[chocomouse]

I've spent the last week mostly in bed, a result of the Moderna booster. I was in bed for 3 days and am now on day #6 and think I am back to normal. For 3 days I was dizzy and nauseated, and felt like I had a fever although I did not. But mostly - I was exhausted. After those 3 days, I'd sleep 10 hours at night, get up for half an hour, and then sleep for another 2 hours - a pattern that repeated all day long. Luckily, I am retired so don't have to do anything, and Thanksgiving will be just my husband and me so I have almost no work to do, except cook. I've been getting flu shots for over 50 years and I've never had a reaction other than a slightly sore arm. I guess it's still better than getting Covid.

[chocomouse]

I did lots of prep work but no real cooking today also. I cut up 3 small butternut squashes, 5 pounds of carrots, 2 pounds of parsnips, a couple of white potatoes and a couple of sweet potatoes. Half the carrots went into a pot with maple syrup and butter to bake tomorrow for candied carrots - a tradition in my husband's family. The rest of of everything I parboiled for 3 minutes and have in the fridge to be frozen in meal size containers for roasting later this winter. I've not tried this before, I've always used fresh, but I don't always have all the ingredients on hand so I'm hoping it works.

[chocomouse]

I'll have to try that recipe, BakerAunt. I sub Greek yogurt for sour cream in almost all of my recipes (muffins, coffeecake, sweet breads, etc) and so far it has worked fine.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, your husband will soon find himself enlarging that framework or building another one, and you'll be ordering 2 more Gro lights!! I love Gardeners' Supply - one of their stores is 15 miles from here, and their main store is 2 hours away, in Burlington VT. Expensive but high quality. I just moved 6 plant stands in from the back porch to the sun room, in front of the south facing wall of glass. I'm going to see if there is enough sunlight to support a decent crop of lettuce and spinach there. Lettuce and herbs are under the Gro lights on a baker's rack, and I'm waiting for lettuce and herb pod sets to arrive from Aerogarden.

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was leftover chicken thighs with roasted root vegetables and a Greek salad.

[chocomouse]

We had burgers on the grill and fries.

[chocomouse]

Northern Spy is the standard, old-fashioned apple used for baking here in New England. But you never see them in stores. I guess because they are not the best for eating out of hand. We get them at the orchards or farmers' markets.

[chocomouse]

I had a green salad and my husband had a hot dog and home-baked beans.

[chocomouse]

I cover the turkey with foil, but take it off for the last half hour or so to brown it. My store did not have any of the Pepperidge Farm blue bags two weeks ago or this week. So I bought their herbed dressing but in cubes instead of the "crumbs". I assume it has the same seasonings, I hope, and I may try to chop up the cubes a bit in the Cuisinart.

[chocomouse]

Mike, ginger preserves are easy to make but time consuming. It's just peeled and chopped fresh ginger, water, and sugar - simmered 'til thickened. Sometimes a little pectin is used also. But I just buy mine in a jar. This time I used Bonne Maman.

[chocomouse]

I bought a 20 lb frozen turkey today, the smallest one I could find. I was debating whether to put it in the freezer for a couple days or let it start thawing. It turns out my freezers are too full for such a big bird, so it is in the fridge. This discussion is making me feel better about that.

[chocomouse]

I made sliced kielbase, potatoes, onions, and cabbage for dinner.

[chocomouse]

This afternoon I got my Moderna booster shot. I'm glad I did all the cutting in of butter, stirring, etc when I baked in the morning, as my arm has already begun to ache a bit and stiffen up. I didn't have any problems after the initial shots (only the severe bruising and swelling that lasted 2 weeks following the 2nd shot, but that was from the needle, not the vaccine) so I expect this will last only a day or two. And what a pleasant experience I had compared to the first two vaccinations last February and March. No long lines and long waits, plenty of privacy and sanitation, friendly folks, good organization. We seem to have learned from earlier mistakes.

[chocomouse]

This morning I made a coffeecake, with ginger preserves for a filling and a cinnamon streusel topping.

[chocomouse]

I made Tropical Treat Bread. It's a yeasted bread with lots of chopped dried fruit, and although it is not very sweet, does get some sweet flavors from the fruit. I used pineapple, mangoes, orange peels, apricots and coconut.

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