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It’s been awhile since my last post and as some of you already know, a lot has happened since. I went to Vegas with my gf for the World Series of Poker and lost about $3k in tournament buy ins and $7k in blackjack, roulette, paigow, and Wheel of Fortune. I stopped playing poker regularly and started going to work almost everyday to get my sleeping schedule back to normal. I got a yorkie puppy, we named her Jasmine, and she’s been so much fun to have. She’s absolutely adorable and my mom, who for all of my life has been terrified of dogs big and small, has grown to love her. I got hooked on fishing (we go at least once a week now – me, my gf, my mom, and my dad) and I’ve also started programming again.

Now that we’re all caught up, here’s how Thanksgiving went. Every year for Thanksgiving, my mom and dad fly up to Chicago to attend a church retreat which is held inside of a hotel. This year was no different and with my brother and sister in California for graduate school, it was just me and my gf alone at home for Thanksgiving. We ended up inviting my gf’s younger brother and his wife over and had a great time along with some damn good food.

Last year, we had Thanksgiving at Jesse’s house and his brother Jon made the moistest turkey I’ve ever had. I noticed he used aluminum foil so I did the same this year with pretty much the same results. I gave up the canned cranberry jelly for some homemade cranberry sauce which was surprisingly easy to make. 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, dissolve 1 cup of sugar, add 1 package (12 oz) of cranberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and chill before serving. For the gravy, I didn’t have any stock so I made my own. I took the turkey neck, and giblets (minus the liver), added water, salt, peppercorn, thyme, a few bay leaves, chopped carrots, onions, and celery, and let it stew for about 45 minutes. After removing the turkey from the roasting pan, I added the homemade stock to the leftover drippings of turkey fat and juices, and whisked in some all purpose flour. After straining, we had the best (and probably the fattiest) gravy I’ve ever had. It was chock-full of turkey deliciousness with sprinkles of love all over. I am forever a believer that for holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, everything within reason should be homemade.