Gobble, Gobble!

Yep, it's almost Thanksgiving and the annual turkey binge.  Norbert de la Norbest is currently thawing in the refrigerator, all the ingredients for the sides have been purchased, and the lefse has been made!  No store-bought lefse here.  Just 100% authentic Norwegian lefse rolled with the funky rolling pin and fried on the old-school Bethany Heritage grill.  Not the teflon one, the real one!  On Sunday I made 32 rounds (think rolling out 32 pie crusts--total insanity).  Some for Thanksgiving, some got frozen for Christmas and New Years, one package so cousin Mike and his family can enjoy some when he gets leave over the holidays from duty in Afghanistan, and some for a co-worker.  The co-worker's children were required to take the lefse quiz before they could get their lefse.  They call it rolly bread.  They thought it would be ok to put peanut butter on it, to roll it out with a regular smooth rolling pin, and that sprinkling sugar on the buttered lefse was optional.  I asked if they were Polish or something, not realizing that those answers were like driving a stake into the heart of any good Norwegian.  Why, they might as well just use instant potatoes!

After Thanksgiving dinner, it's time for my own personal tradition to get in the holiday spirit.  Watching the DVD of the Radio City Rockettes holiday show.  Some day I'd like to see that in person.  But for now, I stick closer to home in the event that my health would suddenly change.  As of tomorrow, I've been back home for two months.  And not a single problem more serious than a scratchy throat for a couple of days.  I think that is pretty good.  Slept like a baby the last three nights, snuggled under the enormous pile of blankets on my bed.  Eating regular meals with little or no salt, and watching the types of protein that I eat.  This is South Dakota, and I would give just about anything for a nice steak--maybe a filet mignon.  But, alas, it's chicken again.  I think for New Year's I'm going to do a pork loin.  Maybe go wild and do the herb roasted, bacon-wrapped loin.  It's a light pork, not dark, so I should be ok.  And it's SOOOO good.  I'll have to try some of my new herbs on it.  I found another place that has some great salt-free blends.  Their service is amazingly fast, and their prices are very reasonable.  Most items are $4.79 for a HUGE bottle.  So check out Marshall Creek Spices.  They sometimes have problems with the payment processor on their Website, so I would recommend checking out with PayPal, or calling to place your order.

Ok, time to head for bed.  I still have to work tomorrow, at least most of the day.  Have to work on a proposal, then get a little jiggy with our calling software so we can try to wrap up the calling for November by tomorrow.  It will be hard, since we're missing one of our callers.  Thoughts go out to you, Shirley.  You scared us on Friday, but I know you'll be better soon!  Hope you were able to catch the finale of Dancing with the Stars.