Low-key Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving for being a relatively low-key, relaxing holiday. There were many small things that cumulatively made it an enjoyable week.

On Monday, my ward had a pie-baking competition, so I brought my chocolate cherry pie. I love the flavor, but I discovered that I need some kind of thickening agent for the filling, or at least need to remove some of the liquid. I have made this many times, but only now did I realize I should work on the filling. 

As I was preparing to leave that night, one of the laces in my ten-year-old shoes broke. Luckily, I remembered that I once bought some dinosaur shoelaces from the clearance section of Winegars grocery store. So I replaced the lace of one shoe. They're a little short, but they work.

These shoes are great for wet weather.

On Tuesday, I went running with a friend. 

Thursday, we had Thanksgiving at my sister's/grandparents' house, and it was smaller than usual this year. I contributed three small pieces to the meal: homemade cranberry sauce (why do people bother with canned?), green bean casserole (greater than the sum of its parts), and sweet potatoes.

We had many food items with our own homegrown produce: cherry pie with our own cherries, apple and mincemeat pies with our own apples and green tomatoes, and grape juice from our own grapes. I didn't stuff myself as much as I usually do on Thanksgiving. 

After we returned home, I went for a run on the Wild Rose Trail, which will likely be my last one of the season. It was muddier than I expected, but it felt so nice and Thanksgivingy up there.

Then Friday, I spent the entire day taking down Thanksgiving decorations and putting up Christmas. We got it basically entirely done by the end of Saturday. We have never done it that fast before! Now I can just relax the rest of the season (except that I don't have a single idea for presents yet). Every year, we get a new ornament that represents our life that year, so this is my ornament, because this is the year I started working for the state of Utah (and Utah's new flag came out).

Christmas is the only holiday for which my parents help with the decorating. But I take care of all the lights, because my dad hates it, and I do it better.

You know how people have dreams about finding new rooms in their houses? I had a similar (but different) experience in real life. I have had my bedroom off and on since I was five years old. And yesterday, I just happened to notice that someone wrote a phone number on the wall inside my closet! Of course, it doesn't have an area code, and it has the 295 prefix, which we had until I was in third grade, when they gave that prefix to the new neighborhoods. (I never understood that—if the new people had to have new numbers anyway, why not make them have the new number?) This phone number was probably written there before we moved in back in 1991. And whoever wrote it probably put it there because they were too embarrassed to be friends with someone named Musky. 

***

And now it's time for the final installment of pumpkinundation roundup for 2023. Remarkably, I think this year I had less stuff than usual. I'm less tolerant of sugar than I used to be, and it often makes me sleep poorly.

The Trader Joe's Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Tart is a savory tart with squash and cheeses. It was better than I expected, since I'm picky about cheese. I liked it, but I think I could only handle small doses. 7/10.

Big Hazy's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Ice Cream was disappointing. I don't know if it had pumpkin in it, because to me, it tasted like Torani pumpkin pie syrup. 6/10.

Legers Deli Turkey and Stuffing Sandwich is a regular item, I believe, but only on Tuesdays. I like supporting small businesses, but I honestly don't understand how this little deli is still in business. It's in a weird part of town, it's overpriced, and it's just not that good. The sourdough bread seemed more like Wonder Bread. 6/10.

I like Trader Joe's Thanksgiving Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips. But I have had two bags in my cupboard for several weeks and barely have eaten any of them. I guess I haven't been craving salty things as much recently? And I remember that the bottom of the bag is overly seasoned, so maybe I'm afraid of that. 7/10.

The Crumbl Cranberry Crumb Cookie had a nice cranberry flavor that wasn't overpowering—I would have liked a little more. It's nice to get a break from pumpkin and see cranberry get some love. 8/10.

I bought three bags of Trader Joe's Turkey Sausage Stuffing Fried Rice. I love it, though I wouldn't peg its flavor as stuffing. Mostly I love that it exists. 8/10.

See you back here in September!

