Red Friday

Tis the Season for Gluttony Detox

By Jeff

Traditions are a huge this time of year. Like the big pickle said to the little pickle: “I’m sort of a big dill.”  

On Thanksgiving night, I had so much tradition that when they asked me if I would like another piece of pumpkin pie I almost blogged all over the turkey carcass. Man, I was FULL, in fact I was FULL before they brought out three Marie Callender pies, hugely chunky cookies and Arrissia’s amazing pumpkin spice cake. Like the Washington Redskins I soldiered on just to show everyone what a champ I was. Ugh.

So, almost 24 hours later, I was prepared to introduce my guts to food again. So what was for dinner? Lots of turkey, ham, potatoes, and roasted vegetables in the fridge…THAT’s when I remembered the Other Thanksgiving Tradition!!! My overwhelming desire that night for something RED. Salsa would be fine, but here’s what I had handy—the $5 standby, spag and sauce.

Red, red wine.

Sauces have come a long way. Classico in a jar is tough to beat. Heat it up in a saucepot (not a microwave), but add some olive oil and red wine. I splash a bit of water in the jar and shake to get it all out. Use the same spoon to stir the sauce and the spag, that little bit of sauce in the noodle water is good for flavor.  Even when you add a fine solid parmesan and fresh bread $11 feeds everyone.

But most importantly, it’s RED, delicious, and the antithesis of a turkey dinner. 

RED!

Tomorrow's dinner? Turkey sandwich on a dinner roll with cran, of course!

Tonight, the girls are watching the traditional favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas. We're going to try our best this year to not get caught up in the over-commercialization of Christmas and focus more on family, friends, the reason for the season and, of course, food. 

From Arrissia:

When A Charlie Brown Christmas originally aired, CBS executives were certain it would be a flop because of its technical errors, as well as Linus' reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. The network suits felt that viewers would be bored by the Bible passage, but Peanuts creator Charles Schulz wouldn't budge. He reportedly said: "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?"

The result was huge. Audiences loved it. 

Another concern was the Vince Guaraldi jazz soundtrack. The special's producer Lee Mendelson, heard Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the radio while riding in a taxicab on the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Mendelson contacted Ralph Gleason, a jazz columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle who got him in touch with Guaraldi. He jumped at it. Guaraldi went on to compose 17 Peanuts specials for TV, even though the execs originally thought the compositions were too complex for children's television. They were wrong. A Charlie Brown Christmas has aired every year since its premiere in 1965. 

The special's other classics, "Christmas Time is Here" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" were performed by the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California. Our favorite version of "Christmas Time is Here" is by Scott Weiland (click below). 

“Snowflakes in the air, Carols everywhere, Olden times and ancient rhymes, Of love and dreams for all to share…”