Ass Backwards

So, in case it's not obvious from my blog title, I live in the Land of Can's, also known as Canadia, or to you "normal" folk simply Canada. 


This weekend was our ass-backwards Thanksgiving weekend. At least that's how my beloved American friends refer to it. So normally we spend time with family, but for undisclosed reasons my mother "could not afford to do it this year". Luckily I had already planned a "Second Thanksgiving" with friends. 


It was a super good idea, up until it came time to cook it. There were 10 adults, and my son, that ended up eating dinner. It was explained before hand to anyone coming that we expected them to help pay for it since we (myself and the friend whose house we hosted it at) couldn't afford to throw money away on a dinner for such a large group of people. One person was fantastic, helped by buying something we forgot. But other's were less awesome. Some didn't bring anything, 3 split the cost of 2 pies (when we already had enough pie). It was frustrating. 


But it got worse when the end of the night came and everyone was leaving and saying goodbye. Why would that make it worse? Well we have to go back a little first.


Our dinner consisted of;
Turkey
Ham
Stuffing with ground pork in it
Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry sauce


The guy whose house we were at cooked the Turkey. The friend who was fantastic and bought things we forgot (which was stuffing and something for people to snack on while cooked) made the stuffing. The ham was pre-cooked and just needed heating. The potatoes were the most work. 


I make special fantastic potatoes. And because I love you more than the friends who have tried it and asked me how to make it, because YOU read my blog, I shall give you the recipe.


Potatoes, cut into chunks
Onions, diced
Garlic, minced
Margarine
"Italian" seasoning


Throw it all into a roasting pan, mix it up and throw it in the oven at 350 F. Every 10 minutes take it out and stir it, adding more margarine to keep it moist. Cook for 50 minutes, then mash. 


So while I made the potatoes, I also made the gravy. We "slow cooked" the gravy, which is fancy talk for "the entire time I cooked the potatoes, the gravy was on the stove needing to be whisked every 4-5 minutes." 


Before it was even time to eat, the arches in my feet had fallen. By the end of the night, my ankles were so bad I couldn't sleep until I tossed back a bunch of pain killers.  


So now we skip forward again, to when everyone was leaving. They all kept saying goodbye and thanks to my friend for "everything". Literally. The common phrase was "Hey, I had a great night, thanks [friends name here] for everything, man. It was delicious." ANNNND then they walked out the door. 


I didn't expect them to assume I paid for over half of everything, which I did. But I expected them to appreciate all the time I spent in the kitchen making food. THAT they could at least see ALL night. I'm a little upset at my friend for not saying something like "hey, it wasn't all me" or giving me at least SOME freaking credit. But no. 


I think next time I'll just stay home alone with my kid and not even bother.