Tuesday, November 27, 2018

T Stands For Skypegiving

This was the first Thanksgiving where all my chickies weren't under the same roof. The Eldest in her new home, far, far away. She was scheduled to work at the lab on the holiday. While other industries are closed, as far as the hospital is concerned, it's just another day. 

Since the Eldest wouldn't be able to travel home for the holiday, we came up with a way we could spend the holiday together.  We called it Skypegiving.



The table is set. Linen napkins festively tied with a piece of twine. A la rustic Martha Stewart. The iPad in place and charging waiting for The Eldest to get home in the evening after her shift.


Not only were we new to celebrating the holiday through the magic of technology, but dinner had to follow the Keto diet guidelines. No carbs. No wheat or grain. Dinner consisted of spinach salad, turkey, dressing made from a loaf of "bread" made from Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake and Baking Mix. Technically, not strictly Keto as the mix uses a combination of almond and rice flours, but what's Thanksgiving without dressing? Just boring turkey (I'm not a fan of turkey, but suffer with it once a year). Himself and I adapted the traditional eggplant Parmigiana (ubiquitous with my Italian family celebrations) to Keto by dredging the eggplant slices with almond flour instead of all-purpose flour. The result was surprisingly good. My beverage was water flavored with tea water enhancer. I'm not a fan of plain water.

I also had started a Keto gravy, but it wasn't ready in time for dinner. No matter, it would be ready for open-faced sandwiches the following day. There was also a Keto blueberry cobbler for dessert with Halo ice cream (another cheat). Himself was full after dinner so he had the cobbler for breakfast the next morning. I had a taste of the cobbler before I went to bed. Keto doesn't allow fruit as too many carbs, but fruits like blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries are allowed as the amount of fructose in those fruits is low compared to a fruit like a banana. The cobbler topping was made with almond flour and Stevia as the sweetener.


The hospital served a Thanksgiving dinner to all the staff who had to work. So when the Eldest got home, she popped in a Marie Caldendar's frozen turkey dinner in the toaster oven. She had turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans and carrots. It looked a little sad to me, but she said it wasn't bad. She also had a glass of wine left over from a party she had.

We had a nice time being able to "see" her and talk to her. Laughing at jokes, catching up on what's she's been doing, where she's been going. Her elderly neighbor sent over a couple of slices of cherry pie he had made. All in all a very, good holiday.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

33 comments:

  1. That was a fun way to include your daughter in the party! I love skyping, it's a great substitute for visiting people. Happy T Day, Valerie

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  2. I like your skypegiving. That is a great way to include your daughter in the rest of the family meal. :) And your keto dinner still looks very yummy to me. You are probably getting rain but we have lots of new snow. Enough already! happy T day CJ. Hugs-Erika

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    1. It was a good way for us to all together. Rain for me. Ugh, snow! And the weather dudes said this was supposed to be a mild winter. Did you get a snow day from school? Stay safe!

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  3. Ain't technology grand? Glad you could spend the holiday 'together'. (I remember working ALL the holidays...the communication industry doesn't acknowledge them either, but the pay was good!)

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    1. It was not only good to hear her voice, but to see her, too. After I got out of college, I worked in a hospital lab like the Eldest. I worked weekends and holidays and yes, the shift differential was good!

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  4. wow we don't use much tech stuff except for our desk top computers-so your skypegiving sounded so awesome for you to all be together.
    sounds like you are doing well with your keto diet-I had read about it and so many restrictions-my author friend has been on it now for about 9 months and from her photo she shared wow she has lots allot of weight. I think she eats allot of fresh veggies during the day--Happy T wishes Kathy oh and if you missed it-I did post the link to the pumpkin bread under your comment on that sunday post

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    1. Since August, I have lost 16 lbs following the Keto diet. It's not an easy thing for a carbivore. Lots of veg (no root veg or Winter squash), full fat like heavy cream, real butter, plain Greek yogurt, olive oil, coconut oil. Meat galore and bacon. I miss macaroni, bread, cookies. So as you know have been experimenting with baking with almond and coconut flours

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  5. A really lovely post and they idea of Skypegiving Day is wonderful.The meal looks great I am sure it will inspire others with families living away. We are going to spend Christmas with our daughter if the weather and trains let us get there.

