Tag Archives: pets

Oh, The Holidays Are Upon Us!

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It has been crazy in the Engledow house!  There has been a lot happening:  Jenni’s very first turkey, the arrival of Jahmal and Dexter (the parakeets), the hubby’s birthday and the preparation for the imminent arrival of Marshmallow (the rat).

The First Turkey

I hosted my very first Engledow Thanksgiving this year.  My mom-in-law, who is usually the hostess, had back surgery and just couldn’t do it this year.  There was a lot of whispering, “Who’s gonna host it?”.  There is a maximum of 21 family members so it’s no small feat.  However, I’m 45 years old and have NEVER made a turkey, so I took this as a sign that it was time.  I told my husband that I was ready so let’s do this thing!

Being somewhat smart, I made a practice turkey (12.5 lbs) on the Saturday before Thanksgiving for my dad’s birthday (Nov 22nd).  I’m so glad I made this decision because Thanksgiving day could have been a disaster.  What I learned from my practice Turkey:

There are TWO cavities in a turkey, NOT one.  I’ve heard the horror stories about people leaving the bag of goodies in the turkey and I did not want to be one THOSE.  So, I unlock the turkey from his plastic shackles and look in the “cavity” for the goody bag.  Um, okay, I see the neck, but where’s the other “stuff”?  I ask Rachel and Maddie to look in the bird – did I miss it?  Am I going blind?  The girls confirm that the cavity is empty.  I’m confused (maybe my bird did organ donation), but I move on to the wash and dry part of the process.  I’m holding this slippery 12.5 lb turkey in my kitchen sink so I can rinse the sucker.  This is harder than it looks!  As I’m rinsing, I find another “cavity”!  The bag of goodies is stuffed in the turkey’s rear end!  No one told me (and I didn’t read anywhere) that there were TWO hiding places for extra turkey parts.  Now, I completely understand how those parts get left in the turkey.  Can’t we put them in one spot and not turn it into a scavenger hunt?

Tie (truss) the bird BEFORE covering the bird in butter/oil.   Uh, yeah.  This was almost a disaster. I had to watch this food network video about a thousand times and still had trouble.  Watch it so you can imagine what I’m about to tell you – you can fast forward to about the middle where he is actually binding the bird.   Okay!  I made my butter spread (click here for recipe) for the outside of the turkey –  I’ve buttered the outside of the bird and stuffed the herbs and pears into the main cavity.  Now, I’m ready to truss my turkey!  Uh, now I begin to watch the video and realize that I have to tie (& flip) this uber-slippery 12.5 lb thing.  Has anyone seen this Thanksgiving episode of Everybody Loves Raymond?  This was ALMOST me –

Thankfully, I did not drop the bird, but my apron was covered with the butter.  I had to kind of hug the bird to flip it – I’m glad there wasn’t a video camera around!

Dry the bird REALLY well before applying butter spread.  Yeah, the butter wasn’t sticking very well and my hands were caked with the butter spread.  It was a mess, but some of the flavor was still there.  Thank goodness!

This practice bird actually turned out really well – nice and tender.  Yum!  For the actual day, I made two 13.5 lb turkeys for 17 people.  The night before, I successfully found all extra turkey parts, washed and THOROUGHLY dried my turkeys and stuffed the cavities.  I put them in the turkey oven bags and back in the fridge.  In the  morning, I pulled them out, put them in the roasters, made sure (again) that the skin was dry and THEN applied my butter spread.  Everything went smoothly and the turkeys were really well received.  I would call my very first Thanksgiving a success – Whew!

Animal Farm Update

  Jahmal and Dexter seem to be getting used to their new home and you can hear them chirping and squawking all the way downstairs – I actually don’t mind the noise.

  And, we have started the countdown until the arrival of Marshmallow.  7 days and counting………she arrives on December 14th.

 

The Hubby’s Birthday

 We had a great celebration on Sunday.  He got this Frank Lloyd Wright wall hanging that he has had on his list forever – this was his lucky year! 

     We also made him a terrific dinner –

     Crab Cakes a la Tyler Florence,

     Mushroom Soup a la Ina Garten,  and wedge salads. 

Maddie made her daddy homemade gingerbread men cookies and also a blondie brownies.  Everything was delicious!

 

Then, on Monday Morning, he went to work (as usual) and this is what he found: 

 

Isn’t this crazy?  His office manager (with some help from other staffers) did this to his office over the weekend.  He said that he got about half of it unwrapped yesterday.  EVERYTHING was wrapped, even the pens, pencils, sticky notes, etc. were individually wrapped!  Happy Birthday!

Now you’re up to date on the Engledows.  As this month moves forward, there will be more good stories to share…….

 

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs (and Birds, Rats, etc.)

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“The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude.”  ~Robert Brault,

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”  ~George Eliot

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”  ~Ben Williams

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~Anatole France

 

Prior to 2005, I had three young children, a husband and a full-time+ job.  “Mom, can I have a [insert name of animal here] ? I promise I will take care of it.”  “NO.”    I played the part of the mean mom that wouldn’t let my children have pets and I played this part very well.  

Now, it’s the spring of 2005 (kids are 5, 8, & 11) and the kids and the hubby are starting to work me over for a dog.  I actually start considering it – what the hell is wrong with me?  Then, my husband makes a job change and due to a non-compete clause, he can’t work for 3 months.  Now, he’s starting to say things like, “This is the perfect time for us to get a dog.  I’ll be home and can get it trained, etc. Blah, blah…”  

(I do want to take a moment to point out that I am an animal lover.  Really. When I was young, I was always bringing home stray, unwanted animals (my parents are nodding their heads as they read this).  Really, it’s true.  So, what’s happened to me as an adult?  Adult, real life stuff I suppose.  At that time, we were rarely home – both of our jobs, the kids’ activities, etc.)

Back to the story:  so the hubby, sensing my inner turmoil, declares that we will get the kids a dog, damn it!  My requirements:  no more than 50 lbs and no shedding.  Ummm, okay that’s not too restrictive, right?  To make a long story short, Jasper was a sweet surprise for the kids and for about a week, we were The Best parents EVER!  As it turns out, he’s an 80 lb horse (a bit more than 50 lbs) with the sweetest personality and NO shedding.  Not a bad addition to the Engledow clan.

Apparently, Jasper was the chink in my armor and thus the sliding down the slippery slope had begun.  We added the fish last Christmas (Rachel’s wards) and the parakeets three days ago (Maddie’s wards).  Now, we just got the best news ever!

Jack (running into the house):  “Mommy, guess what?”

Me (with a little dread):   “What, honey?”

Jack:   “I’m getting a rat!  Only two kids wanted rats and no one else put their name in, so Mrs. Eberly made a decision today on who got the rats.”

Me:  (Oh, Shoot!)   “That’s great, buddy!  Which rat did you pick?”

Jack:   “Marshmallow.  Can I go get the cage for Marshmallow?”

We did not go rat cage shopping tonight because we are not getting Marshmallow until mid-December and I need time to absorb the news.  I also need time to reflect on what has happened to me and my resolve.  I’m turning into a namby-pamby.  Oh, help me…