The first thing I noticed about last night's dinner...

[takncarabizniz]

and it was so funny...
 
Both my son and one of the sailors who brought a ham for dinner, both dutifully used meat thermometers...
 
I had to laugh and comment how their meal was a thing of science...and expected from a couple of nuclear chemists...
 
I don't even own a meat thermometer...LOL
 
We had a wonderful time...his so-called "rowdy" friends were all very nice...they all like to drink a bit too much which worries me since they would all later be on the roads and they just lost a fellow shipmate to a drunk driving accident...
 
The food was fantastic.  Thing 1 had gotten stuffing mix (he thought it was like stove top but it was just the bread crumbs) and he didn't have the traditional spices or ingredients, so we used apples for celery and some red onion and some grilling spices, garlic and parsley, vegetable stock and turkey drippings, baked it all up and it turned out really good (there was only one small scoop left at the end of the dinner)...he also mistakenly got regular canned beets instead of pickled ones (just for me), so we used more of the red onion, garlic, and butter and simply nuked them.
Both the turkey and ham, prepped by the sailors were awesome.  The young man who made ham also made a mustard honey glaze and it was yummy...
 
The only thing I didn't like was the ferry ride...it was sooooooooooooo choppy...people were actually giving those, "oh my" looks every time the boat would sway-my usually non-chalant husband even commented that he was uncomfortable w/ the ride...unusually high waves in the area and very high winds on the ride home really beat us trying to get back into the truck at the end of the ride...it was weird, on one side of the sound, no waves or wind, but the other side was like a different world.
 

[mudslinger]

ANY COOK THAT DOESN'T USE A MEAT THERMOMETER IS PUTTING PEOPLE LIVES ON THE LINE.

[sunshine]

LOL@MUD  I buy the pop up  things, poke one on each side and no ones got sick from my  cooking yet.

[takncarabizniz]

Mud...the inexperienced always follow the rules.
I have been cooking since I was 8...that means 40 years...
My mother never used a meat thermometer, my grandmother never used a meat thermometer...
 
It's a matter of knowing your food, knowing how to time and properly temper your food...the gadgets don't change that....

[emilyB]

That's great takn that you had those young men cook for you - what a great Thanksgiving, even though it meant a rough ride to get there.  Washington State is really getting some bad weather.   
 
Today the sun is shining and it is dry and colorful everywhere - not like yesterday.  We went to the Oregon Garden Resorts Hotel for a Thanksgiving Buffet and it was so delicious - no cooking!   Best thing of all we were treated to it by friends who were thankful for certain things we did for them this year.  Truly unexpected.  I still miss being with the family but we have decided not to travel any more all that distance this time of the year.  That is the price we are finally paying for retiring in another State, not to mention being in another country away from my brothers and sister.