautiful loaf. He’s explaining that he met Dottie the cat and how she looks like she was made up of several different cats. She, of course, liked Ernie. The little girls know.

It ended up being a lovely Thanksgiving. You can tell that I wasn’t on top of my game though. I didn’t use my mother’s china and sterling and I took nary a picture. It was Thanksgiving though and I was indeed incredibly grateful for every person at that table.

Oh, and my cranberry sauce was really good! I usually do my standard spiced cranberry sauce. This year I tried a new recipe that was super simple and really good. A bag of cranberries, a cup of sugar, a cup of water, and a dash of salt. Cook until berries are breaking down, take off heat and add a 1/4 cup of sherry. It was delightful!!

Onward.