In this month’s post–

Thanksgiving, Reinvented

Thanksgiving Kitchen

A Bit of Rain for the Garden

November Gallery

Chris:

Thanksgiving Reinvented: On Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we drove to nearby Napa County to see how people and nature were coping in the aftermath of the Glass Fire, which began on Glass Mountain in east Napa in late September and swept west through parts of Napa wine country and over the Mayacamas Mountains into Sonoma. As I wrote in October’s blog, the Glass Fire was the final blaze in this year’s historically damaging fire season. Far from being the largest or most destructive of this year’s wildfires, it nevertheless drew nationwide attention because of its iconic location.

What we found was nature hard at work coming back from the devastation, while human workers were repairing some of the damage.

The steadfast, tireless efforts of firefighting first responders had kept flames at bay from crossing Silverado Trail. For two solid weeks, they worked to contain the fires. The result? the vineyards just west of the Trail were largely untouched by the flames, as were the Valley towns of Calistoga and St. Helena. A separate fire, north of St.Helena, devastated vineyards and several wineries, but, again, firefighters saved many acres and the towns. Throughout the valley, we saw signs, many handmade, proclaiming with heartfelt joy and relief “Thank You, First Responders!”

On Glass Mountain itself, we could see something of what their work had prevented in most of the Valley:

The damage we can less easily see, a month beyond the flames, is the effect of the smoke that spread everywhere. This smoke damage threatens the quality of this year’s harvest up and down the Valley. The air may have cleared, and the fall chardonnay golds and burgundy reds may make the Valley vivid, but the effects of the fires remain in the fruit and the vines.

But just imagine how much worse it might have been. “Thank you, first responders,” indeed.

In 2020, we have so many first responders to thank. We now consider as “first responders” so many people in so many roles that the term will never have the same meaning. This year has brought into sharp focus for all of us the vital, dangerous service of millions on the front lines whose day-to-day essential work we have all too often taken for granted–and who have often been paid inequitably:

–store employees in all types of jobs

–restaurant workers

–transit workers

–sanitation workers

–nurses and health technicians

–farm workers

–food processors

–delivery personnel

–home health aides

–teachers and school staff

–cleaners of all types

–hospital and clinic staff

–emergency and ICU staff

–food distribution volunteers and professionals

–construction and renovation workers

–home infrastructure workers of all kinds

–and the list goes on and on. (Think who else belongs on this list.)

Add to this list people whose professions have become so vital in this reinvented pandemic environment that we can’t imagine survival of our society without them:

–physicians

–epidemiologists and researchers

–communication designers and engineers

–web security personnel

–elections personnel in all roles

–mental health workers

–and the list goes on.

When we think of individuals whom we should thank this Thanksgiving, we could literally spend all day just naming them.

The bottom line: Thanksgiving has been reinvented before our eyes and with every breath we are able to take.

Thanksgiving Kitchen

Jean:

On Thanksgiving, we hosted a culinary celebration with our children, children–in-law, and grandchildren from across the country: California, Georgia, New York, and Virginia. Seven families, 22 people in all. We shared a range of Thanksgiving foods, including six pumpkin pies, lots of cranberry sauces, different potato and veggie recipes, and a few different turkey cooking ideas–the most exotic of which was “garbage can” turkey, where one of the families put a skewered turkey under a small metal garbage can outside, then covered and surrounded the can with hot coals from the grill.

How did we have this huge gathering of families in the midst of COVID? In the true spirit of Reinvented Thanksgiving, we did it all via Zoom. We all showed off our different cuisines and asked questions of each other about our ingredients, recipes, and plans for the rest of the day. There was no huge stack of dishes and pots to be washed, no spats among kids (or adults) at a communal table, no fighting over who could watch what on TV, and no having to travel after dinner with too-full stomachs (or tipsy brains).

Best of all, because we’ve gotten used to weekly Family Zooms, this wasn’t a hyper-expensive, full of drama, once-a-year gathering of the clans, but a normal family get-together, picking up on conversations already started, and catching up on the doings of the week.

Will we return to our infrequent long-distance drives and airplane flights to visit our relatives, once COVID has been contained by vaccines? Definitely! But we’ll keep Zooming to be with our family and friends much more regularly in this reinvented world.

Thanksgiving Treats: For the two of us, the Zoom let us show our pastries:

Thanksgiving leftovers, of course!

Here’s how I made Turkey green chili enchiladas:

As always, I use what I have on hand (that’s the beauty of leftovers), maybe supplemented by a few things from the garden or the store, and then put them together in a way that I hope turns out tasty. For this dish, I included the following:

corn tortillas, herb and bread stuffing, chili beans, chunks of turkey, green chili salsa, guacamole salsa, a can of green chili enchilada sauce, black olives, green onions, and grated four-cheese blend…

I baked the enchiladas at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes, until they were golden brown on top, but you can set time and temp to whatever you think will bring you the best results.

I added green onions, red radishes, and more green chili salsa on top, and added sliced avocado and sliced tomato as a side.

We have plenty for two meals for each of us–more delicious leftovers!

And leftover pumpkin pie for dessert, of course…

A Bit of Rain for the Garden

Chris:

So we finally got a soaking inch or so of rain on November 17, helping to make the threat of more fires less likely in our region and letting gardeners cut way back on irrigation. Then this week the temps started falling into the 30s overnight (low 60s for highs), further decreasing water use.

But with no more rain in the forecast for at least the next week, we’re far from where we need to be this time of year. Still, the new fall veggies are doing nicely, with only minimal damage from the hungry birds so far.

The birds love the leaf lettuce and the Swiss chard, so I’ve used chicken wire cages to protect some of them…

Other lettuce and chard plants are in pots near the house. Once they get too big for the pots, into the ground they’ll go.

Meanwhile, the six new broccoli plants grow in the ground, without cage protection…

Oh yes, and of course the softball-size navel oranges are heading for sweet ripeness in later December. Don’t be fooled–they are still very sour in late November!

And their fellow citrus, the meyer lemons, will also be ripe–and decisively sour!–in December…

Overall, the veggie and fruit garden is progressing steadily, but we could sure use more rain!

November Gallery

On to December in this year of Reinvention…