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Thanksgiving 09: The year Toby made the gravy.
Thanksgiving flew by and I didn’t take any photos of the kids! Shame on me. We had thanksgiving at Bethany’s this year. It was small and sweet. The funny thing is I actually found myself being mildly annoyed that I had to help out in the kitchen and stuff instead of just spending the day playing on my laptop and drinking coffee while Bethany baked something. I’m so spoiled when I go to Bethany’s. But it was really nice to share all the fun of staying at Bethany’s with my mom and dad and Toby.
Toby made a guest-star appearance in the kitchen to make his own version of gravy this year. I’ve written before how gravy is a thorn in my side when it comes to cooking and how Toby thinks it’s food of the gods and therefore I should learn the art so that I can be the best wife ever. I say phoey on that. Gravy Schmavy.
We decided to let Mr. Gravy Expert try his own hand in the kitchen instead of just spouting off about it for a change. Let me just say it was very entertaining. I have no idea what he did but it involved onions and a lot of whipping and then the gravy kept growing and growing so that eventually he had to move the whole mess into a much bigger pot. In the end, we had enough gravy to freeze and eat all year long. That may have been his motive all along since I’ve failed him so miserably.
It wasn’t exactly the best gravy I ever tasted but it wasn’t bad. It looked pretty anyway. It will however make a great defense argument for the next time he launches into his great speech on how of grease molecules glom onto flour molecules (Or was it the other way around? Can you tell I’ve heard this rant about a million times and that I make a habit of tuning it out?).
Toby felt bad about his great gravy experiment in the end but I thought the whole debacle was fantastic. There is nothing better than a little kitchen entertainment that involves the whole family. I prefer that to drunken drama any day.
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Shooting (photos of) Horses
Yesterday was Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day. Or at least it was in our house. I have no idea when that day is for the rest of the country. Toby let us tag along on one of his photo shoots because he’s been taking pictures of a local horse ranch and he thought we’d get a kick of out of seeing some real horses.
Before we left, Toby asked Bug if she’d ever seen a horse before. She has, but it was a long time ago when she wasn’t even a year old, so I doubt she remembers it. But of course she said she had and when Toby asked her how big a horse was she showed him her hand. As if horses were as big as a hand. We finally got it out of her that she had seen horses in books and they were about the size of her hand. When we explained that horses are bigger than me or Toby her eyes got really big.
The first thing we did when we got there was meet the horses and their trainer. I was so nervous about the horses myself that I didn’t actually get a good shot of Bug petting them (stupid low light and bad angles), but she did. She was quite impressed. The trainer was very nice.
A stable hand, named Juan, led the model horses out to the pasture to be photographed. The owner of this ranch is selling his property and Toby thought it might be nice to have a few horses in the foreground of his regal estate.
Then we drove around to the front of the property and Toby climbed up on top of his van to get his shot. Who needs a giant ladder pod when you can climb up on top of your big old Eurovan to get your angle? He does it all the time. I’ve even had to patch up his pants a time or two from some of his stunts. I hope I’m not giving away a trade secret here but I thought you guys might find it interesting. I’d share the shot he took while up there but he’s still processing the images. Instead here’s a shot Bug took:
And one of me, though I’m not so fond of this angle.
It was hot and dusty out there. It’s amazing how going inland a few miles in Southern California means the temperature goes up dramtically. We think we’ve had it bad during this latest heat wave, but it was scorching out in San Juan Capistrano. I could almost feel the moisture being sucked out of my skin.
The horses don’t seem to mind the heat much. They seemed to love it out here. I suppose horses would like to trot along the beach just as much as I do but there’s lots more room for them out here. Miles and miles as far as you can see there are hills and valleys just waiting to be galloped over. We walked around the property a bit and had the pleasure of watching two girls learning how to ride. They galloped and trotted and jumped over gates. It was all very exciting.
Not bad for a day’s work. Then we left and drove straight to Starbucks for the biggest coldest passion iced tea we could buy, and boy did it taste good.