I've got plenty to be thankful for

 I thought I would spend my Thanksgiving evening writing about the things in my life that I am truly grateful for.

I am thankful for friends—friends who text me, invite me to game nights and dinner, go running with me, or otherwise show they care.

I am thankful for people who support me—such as this senior missionary who left this card on my desk after he asked me about my Pride flag. 

I'm thankful that I have not one but two really cool jobs. For many years, I thought it would be cool to edit for Utah Historical Quarterly, and now that's exactly what I do!

I'm thankful for the historians who have established the scholarship and the historiography to shape the way we see the world. James W. Baker's Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday literally changed my life. And I'm amazed at how Leonard J. Arrington's Brigham Young: American Moses still holds up almost forty years later.

I'm thankful for the internet and for all the sources and resources that are available online. I'm especially grateful for Utah Digital Newspapers, which has so many newspapers since 1850 available online for free! It is truly remarkable, and I don't know how historians got their work done before the internet.

I am thankful that I have practically the entire world's musical catalog so easily available to me. This month, as I've been listening to 1989 (Taylor's Version) and The Beatles 1967–1970 (2023 Edition), I've appreciated the musical genius of people in the world, a genius that I, a nonmusician, can't even begin to comprehend.

I'm thankful for cats! I just can't believe that there is an entire species with adorable faces and soft fur that purr and meow, and best of all, they like to cuddle and spend time with us! They are one of life's greatest treasures. 

I'm thankful that there are multiple trailheads within running distance of my house, and many more within driving distance. I'm grateful that I have conditioned my body to crave movement. I just love spending time in the natural world and marveling at its beauty, and there's always something new to admire: the glacier lilies of March, the arrowleaf balsamroot of April, the mulesears of May, the sego lilies of June, the Richardson's geraniums of July, the sunflowers of August, the fleabane of September, the red maples of October, and the orange oaks of November. And even though I'm not a fan of rattlesnakes, I'm thankful that they rattle so I know to avoid them before they attack. 

A Thanksgiving afternoon run

Of course, there are many other things I'm thankful for, but these are things that have been especially on my mind lately.

And I'm thankful for you, dear reader, for giving me a reason to blog!

The cozy barrenness of November

 I just love the cozy barrenness of November. The trees in the neighborhoods still have colored leaves on them, but in the foothills and mountains, the trees are bare, but there are lots of leaves on the ground, and there are still some green grasses poking through.

Yesterday, I opted to go on a fourteen-mile run, which will likely be my last long trail run of the season. I started at North Canyon, took the new Bonneville Shoreline Trail over to Mueller Park, up past Elephant Rock to Rudy's Flat, and then down North Canyon.

It has been almost three months since I've been at the base of North Canyon, which just shows how busy I've been, since it's my default trail. Last time I was there, they were doing construction, but I didn't know what. I was surprised to go yesterday and find a parking lot! I feel conflicted: I'm glad to see North Canyon get the love it deserves. But I also worry it might make it busier, especially since there appear to be spots for horse trailers. 😬

Anyway, it was a lovely, Novembery run. Parts of the trail were pretty muddy, but most of it was dry enough. It rained slightly around Rudy's Flat, and then my last mile was rainy. Unfortunately, once I hit the 12.5-mile mark, my knee started hurting, and I had to walk most of the last mile and a half. That happens to me more often when I run on streets, but rarely on the trails.

Do you want to see more sexy leg pictures? Y/N

Oh, and while I've been working, in the background I've been putting Thanksgiving prompts into Craiyon, an AI image generator. I was amused with what it came up with for "mincemeat pie" and "green bean casserole."

GAH.

***

We're at the penultimate installment of pumpkinundation roundup. 

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Tart tasted good at first, but I wouldn't want to eat a lot of it, and I can guarantee it would be gross cold. It definitely tastes like squash. 7/10.

I forgot that I have herbal teas, since they're not great. Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Herbal Tea doesn't have any pumpkin, but it does have an apple flavor. It is nice, if you're into that kind of thing, but I'm not. 6/10.

