The Third Taste of Thanksgiving

Tonight's add on to our Thanksgiving tastes: mashed potatoes and gravy...two things had to be made for tonight! The main problem was that I didn't have a turkey to give me the drippings that I usually use for our Thanksgiving gravy. When I was looking for turkeys that met with our dietary guidelines, I found turkey wings that fell into that category. After I got home from the store (actually as I drove into the driveway from that shopping trip), I remembered reading about a way to make gravy ahead of time for Thanksgiving and that the way was...roasting turkey wings and veggies. So today after Woody's appointment we stopped at the store and I ran in and got a couple of turkey wings. I roasted them for a little over an hour with carrots, celery, and garlic. Then put all that into a pan with chicken broth and water and simmered them for a while more. I deglazed the pan and put all those drippings in with the roasted wings, veggies and broth. I strained all that and then made gravy with the liquid. It really did make a flavorful gravy...took a bit of work but it worked and we have gravy, though no turkey! I asked Woody if he wanted mashed potatoes or dressing (both of which he likes gravy on) and he chose the mashed potatoes for this day's taste. But in the end he didn't have today's taste as he isn't feeling much like eating today. He had a high protein straberry shake instead. Woody's doctor visit went well today. All the team seemed pleased with his progress. This was the three month mark and they were evaluating and comparing with how he feels and is doing now in comparison to when he started dialysis. Dr. O is also trying to work with Woody's nausea that keeps recurring. Woody still says that it is drainage. We came home and it was almost time to get Woody's dialysis going for today. Just after I had finished I got a call from a friend...so perfect timing. We hadn't talked for a while so got caught up on everyone's ailments! Sad that ailments seem so much a part of conversations as we get older! While I was talking to her another friend knocked on the door and she had brought us some food from a dinner that was served by our church yesterday. Most is too salty for Woody (probably for me also...but...I hadn't had even a bite of ham in ages...so I am going to indulge and probably be sorry later. I made a 1/2 a ham sandwich and it tasted sooooo good!) Woody was glad to be home after his trip to the doctor. I think that his recliner looked really good to him, Well, there is still part of the mess left in the kitchen...most went in the dishwasher and it is finished so I may go down and empty the dishwasher and see if more of what is left scattered on the counters can go in and hopefully I won't have to wash too many by hand. I think that along with many tastes of Thanksgiving, I am having the many messes of Thanksgiving also! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!