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Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was a day of prep work: The (perfectly sized) turkey was brined and is now resting in the basement fridge. The cornbread was procured after making three trips to two grocery stores (but I had to go back to the first store, when they’d replenished their cornbread stock; yes I realize this is something I can make myself). I made the first step of the gravy with the turkey neck and giblets yesterday. The cranberry sauce (round 2, after the first one burned; I really should not be in charge of big complex meals like this) is chilling in the kitchen fridge, along with the beautiful, disaster-free fresh-pumpkin pie my mother and daughter made. Carla is itching to peel potatoes today, a job I will happily relegate to her.

But for now, I am having a quiet moment to sip tea and look over my recipes in hopes that I don’t forget anything. Thankfully, with four helpers on hand, I think we’ll be okay. (We are kind of smushing two turkey recipes together, because my mother thinks that we cannot cook a turkey at 400 degrees despite America’s Test Kitchen’s assurances; we will follow another of ATK’s recipes and start it at 425 for an hour, then turn it down to 325. WE’LL SEE HOW IT GOES.)

I am loving your guesses about yesterday’s kitchen mystery. I wondered, before I posted it, whether it would be a True Mystery or whether it would be easy to decode. The post explaining the full story is half-written but will have to wait until after Thanksgiving. (If you haven’t guessed yet, the Mystery Giveaway runs until tomorrow at midnight Eastern time.)

And thank you to Bibliomama for reminding me that a photo counts as a post.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating, and best wishes for a beautiful day to all those who aren’t. I am so grateful for our little blogging community.

It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.

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Kitchen Mystery + Mystery Giveaway

Since it’s almost Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and time is in short supply for me and possibly for you, I only have a very short post today. It’s a guessing game, really. I am going to post a photo with no commentary (aside from this commentary, which is getting long, but, eh, you know what you’re in for when you visit this blog) and you guess the story behind the photo. And then there will be a little giveaway for people who participate. 

Here’s how the giveaway will work: You can guess until midnight Eastern Time Friday. At some point, probably in December, I will number all the guesses/comments chronologically and randomize them and choose one person, and then I will send that person a little giftie. A very little giftie, and I haven’t decided what it will be: maybe an assortment of little things from Michael’s or Target. Maybe something specific to the winner, if I have any ideas of what the winner might enjoy. Maybe something yummy, maybe something practical, I don’t know. A mystery giftie. I am going to limit the gift-sending to people who live in the U.S. and Canada, however; I’m sorry! I am not confident enough in my ability to mail something to/find an appropriate retailer in other countries. 

If you don’t want to guess, you can still enter the giveaway. Just leave a comment of any sort. And if you want to guess and/or comment, but don’t want to enter the giveaway – which I understand, because the giveaway award is extremely vague even in my own mind – just let me know in your comment. The only stipulation to entering is that you must be willing to share your address with me. 

Then, at some point in the (hopefully near) future, I will tell you the story behind the photo and choose a giveaway recipient. 

Okay. Here’s the photo. And here’s a hint: I took this photo the day before my parents arrived for Thanksgiving.

Happy guessing!

What’s the story behind this photo? (As always, please forgive my poor photography skills.)

It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.

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UPDATED Book Giveaway! Weight of Memory by Kristina Brune

My friend Kristina has written a book! (You may recall that I’ve mentioned it in the past, before she found a publisher; but now she HAS found a publisher, Sands Press, and her book comes out March 30!) I am telling you about it not only because am I delighted for and proud of Kristina for bringing a book into the world, but also because it is an excellent, heart-pounding, heart-wrenching thrill of a book. 

photo from amazon.com

The book is called Weight of Memory and it is like nothing I have ever read before. 

Mini Plot Summary: The main character, Lara, has lost her brother and she is really struggling. Her grief is crushing everything in its path and threatening to ruin her marriage and her mental health. One of the only things that helps is an old book Lara finds tucked away in an antique shop. She finds early comfort in its pages. But as she starts down the long, difficult path of the healing process, she suffers a new devastating loss: her memories of her brother are starting to disappear. She seeks solace in the book again, but this time, the story has changed… and the terrible things that occur in the book begin to happen to Lara, putting her marriage, her young daughter, and her life in harm’s way. She must try to understand the dark power she has unleashed and figure out how to repair the breach between this world and the next… without losing the only thing she has left of her brother. 

Mini Review: I don’t normally gravitate toward books about the supernatural, so I was surprised by how vivid and compelling that aspect of the plot was. But I wasn’t surprised by the quality of the writing, by the skill with which Kristina developed her characters, or by how invested I became in Lara’s struggle. This is a horror story at its best – and Kristina masterfully develops the tension in a way that made me jumpy and anxious in all the best ways. But what I love most about Weight of Memory is that it’s also a heart-rending excavation of loss and how we must make a place for grief in our lives. Kristina lost her own brother in a sudden, tragic accident and every word of Lara’s struggle carries the power and truth of that lived experience. I found the book simultaneously spine-tingling and deeply moving.

Giveaway Details: Today, I am giving away a copy of Weight of Memory. If it sounds like you or someone you know would enjoy the book, leave a comment on this post. It can be about absolutely anything. Or you can tell me the last book you read, if you like to have a prompt. I will choose a winner by midnight Wednesday. 

And of course, if you prefer, you can always pre-order Weight of Memory on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or wherever you buy books. 

UPDATE: This giveaway is closed. Ernie, commenter number 3, is the winner! Ernie, I have emailed you to request your address and will pre-order a copy of the book for you. Hopefully it will arrive the day it comes out so you can be one of the first people to read it! Thank you everyone for participating!