Yogi Pumpkin Spice Herbal Tea did leave my mouth with a tingly sensation, but it's just hot water with a bit of flavoring. 5/10.

I just noticed that my geriatric parents' pills are in the picture

Cafe Zupas Pumpkin Spice Creme Brulee is not worth the calories. It's caramel on top of an eggy substance with a few spices. It doesn't really taste much like fall to me. 5/10.

Cafe Zupas Turkey Cranberry Panini has turkey, bacon, brie, and cranberry sauce. The bacon is the dominant flavor, so it's not what you expect from a turkey cranberry sandwich. I don't like brie on its own, but it was OK mixed with the other stuff. 7/10.

Cafe Zupas Pumpkin Chorizo Soup has black beans, which is the best part, but otherwise I don't really notice the pumpkin or the chorizo. I learned my lesson a few years ago not to let it get cold before you eat it. It's fine. (And now I keep remembering how awkward I was at the restaurant.) 6/10.

Good & Gather Apple Pie Date and Nut Bar is OK. It has some nice spices, but these are the kind of thing I only snack on while running—I would never want to eat them just as a regular snack. 6/10.

Quest Pumpkin Pie Protein Bar is OK. It doesn't really taste like much of anything. But it delivers a lot of protein for almost no sugar. 6/10.

Good & Gather Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal has crunchy bits, and with pecans on the box, I assumed they were pecans. But no, they're just oats. I wouldn't peg this flavor as pumpkin spice, but it's enjoyable as far as oatmeal goes. 7/10.

I liked the Crave Pecan Pie Cookie, which is shaped like a pie and has pecans. It kind of tastes like pecan pie, but it's hard to replicate the perfection of pecan pie in a medium that is not pie. However, with the sugar coating, some of the pecans were too hard, and I felt like I was going to break a tooth. 8/10.

Spanky's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie tastes like a homemade cookie, and I don't mean that in a necessarily good way. I mean it tasted like it's made by an amateur. It's OK, but it didn't quite taste done. 6/10.

I'm not great at knowing what flavors go together, so I didn't love my version of the Spanky's Turkey Cranberry Sandwich. It was OK. It's not specifically on the menu, so I had to ask about the cranberry sauce. 6/10.

It's easy to overlook the pepitas (pumpkin seeds) in Trader Joe's Pepita Salsa, but it's a passable salsa. 7/10.

Thomas' Cranberry Bagels impart a floral flavor to the soft bagels. I used to only eat these at Christmas, but now I think they're just as suitable for Thanksgiving. 7/10.

Same goes for the Thomas' Cranberry English Muffins, but I think I like them better than the bagels. 8/10.

The Pumpkin Pie Larabar is better than I remembered. But again, I only eat these while running, not just for snacking.

For some reason, they decided to cut my Crown Burgers Cranberry Turkey Sandwich, which made it harder to keep all the stuff in the bun. Why did they do that? And I would rather have regular bread than a hamburger bun. It was OK. I got this at the Millcreek location; I don't think they have it at the North Temple location. 6/10.

The Cutler's Turkey Stuffing Cranberry Sandwich does a better job at capturing the holiday flavor, since they also add stuffing. But mine didn't taste as good this time—maybe because I ordered it a half sandwich, so they didn't fill it as much? 8/10.

The Cutler's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie was fine. It benefitted from the frosting. 7/10.

I was eager to try the Baskin-Robbins Turkey Day Fixins Ice Cream, which has sweet potato ice cream with cranberry sauce and cornbread bits. I love the idea of this ice cream more than I love the actual flavor. I heard some people describe it as a savory ice cream, but I don't think of cranberry sauce or cornbread as savory, and sweet potatoes literally have "sweet" in their name. But even though the flavors aren't savory, my brain expects them to be paired with savory things (since I usually have cranberry sauce on turkey). But I'm really happy this exists. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Riced Cauliflower & Butternut Sqush Risotto has cauliflower "rice" with squash pieces. I really enjoyed this low-calorie snack/meal. 7/10.