Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Yesterday I spent most of the day preparing the ingredients for the broccoli salad. I had forgotten what a pain in the rump it is to make so it's a good thing it's so tasty. Between that and a walk on the beach not much else happened. Late in the day it clouded over so there was some concern about our outdoor party for today.
It did rain over night and we had to get up and close the roof vents in the middle of the night but this morning it is again sunny and warm.
This morning I got my plum cake in the oven and then continued on with the turkey. I was supposed to bone it out and then heat it up in the oven. I have never had a smoked turkey before so I don't know what they are supposed to look or smell like. It didn't smell great and Eric was sure there was something wrong with it. After I'd spent about an hour deboning I sent him to get Connie & Manny to come and sniff. They thought it was all right and then Frank and Dick came over and they said it was not good. Great! So into the garbage and then a major clean up of rotten turkey. We had to bleach everything. We're not sure what the problem was but it really wasn't hardly smoked and sort of half cooked so who knows what happened. Manny took the wrapper back to Walmart for a refund and they said they wanted to see the turkey and so he and Connie had to come back and dig it out of the garbage! What a pain!
We all trooped up to the front of the park at 3pm to listen to the Mexican orphans who had come to sing for us. They arrived in the back of an open pick-up with wire sides to keep them from falling out. Strange to us safety wise but normal for them. They ranged in age from about 3 to 14 and boy were they cute. All in Santa hats with black pants or black skirts with their white Salvation Army shirts on. They entertained us with many Christmas carols in Spanish complete with hand gestures and little turns like the Four Tops! They were well rehearsed and needed no one to keep them in time or prompt them. They were stupendous and brought tears to my eyes. When they finished they were each presented with the gifts we had bought for them and there were some pretty happy faces then. They opened their gifts and then proceeded to come out to thank us with hugs! It was so special. We all had name tags on and one boy spotted Eric's tag and grinned and said he was Eric too! Eric says most little boys he sees who are named Eric are little dicks and says there is something about the name that makes that happen. This boy seemed not at all like that! I took lots of pictures and even a little video on the camera and then they were back in their truck and gone. It really made it seem like Christmas and everyone said it made them miss their own families less.
Dinner was excellent with a huge variety of salads, vegetables, (not rotten turkey) and desert. Since we got started by 4:30 we were all done and home by 6pm. Unfortunately the no-see-ums and mosquitoes come out just after 5 and it makes sitting outside uncomfortable without a lot of bug dope on. Anyway a good time was had by all and it's now 9pm and guess what, it's raining! Oh well it keeps the dust down and maybe it will clean the truck and RV off a little.
Merry Christmas all!
Yesterday I spent most of the day preparing the ingredients for the broccoli salad. I had forgotten what a pain in the rump it is to make so it's a good thing it's so tasty. Between that and a walk on the beach not much else happened. Late in the day it clouded over so there was some concern about our outdoor party for today.
It did rain over night and we had to get up and close the roof vents in the middle of the night but this morning it is again sunny and warm.
This morning I got my plum cake in the oven and then continued on with the turkey. I was supposed to bone it out and then heat it up in the oven. I have never had a smoked turkey before so I don't know what they are supposed to look or smell like. It didn't smell great and Eric was sure there was something wrong with it. After I'd spent about an hour deboning I sent him to get Connie & Manny to come and sniff. They thought it was all right and then Frank and Dick came over and they said it was not good. Great! So into the garbage and then a major clean up of rotten turkey. We had to bleach everything. We're not sure what the problem was but it really wasn't hardly smoked and sort of half cooked so who knows what happened. Manny took the wrapper back to Walmart for a refund and they said they wanted to see the turkey and so he and Connie had to come back and dig it out of the garbage! What a pain!
We all trooped up to the front of the park at 3pm to listen to the Mexican orphans who had come to sing for us. They arrived in the back of an open pick-up with wire sides to keep them from falling out. Strange to us safety wise but normal for them. They ranged in age from about 3 to 14 and boy were they cute. All in Santa hats with black pants or black skirts with their white Salvation Army shirts on. They entertained us with many Christmas carols in Spanish complete with hand gestures and little turns like the Four Tops! They were well rehearsed and needed no one to keep them in time or prompt them. They were stupendous and brought tears to my eyes. When they finished they were each presented with the gifts we had bought for them and there were some pretty happy faces then. They opened their gifts and then proceeded to come out to thank us with hugs! It was so special. We all had name tags on and one boy spotted Eric's tag and grinned and said he was Eric too! Eric says most little boys he sees who are named Eric are little dicks and says there is something about the name that makes that happen. This boy seemed not at all like that! I took lots of pictures and even a little video on the camera and then they were back in their truck and gone. It really made it seem like Christmas and everyone said it made them miss their own families less.
Dinner was excellent with a huge variety of salads, vegetables, (not rotten turkey) and desert. Since we got started by 4:30 we were all done and home by 6pm. Unfortunately the no-see-ums and mosquitoes come out just after 5 and it makes sitting outside uncomfortable without a lot of bug dope on. Anyway a good time was had by all and it's now 9pm and guess what, it's raining! Oh well it keeps the dust down and maybe it will clean the truck and RV off a little.
Merry Christmas all!
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