Who would have ever known that I would get up out of bed shortly after 3 am to go shopping. With such a long day before and sore legs, Pamela and I decided to make a run for it. We looked over and over our flyer's, mapped out a course of action and hit the town.
I think we can honestly say that we were successful this year. Everything was able to be obtained with the exception of one item that didn't get on the stores truck, but they gave us a rain check.
Pamela even had to run through a store on her own, while I tried to park. The Lot was FULL. I don't think I've ever seen Shopko so busy...She even watched a store manager throw up. I guess everyone had to be to work (even the sick)...Arvil even came and joined up with us at 7 am, but held us back a little. We had to keep telling him to keep up. He found a few good sells too, once he got into the spirit a little.
We shopped for 6 hours and would have kept going if we felt lucky to leave the kids longer with their father and uncle and if Arvil hadn't said enough. But we felt we pressed our luck with the kids, so we agreed to come home. We did get the men to go out later with us to have the kids pick out a few things for shopping on Saturday. They didn't like the idea to much once they figured out that they had be bush whacked.
I can honestly say, that Pamela and I didn't have any run ins with any people this year. Everyone seemed pretty much friendly and willing to help each other out to a point. I think that the stores figured it out too, so aisles were clear and areas were ready for the many many people. We also got into rather short lines, so checking out wasn't to bad either.
So here's to everyone as you do your shopping, have patients, fun and don't get discouraged. The sales are out there, you just have to look...ENJOY! DON'T BE A GRINCH!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving
Well, Thanksgiving came and went and we're all still alive. Usually I'm in the kitchen alone, able to make everything in my own way and time. I seems to wear myself out, but enjoy bopping around the kitchen listening to the radio. Well this year Arvil didn't go out hunting and Pamela, Jon and the kids were here. Needless to say, to much visiting was going on and people coming and going through my kitchen. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Let's see...Arvil and I went out shopping a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving. We were able to get a fresh Turkey, so no thawing. We decided to do Stove Top Stuffing, so it would turn out and everyone would enjoy it. I decided that I could attempt to make homemade rolls, something that I can't seen to do well, but Arvil can...We couldn't get yams, since all the stores sold out of them, so we went with Sweet Potatoes, which turned out wonderful...but...my pies this year...something happened to them. The crust just didn't fill right. But I made the pies anyway instead of dumping the crust and starting over. Everything was going well I think, until Arvil came in and sat down to talk with Pamela and I. My rolls raised faster then I thought they would, my sister has a way of using warm water to help them raise quicker, I didn't think they would be ready in 15 min. So my pies got moved to the side and I tried to roll out the dough after kneading the dough, like my sister's recipe told me to do. Needless to say, after doing 8 rolls, Arvil was called into the picture to finish them. As he finished the rolls, I started back onto my pies, but that was after I asked Arvil to open up the cans and mix up my pumpkin pie mixture. Who would have dreamed, that he wouldn't read the recipe on the back to make sure everything was in the pie mixture. As I went to pour in my mixture it seemed really really thick, with a 1/3 of the mixture poured into the shell, it dawned on me that I hadn't set out enough canned milk for him. So off to the pantry to get another can to combine to the mixture. I was able to save the crust already rolled out. So the pies went into the oven, after the rolls were baked. Then came the Huckleberry filling, but I put that in the wrong crust. I poured it into my crust that was already fluted and pierced for my chocolate pie. Oh well, I threw on a top and re fluted the edge. But then I started to smell burning. As I turned around, Arvil had taken the rolls from the oven and set them on the flat stove top, but since I had my hands busy, pouring the Huckleberry filling, I didn't turn off the stove, so all the rolls that were over the burner started to burn. Luckily my new Pampered Chef pans held up and didn't get scorched.
By the time everything finished cooking and we sat down to a lovely meal, We were eating 15 minutes ahead of schedule. It tasted really really good. The turkey was gone in no time. 14 pounds goes quickly with 9 people eating.
Later that night, it was finally time for pie, Arvil went up and got Huckleberry. It was really good to, so he said. Then Jon and Kyra came down with their Pumpkin pie. Kyra was so excited with all her whipped cream that she didn't notice the taste, I guess, because Jon let out this terrible sound. He wasn't going to eat the pie, it just didn't taste right. So he gave it to me to try. After a couple of bites, it came to me that the sugar was left out. I had put it in front of Arvil, but he didn't get any out. He was just going to open the cans that I had asked him to do. So before I could dump the pies, Arvil took a piece and poured sugar over the top then the whipped cream. He said it tasted fine that way, but we'll pass.
So hopefully next year will be better...maybe we'll go somewhere instead...
Let's see...Arvil and I went out shopping a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving. We were able to get a fresh Turkey, so no thawing. We decided to do Stove Top Stuffing, so it would turn out and everyone would enjoy it. I decided that I could attempt to make homemade rolls, something that I can't seen to do well, but Arvil can...We couldn't get yams, since all the stores sold out of them, so we went with Sweet Potatoes, which turned out wonderful...but...my pies this year...something happened to them. The crust just didn't fill right. But I made the pies anyway instead of dumping the crust and starting over. Everything was going well I think, until Arvil came in and sat down to talk with Pamela and I. My rolls raised faster then I thought they would, my sister has a way of using warm water to help them raise quicker, I didn't think they would be ready in 15 min. So my pies got moved to the side and I tried to roll out the dough after kneading the dough, like my sister's recipe told me to do. Needless to say, after doing 8 rolls, Arvil was called into the picture to finish them. As he finished the rolls, I started back onto my pies, but that was after I asked Arvil to open up the cans and mix up my pumpkin pie mixture. Who would have dreamed, that he wouldn't read the recipe on the back to make sure everything was in the pie mixture. As I went to pour in my mixture it seemed really really thick, with a 1/3 of the mixture poured into the shell, it dawned on me that I hadn't set out enough canned milk for him. So off to the pantry to get another can to combine to the mixture. I was able to save the crust already rolled out. So the pies went into the oven, after the rolls were baked. Then came the Huckleberry filling, but I put that in the wrong crust. I poured it into my crust that was already fluted and pierced for my chocolate pie. Oh well, I threw on a top and re fluted the edge. But then I started to smell burning. As I turned around, Arvil had taken the rolls from the oven and set them on the flat stove top, but since I had my hands busy, pouring the Huckleberry filling, I didn't turn off the stove, so all the rolls that were over the burner started to burn. Luckily my new Pampered Chef pans held up and didn't get scorched.
By the time everything finished cooking and we sat down to a lovely meal, We were eating 15 minutes ahead of schedule. It tasted really really good. The turkey was gone in no time. 14 pounds goes quickly with 9 people eating.
Later that night, it was finally time for pie, Arvil went up and got Huckleberry. It was really good to, so he said. Then Jon and Kyra came down with their Pumpkin pie. Kyra was so excited with all her whipped cream that she didn't notice the taste, I guess, because Jon let out this terrible sound. He wasn't going to eat the pie, it just didn't taste right. So he gave it to me to try. After a couple of bites, it came to me that the sugar was left out. I had put it in front of Arvil, but he didn't get any out. He was just going to open the cans that I had asked him to do. So before I could dump the pies, Arvil took a piece and poured sugar over the top then the whipped cream. He said it tasted fine that way, but we'll pass.
So hopefully next year will be better...maybe we'll go somewhere instead...
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