Thanksgiving prep part II

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore: Surfing Santas in the store window don't look quite so out of place

This dinner better be good, because I have scraped out the giblets of two chickens and pureed pumpkin by hand. The former due to their still being stuck to the inside of the chicken, the latter because the blender in Vikki's house decided to die yesterday and the most helpful text I got in response to my plea for a blender was "I think Vikki has one". Ching did help with the pumpkin. Rather, I helped her. On the plus side, the inside of a butternut squash smells exactly like a pumpkin and is the same lovely orange, so we have some hope. Of course, seeing as how I've never even been an observer when a pumpkin pie was made, I don't even have that comfort zone of being able to say "well it LOOKS the same as when so-and-so made it".

The giblets are out of the chickens. The bread cubes are all ready for the stuffing, as is the chopped celery. The mashed potatoes are in the fridge ready to be heated tomorrow. The rest of the celery is in a container to be used as an appetiser. The plates and cutlery have been counted. The table is covered with a pale purple sheet, which is in turn covered by a proper table cloth that wasn't quite big enough to cover the smaller table we had to drag to the end of the dining room table to make it big enough to seat seven. The vase Ching made at a Verge event is in the centre of the table awaiting whatever flowers/greens we manage to find that we're allowed to pick. Every contestant on Australian Idol gave a disappointing performance. My tute presentation is miraculously ready to go. Thanksgiving is really hard work, and I haven't actually made any of the main dishes yet. Tomorrow is all about fine timing.