Sunday, November 30, 2008

Post-Thanksgiving Turkiness

Novembers are known for food and friends and being the gateway to the holidays in the US. At The Clanton Hacienda, Thanksgivings are somewhat notorious for other things, like the replacement of major appliances and household systems that run amok at the worst possible time.

The electric cooktop that died as we were cooking the side dishes for Thanksgiving dinner--that one was fairly easily remedied by a trip to the closest home improvement center, with all merchandise already on sale for Santa.

One year it was the electric built-in oven, a double-decker, which decided to die the week of Thanksgiving, knowing full-well we needed both ovens to accomplish the food preparations planned for the entire family coming to dine. I ended up with an extra, new toy that year—a shiny Black & Decker skill saw needed to re-cut the cabinet opening to accommodate the newer, larger oven.

Then there was the year that the turkey was in the oven, side dishes were simmering along on the range…and the turkey drippings over flowed the pan, setting the oven ablaze. Never a dull moment in La Cocina de Clanton.

This year, Thanksgiving was an “away” event, handled graciously by in-laws out of town. I did not attend, dealing with that other event that November is famous for—flu and cold season. So we got through this Thanksgiving without turkey’s exploding, cook tops sparking, or anything else to diminish the festivities.
Almost.

My Nyquil-induced Sunday afternoon nap was interrupted by the voice of my bride gently telling me there was water gushing from beneath the kitchen sink. The inner workings of one of those fancy, Euro-looking faucets had succumbed to two years’ hard labor over the twin water basins, and were now flooding the cabinetry beneath.

We shut off the water supply, sopped up the excess with a dozen thirsty towels, and called the handyman who’d installed the faucet and sink set. There are some things that you might be able to do yourself, but time and energies are better spent having more proficient people nearby.

Thanksgiving is for the little things, too!

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