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Thanksgiving with Binky & Muffy |
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These are the grandchildren Grandparents adore. These are the minions of the classic parent's threat, "Wait till you have kids of your own." Don't let the innocent cherub faces fool you. Binky on the left is likely to roll in shit with his dog Buster then run through the house brushing up against everything in his path while Muffy on the right is eight going on thirty five. I Plan on strapping her in a chastity belt for her eleventh birthday and depositing the key in a ten-year time capsule.They are fun kids and don't visit often enough. |
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One of the finest traditions in our family are the Thanksgiving Geese made from yellow squash and carrots that grace our table every year. The Kids love to help starting with the shopping. We must select just the right squash with the most bulbous bottom and the crookedest "neck". The more oddly shaped vegetables make the most interesting geese. We often visit several stores to find just the right ones.
Carrots cloves and some toothpicks are the other bits needed to create the geese. First we lop of the squash stem and cut a carrot tip that closely matches the diameter of the remaining neck. Half a sturdy toothpick jammed first into the carrot then into the neck forms the little goosie's beak. Feet are made from the center of the carrots. Slice off a little "log" then split that log down the middle creating a flat surface. Carving two little triangles in one end of the split log makes three little webbed toes. Jam half a toothpick in the top of each foot. Next slice a bit off each side of the round part of the squash. Don't make two perfectly parallel cuts, angle your cuts just a little to leave a wider back than belly. This will make for a greater wingspan when the wings are attached. Take the ovals sliced from the squash and cut some triangles to create the feather effect. The wings need two toothpick halves to hold them in place. The cloves are for the eyes. Select perfect whole cloves and jam them in either side of the squash near the beak. You will be pleased with the eyelash effect created by the cloves. The final step is to seat your goose on its little carrot feet.
You don't have to make all the geese stand up perfectly straight. You can make some low running "hissing" geese by anchoring the feet more toward the belly or get really creative and try to raise one of the legs in a walking stance. This is especially effective when you have the geese walking all over the Thanksgiving table rather than huddled around the centerpiece.
 This bird suffered from too long a cocktail hour. | |  These geese wilted overnight. |
The photos are from different years showing that using different sizes as well as shapes make a more interesting family gaggle. Our tradition concludes the day after Thanksgiving when we line the little geese up in a steamer and "boil them alive". It's a bit of leftover ghoulishnes from Halloween that really appeals to the kids. However, last year was especially humid and our little geese had wilted enough so that shrunken body parts were falling off by themselves. As Muffy pointed out, there was no point in boiling these geese since they already looked like the living dead.
You must admit, even though they are more shriveled than Keith Richards, their eyelashes look fabulous!
Finally just a little teaser for the Soup Lady. I love Pumpkin Potato Soup! I especially love it when the pumpkin shell is used as the turreen. The autumn leaves are courtesy of Michael's. Our leaves won't turn until December.
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