829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Monday, November 26, 2012

OFD 2012





I write lists.  Lists are essential if anything is going to get done.  And
OFD is no exception.  Had I not put this on the counter under my 
keys, we may never have had mussels in beer-basil butter, or 
skewered shrimp with curry-coconut sauce, or asian-flavored
rib-ends with shiitake mushrooms.  The gravy may not have been
as amazing as it turned out to be (but I'm sure it would have been
awesome regardless), and we would have had two less ice
creams to serve with the assortment of pies.  
But since I woke up way early on Thursday, with thoughts
buzzing in my head about what I was going to serve first once we
got to Mojo's, the list was but a formality.  





Two of my three Baywomen.  Photo taken during our annual visit
to Greenwich Cove, down the road from my cousin's, after hors
d'oeuvres and before dinner.  This whole foreground was well 
under water during Sandy, and at least halfway up the stairway 
to the porch of the house in the background.  I'm surprised
the dinghy racks are still there. 





On the rocks.





"I must say, though, that it is particularly heartwarming to see the 
passion of our next gen for this day that seems to grow even 
stronger by the year.  This flame will be passed along for many, 
many years.  In fact, Patti was saying to me this afternoon that 
even though she never met the man (Grandpop) who started it all,
 she could imagine how proud he would be to see his great 
grandchildren partaking so vigorously in the day's traditions.  
That got me picturing him with us on the manporch, 
puffing contentedly on a Dominican."

That was Mojo's reply to my lamenting email from Friday,
while at work, bumming out about working
 and looking ahead to being at work all weekend.  I'd
mentioned how I am always depressed the day after THXG, 
and how eventually I get over it, only after hours of self-pity.





The Man at the head of the table, who started this tradition.
This may be the earliest documentation of OFD, taken in
my grandparents' summer bungalow on the Metedeconk 
River, in Cedarcroft, NJ, the heart of the Jersey Shore.  
It was a varnished picnic table with a tablecloth, and two 
benches for the grown-ups.  The card table for the kids 
was usually behind the photographer (Uncle Don).  But the 
card table may not have been deployed at this early date;  
highchair trays were probably the platforms for most of us, 
on which the turkey and gravy were smeared.  Following
 is another of Mojo's commentaries:


"This is incredible!  I never knew (or forgot if told long ago) that
both sets of my grandparents dined together for Thanksgiving.
Clockwise, seated to Gigi's left, is the Detroit contingent of
Eleanor (given name Daisy) and Bill (given name Leon) Clarke,
with George next to Bill on the far end.  To his left is Bev, with a 
mystery space (Don, the photog!!), and then Dot and Jim
(nice buzz cut) on the near end.  If it's November '62, I was 4-1/2,
and you were 1-1/2; our clever parents had no doubt already
applied our Port rations, and we were napping soundly on the oval-
shaped cotton rag rug on the floor in front of the fireplace while
they dined.  Or not.  :-))"





Thursday was quite a peaceful day, especially compared to the
torrent that passed through here almost a month ago






Baydog and Mojo.
Mojo, would you move that freakin fat separator? 
And for anybody who was wondering about the item 'glasses'
on my list earlier, there they are hanging from my collar.
I can't do anything any more without them. 
BTW, that was only one of two turkeys that day...






Evidence of a great session on Mojo's manporch.  There were
many incriminating photos associated with this one, and the blogger
decided that it was in our family's best interest to exclude them.





Glass of 2012.  We spent the day in Connecticut, but we visited
France, California, Spain, and Portugal.  
I had severe jet-lag on Friday.






Update:  Doc Haagen Dazs had asked about the Wiener Dog.
The Ween doesn't play nicely with other dogs, even her cousins,
when we're present.  It seems to be a protection/territory issue.
The last two or three OFDs, she's spent the day in a crate in 
Mojo's laundry room, while everyone else milled about 
drinking and eating.  This THXG, she spent the day and night
with about a dozen assorted pooches, at a place that doesn't
have a problem giving insulin injections.  When I drop her off,
they meet us in the driveway so as not to cause a stir with the
rest of the guests, and she trots inside, never looking back.
It's a perfect solution to an otherwise uncomfortable situation.
Their nice back yard was way better than an indoor crate. 


22 comments:

  1. Mr Chairman, the great state of California wishes you well and is proud to have contributed to your celebration of this festive occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Et la France aussi, ayant contribué à la réussite de votre festin chaleureux parmi vos convives, vous souhaite une année pleine de bonheur (bien entendu, avec davantage de vins français).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Baydog,

    You left PBR off the list, please tell me you didn't forget the PBR!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not a case of forgetting, Manassas....

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    2. 1st & 2nd times through, I'm thnking you also forgot Weinerdog. I heart your traditions (even with envy), but I heart Weinerdog more!

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    3. Thx for reassuring me that Weinerdog was still on the same side of the ground with the rest of us!

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    4. I can assure you Doc, that when that unthinkable event takes place, I will struggle through the tears and emotions and try to produce a worthy tribute. Until then, long live Wienerdog!

      Delete
  4. Baydog, I'm glad to see PBR wasn't on your list. Please tell me that you didn't bring the PBR. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. From the Urban Dictionary

    PBR
    Derived from the Latin, Pasbitinus Bluinus Ribbionus, it is a staple of white trash beverage consumption nation wide. As a noun, it is simple, refering to the midly refreshing Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. As an adjective, it is being used to describe the people, actions and possesions of those who drink it most.

    noun - "I drank a 24 pack of PBR and my wife drank my other case so I ran her over with my 1983 GMC 1500"

    adjective - "that guy who ran over his wife with the pickup truck is pretty PBR"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a shame. I thought the urban dictionary's definition was more than mildly insulting.

      Delete
    2. PBR! of course! We drank those in Colorado in the 50's!

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  6. Is their anything more American than Thanksgiving, and if that is so (which it is), is there anything more American than Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer? It is the perfect malt beverage for the holiday! French, Italian and what,Portuguese wine..are you kidding me?. PBR is Red White and Blue and those colors don't run and neither did the Pilgrims.

    All kidding aside It looks like Mojo's OFD was a sensation and like you, Mojo and the rest of the rogues on this blog, I too love Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone had a joyous Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manass - As you and Tillerman rightly observe, PBR is the American lager of choice, ne plus ultra, for a (double) wide section of our populous. But given that this is ourVERYfavoriteday together--our sacred annual exuberant gathering of family and friends--we indulge (for 12 or so continuous and joyful hours) in uncommonly good food and drink.

      That said, I believe that our affable and attentive canines in attendance would be quite pleased with an upgrade to a dram of PBR in their water bowls as a holiday treat. It's all relative.

      Hope your day was as happy as ours!

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    2. And the populace is populous.

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    3. It was a very good Thanksgiving. My family made a good showing and everything was delicious. Thanks for asking!

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  7. Back in the day, one of my favorite sailing blogs was EVK4 - SuperBlog. Edward who wrote it called his crew the Polka Dot Racing Team and even designed a T-shirt for the PDR team. (Can you guess where this is heading?) I actually have one of these T-shirts - must have won it in one of those silly blogging competitions I guess.

    Check out the PDR logo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Replies
    1. We never see enough pics of you, T.

      And I'd love to get one of those shirts, in XXL. And one for Mojo too.

      Delete
    2. What he said. It's good for your Mojo.

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