    Have a Happy rest of T Day

    Love Chrissie xx

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    1. We're thinking about a trip out to visit her, but everything hinges on the weather.

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  6. I finally got it. For some reason, I thought it was gifting, not Thanks-GIVING. DUH. Looks like you are adjusting well to this new diet. And it doesn't look half bad, either. Better than your poor eldest's tv dinner, I fear.

    Like you, I'm not a fan of plain water, but lemon in mine is better than plain water. Thanks for sharing your skyegiving and tea infused water with us for T this Tuesday.

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    1. I'm glad the hospital prepared a nice Thanksgiving dinner for the staff. Her frozen dinner would have made me cry. And besides our distaste for plain water, don't we share the same cut-glass goblet?

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    2. Good eye. Yes, I got my goblets from my grandmother's things I kept.

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  7. Lots of clever ideas in this post, CJ. From Skyegiving to all your Keto diet recipes. It was so nice your daughter could "join" you. Your meal actually sounds very good. I happen to love turkey. Your side dishes are very inventive, especially the eggplant.

    Happy T-day! Eileen xoxo

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    1. An eggplant Parmigiana was always on the table for my family's holiday and special celebrations. Himself had never eaten eggplant until we started going together. He liked it so it's become our tradition, too. Just doesn't seem like a holiday unless eggplant is on the table :-D

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  8. Such a great idea and it must have been so lovely to catch up and enjoy Thanksgiving together! The food looks yummy too 😁. Sending you happy T Day wishes! J 😊 x

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  9. Every time I hear people say that people should get their noses out of their phones and bemoan the state of kids-these-days, I lift up a word of thanks for modern technology and how it helps us stay connected despite distance. I _love_ your Skypegiving idea. Perfect! Happy T Tuesday :)

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    1. Ma used to love when I phoned home. It was always good to hear her voice. With Skype, not only do I get to hear The Eldest, but I get to see her, too. Yay for technology!

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  10. This is beautiful CJ! I am so happy you were able to "Skypegiving"! LOL! It all worked out so well! And, the food looks so delicious! Well done on everything! Big Hugs! (Sorry, really behind in blogging!)

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    1. Yup, it was perfect. We ate together, laughed. And sat around the table for hours talking.

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  11. Its sounds like technology was able to bring your family together for Thanksgiving, what a lovely way to talk and see each other on a special day.
    Your own meal looked delicious.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. The meal was a little spartan. It could have used cranberry sauce. :-D

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  12. Haha, I loved that you included your daughter in your festivities. Technology is such a wonderful thing...when it works. Your food looks yummy and much like my diet.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  13. Sometimes Skype can be iffy with bad connections, but Skype behave beautifully and we got to talk for 3 hours.

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  14. Loved your skypegiving celebration - what a brilliant idea! Belated Happy T day!, Chrisx

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  15. Our daughter and family skype us every other week. Sometimes we do three way as one grandson is out on his own now. So fun, since we only see them once a year. I am glad you could do this for Thanksgiving. Happy T Day late. :)

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    1. The Eldest and I Skype every week as we watch Doctor Who and Good Eats Rebooted together on Sundays. Unless she has something better to do. :-D

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  16. What a great way to include your daughter in your meal! Love your table setting♥
    Thanks so much for stopping by I'm still trying to get by to see folks before next Tuesday gets here :)

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    1. We had fun Skyping. The table setting was a bit Spartan, but we needed room so we could all see the iPad and the Eldest

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  17. Yes!
    Your keto dinner sounds wonderful :)

    All the best Jan

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    1. The dressing though technically not Keto because the baking mix contains rice flour, was pretty good. Even better the eggplant was delicious and I don't think anyone would have been able to tell almond flour was used in place of the AP flour to dredge the eggplant.

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