thanksgiving

Chris Knight's avatar

For the Thanksgiving last year, I did not make a post like this. That’s because a year ago I was in the midst of what I’ve since realized was the longest, darkest and most spiritually trying period of my entire life. Last year at this time, feeling thankful seemed like the last thing that I could muster up.

What a difference a year makes…

If anybody had told me that twelve months from then, that I would be at a totally different place, I could not have believed it. And trust me: there were lots of good friends who were doing their best to encourage me then. Telling me “Chris, God hasn’t given up on you! The best is yet to come! You will get through this!”

I’ve never enjoyed telling so many people that I was wrong and they were right, as I have been compelled to do these ...

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I have reposted stuff on this blog twice in the past, on rare occasions. But never three times. This deserves it though (and no doubt will be posted again in years to come).

It’s been two years since the last time I shared this YouTube video. And since this is the week of Thanksgiving (yes I’ve already begun preparing to deep-fry a bunch of turkey) and there are perhaps still a lot of people who’ve never enjoyed this before, I thought it was well worth posting again šŸ™‚

It’s the short film Thanksgiving With The Kranzes. Produced a few years ago by aviation students, it’s a dead-on hilarious parody of Ron Howard’s movie Apollo 13.

It is Thanksgiving 1970. This year it’s Gene Kranz’s turn to host the traditional dinner for his NASA colleagues. The heroic crew of the Apollo 13 mission has been given the command of ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

Last year it was the outrageously jacked-up price of peanut oil that kept fried turkey from being economically feasible.  This year I thought the price had gone down when I went to buy it, but turns out I was using cottonseed oil instead!  Which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  I’d been wanting to try cottonseed oil for awhile now but couldn’t find it anywhere.  Same great taste when all was done though!

Here’s the first bird that I did (for a customer), after about 30 hours of marinading and rubbing-in seasoning, as it awaits the 350 degree Fahrenheit hot oil…

Yours Truly carefully lowering the turkey in…

Frying at 3 and a half minutes per pound, this 9-pounder took 35 minutes to cook…

A little over half an hour later (a heckuva lot shorter time than basting it in an oven) this turkey is done!

Beautiful, ain’t it? ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

I admit: it is not a habit that I have kept up very well. A number of years ago my friend Chad Austin made a post on his own blog for Thanksgiving about the things that he was thankful for. And I resolved then that I would do the same and stick to it.

Well, I missed it last year (because of some circumstance that a few of you are now aware of). But it’s a funny thing: now, two years since the last time I said I was thankful, I feel more thankful than ever before… and thankful for things that maybe I didn’t appreciate as fully as I should have been.

Thanksgiving remains a uniquely American holiday. No other place in the world, so far as I know, has a holiday devoted to reflection upon the blessings in our lives. Yes, I know: our Jewish brethren and many ...

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It’s not the first time that I’ve blogged about this. But a short film this good easily merits sharing more than once. And who knows, there might be some who have never had the pleasure of seeing it before.

Here is that brilliant, spot-on and hilarious spoof of Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 that Gene Kranz himself has taken to watching with his family as a holiday tradition.

Behold: Thanksgiving With The Kranzes…

...

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The twenty-pound turkey (what the heck was Dad thinking?!?) that will be our own family’s main course tomorrow. Since this is the biggest bird of the batch, I used this one to do the “water trick” with to measure out how much peanut oil to pour into the pot tomorrow morning. That means you put the turkey in, and start pouring cold water into the pot until it meets the top of the turkey. Then take it out and make a mark (I use a piece of tape) at the water line minus the displacement. That way you don’t have to rough guess and risk flames and destruction when peanut oil comes flowing over the top of the pot…

So all the birds are now marinaded and well-rubbed in with Cajun seasoning. There’ll be several more treatments throughout the day but for now “the chef” is going to take a ...

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A review of a new movie that most people haven’t seen yet. A couple of book reviews. And an awesome contest… with some very neat prizes!

Keep an eye on this blog in the next few days for all kinds of kewl stuff.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

EDIT 7:05 p.m. EST: And now for a true bit of Thanksgiving comedy. It’s the now-infamous “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!” scene from the classic sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati…

...

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See the photo on the right? That’s me a few years ago on Thanksgiving, holding a golden brown, succulent deep-fried turkey. It’s considered the second most dangerous form of cooking known to man (after preparing fugu) and I’ve done it plenty of times since 2002. And especially for family and friends, who have always enjoyed the exceptionally juicy meat that comes from preparing the bird this way. It’s a taste that I’ve become rather addicted to. And I was looking forward to doing up one or two or even more next week…

But this will be one Thanksgiving that I’m gonna have to do without my beloved fried turkey. So is everyone else who does this that I’ve spoken to. I wouldn’t mind paying for it but the people around me keep telling me to “save your money”.

The reason: the price of peanut oil has gone through the roof....

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Last year for Thanksgiving, I posted here a list of things for which I am thankful. It seemed then that this might be a great thing to turn into an annual tradition.

So as Thanksgiving 2007 is winding down, I have to say that I am thankful for…

…my dear wife Lisa, who more times than I can possibly count over this past year has shown again that she is the most remarkable woman that I have ever met, in addition to being the most beautiful. I absolutely do not deserve to have her in my life, and I thank God every day that for whatever reason, He put the two of us together. And Lord willing, we will have children someday soon who will come to know how wonderful she is, too šŸ™‚

…for my family.

…for the many, many new friendships that were made over this past ...

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I awoke at dawn, had breakfast but didn’t bother to shower. When you know that you’ll be working with searing-hot oil and will get blasted with steam rich in the aroma of garlic butter, getting cleaned-up for Thanksgiving dinner is kind of a moot thing.

Deep-frying a turkey is the only form of cooking that I know of that demands wearing extra layers of clothing and such demanding attention to detail. It’s like being a combination firefighter, M*A*S*H surgeon and gourmet chef. This is masculine cooking to the max. In fact, I’ve only seen one woman deep-fry a turkey: the indomitable Paula Dean. But then, Paula Dean can do anything in the kitchen. That she is the only woman I have witnessed frying a turkey makes her all the more magnificent. Behold her awesome culinary skills and tremble, mere mortals!

Anyhoo, we had breakfast – just a little ...

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