Leftovers Are Part Of The Season

      Rainy day in otherwise sunny southern California. It’s nice, we can use it. I especially like it because it should have been a watering day for me anyway, and now, since it’s rained, I don’t have to waste the water. It is weird though, to need the light sitting here at 3 pm. My eyes are not what they once were, and it’s becoming overly apparent that low light contributes to the lack of vision. For some reason, I still always try extra light first, when I’m having trouble seeing. More light usually helps, but I find myself often wondering why I don’t just get my glasses. Sometimes I’ll grab something, to look at the directions, or ingredients, and I laugh to myself out loud: “Yeah right, like I can read it.” The struggle is real my friends. Old age seems like such a distant dream, until you’re wrapped up in it. I’m starting to feel old, I can’t imagine what people my parent’s age feel like. I got to spend some time with them over the holiday weekend. It was nice. The first 10 years of my relationship with my wife, they lived on the East Coast, so we didn’t really see them very much. Then, when they moved back to California, they were up in Ridgecrest, which is about a 4-hour drive from here. We were always glad to get to go see them. They had a cool house, and it was a nice little road trip vacation for us. So, for years, that’s what we did on the holidays, drive up and spend a few days with them. Now, even though they only live 7 miles from us, we still have kind of kept the tradition of spending days together. It’s fun to stay up late playing games, and wake up and start grilling, not having to worry about driving anywhere. Plus, it’s suspended reality for my wife and I, as if we are on vacation. And I’m sure it helps them too, because they finally have some company.

     Also, I think the staycation gets more intimate in a way. When you meet people for dinner, a lot of times I find it can be kind of superficial. You only have a limited amount of time. Usually, different people have a lot to say. You spend so much time catching up, then eating, then it’s kind of over, and you’re back on to your busy life. When you spend extended time with people, it gives a chance for the underlying things to float to the surface. After you’ve already talked about all the small talk, and catching up, then real things can be discussed. They don’t always, of course, but I think it makes it more plausible when you have what can seem like a lot of time with each other. We usually make a menu for the weekend, and it gives me time to play with all of their gadgets. I don’t even know how much they actually cook, but they love to buy kitchen gadgets. Going over gives me a chance to play, and them a chance to see how their wares actually work. It’s mostly fun. It’s usually delicious. This year we got the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving, and I made a stock out of it. While that was brewing, we had bought some turkey breasts to put in the smoker. One of those breasts made it into the stock, and I made Smoked Turkey Pozole. It was delicious. I just finished up the last of it about an hour ago, I already wish I had more. One of the other breasts became turkey sandwiches. Delicious! Something about juicy smoked turkey, that just sets a sandwich apart. I had also made guacamole. I seriously think I could have won a competition with this batch. I used it to make an Avocado Turkey and Cheese sandwich. My mind was blown. I almost cried. Over a sandwich! It made me wonder why we don’t do that more often. I literally love it.

     The soup was a hit. I picked it because my sister said she had never had pozole before. There are certain things, soups mostly, that she will only try if I make them. So, when I have a chance to try something new, and open a mind or two, I’m all in. It was a success. The next day we got to watch football, and eat up the leftovers. That night we used another smoked turkey breast for a dish we call “pinwheels.” They are kind of like a cinnamon roll, but with turkey. Although, my mom wasn’t feeling up to it, so we really just put this smoked ground turkey gravy over biscuits. It turned out delicious! It felt a little weird, because we invited my mother-in-law over for pinwheels. But that’s not really what she got. I think she liked it. But I think she appreciated the company most of all. It was just a little awkward because we didn’t even find out that my mom wasn’t going to be able to do the cooking until my mother-in-law got there. All of a sudden, my wife and I were thrown into the situation where dinner was on us! It wasn’t that big of a deal, I just wish we had known sooner than 20 minutes before dinner. I like cooking, I’m willing to do all the work, I just need to know ahead of time. It was a little awkward, but it came out fine, and I’m not sure we’ll be doing the actual pinwheels again. Sometimes they can be a bit dry, since it’s basically biscuit dough wrapped around a bunch of ground turkey filling. Then smothered in gravy, which I also smoked by the way. Dinner was a success. Then we packed up our stuff and were on our way. It seemed like we were leaving with more than we came with, but that’s okay, it all fit in our fridge. I barely had to buy any groceries this week, and we’re eating like kings. Leftovers are part of the season!