Thanksgiving 2007

For C.J.’s wife…

To make 8 cups of Gravy Base

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 carrot

• 1 rib celery

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1/2 cup apple juice

• 8 cups homemade chicken stock or turkey stock

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, whole • 4 sprigs fresh parsley

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaves To make the gravy

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• Gravy Base just made

• 1/2 cup reserved turkey fat

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

PREP WORK ...Begin by getting your Gravy Base ingredients prepped. Peel and chop the carrot, celery, onion and garlic. Either make or get ready the chicken stock.

HOW TO MAKE AT HOME ...Making the Gravy Base

1. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables, garlic, turkey neck and sauté until the vegetables are caramelized. (Approximately 15 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and burning.

2. Deglaze the pan with apple juice and stir, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce until the juice evaporates to an essence. (Approx. 5 minutes)

3. Add the chicken stock, peppercorns, and herbs. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for one hour. Strain gravy base and set aside. Making the Gravy

4. Remove turkey from roasting pan. Pour off pan drippings and reserve. Place pan over high heat and deglaze with white wine. Skim the fat from the reserved pan drippings and reserve.

5. Add the Gravy Base and the defatted pan drippings back to the pan and bring liquid to a boil over medium heat.

6. Make a roux by heating the reserved turkey fat and enough butter to make 1/2 cup in a small sauté pan. When the fat is hot, add flour and whisk to combine.

7. To thicken the gravy, whisk in small amounts of roux until the gravy is at the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

But I'm going to make great effort to cover all that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving along with you GJ....

FIRST I am so thankful for my husband and children, and grandbabies who accept me completely and fully and even though they can't possibly understand the "reason" for some of the things I do, they are THERE every single time no matter what, through thick and thin, mania and depression and for that THEY deserve a golden crown i am sure...

Second for those of you on here that have soooo helped me through the good and bad times, read my posts and commented, helped me understand this illness is not an isolation but a combination, that it isnt a path I have to tread alone in my bp world but can see that others are on that path too.

Third for my relationship with the Lord, I believe each and every one has their own PERSONAL relationship with our maker and I feel rather comfortable with my relationship with my savior...although i know i wander off that narrow path quiet often i know he'll be there to pick up the pieces.

Fourth I'd like to express thanks to those who are "touched with the fire" and that write their music, their poetry, their ART form of some kind to help us all, ALL....see things in another light and ignite the flame to understanding for those NOT even close to understanding (or often not trying to find out).....the workings, the inner workings of a bp and how creatively beautiful some of the work can be that comes from such sources...I fully believe we need an area on here for those "artists" to express themselves either through music, poetry etc....for bps are quite profound.

I am thankful for so many other things too like my families health, shelter from the storms raging outside, food upon my table, friendships that have blossomed from this site, for GJ for welcoming me and peaking my interest enough to stay on this site long enough to see that it is a comforting place to be...dont' know sometimes what i'd do without all you....

Thankful for the wonderful memories i have of my light source, my daddy and the wonderful childhood he provided for me and the strength that still emits from his words embedded in my soul.And I know as a US MARINE he is guarding heavens gate watching for me when my moment comes.

SOOO thankful for NATURE< the great outdoors and the fresh air of the country and beauty the lord has placed here upon this earth...its all in the details....

Thankful for my therapists, my pdoc, my meds, my drive to learn something new each day, for the coping skills i have learned, Oh this could go on and on...

I am a very very simple person....require very little, VERY little, but the intangible things....thankful for the love, the basic needs of life, and friendships that keep me buoyant....

And believe it or not thankful for those mania stages that allow me to get something done, and for the depression stages that allow my body to recover from the mass chaos of the mania.....

Thank you all for this site....i know it is a lot of work to keep it up and running, but in the process you are keeping many of US up and running tooo.....thank YOU!!

Too much to list....too many simple things we forget to be thankful for, but this is a general overview for me....only the beginning but uhm too long now!! tehee..

Thanks GJ for this post.....Hope your tday was peaceful and a good one.

Sincerely

ctrygirl

I'm thankful for the medication I take every day. Even though I complain, it has made my life easier, and the lives of those around me much more pleasant.

I had forgotten those all important things in my grace before our meal, but I spent the three days before Thanksgiving making sure I got my refills.