We spent Thanksgiving at my parents’ house in Minnesota with my sister and her family.  As it was just our core group and the only people we needed to impress were ourselves, we took an unspoken “Let’s only do the things we want to do and no more, and also Amanda is wearing sweatpants” tack to it.  My mom assembled the stuffing in advance, my sister and I split the cooking of the sides, and we had so much extra time on Thursday that my mom and I made an Apple Brown Betty to go with the stack of pies and brownies available.  The only “Put on yer good underpants, Ma, the neighbors are-a comin’” aspect of the dinner was the use of my parents’ CHERISHED AND FANCY handmade china and crystal set, which they purchased piece-by-piece from a guy in a secret Italian china and crystal grotto early in their marriage and have used for every special occasion since.

As much as I love this china and crystal set for what it represents, the joy it brings my parents, and the fact that it’s honestly beautiful, it is the bane of my existence – and I’m going to tell you why in a second; but first, this:

I had never made Apple Brown Betty prior to Thanksgiving and I wanted to share the recipe because it was so easy and you could get it into the oven in the time it will take you to read this story.  Here’s what you do: 1) Get a pie plate.  2) Cut up five peeled apples into chunks and put half into the bottom of the pie plate.  3) Into a food processor, dump 3/4 C flour, 2/3 C brown sugar, 1/3 C sugar, 1-1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t nutmeg, and 1/8 t each salt and ground cloves, and then add 1/2 C cold butter one tablespoon at a time while pulsing until it makes a crumb.  4) Spread half of that crumb over the pie plate apples, and then layer on the rest of the apples and top it with the remainder of the mixture.  Stick it in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  The end.

Getting back to the topic of china, it is the bane of my existence because it is always my job to wash it, and if there’s one there’s one thing I hate, it’s washing dishes.  I don’t like eating leftover food, let alone touching it; and I especially don’t want to touch leftover food intermixed with a solution of warm water, soap, and sponge.  I think I’ve mentioned this before, but if I ever become a billionaire I’m replacing my kitchen floor with a giant dishwasher that slides open like an evil lair shark pit so that after each meal I can tip the dining table into the floor and go about my life.

Why is it always my job, you may be wondering?  Three reasons.  One, I am three years older than my sister – meaning that when we were kids, I was three years’ more careful when it became time for my mom and dad to exercise their right to “Why did we have kids if NOT to do the dishes” parenting.  Two, my sister (and husband, and best friend, etc etc) do 99% of everything else because I am the laziest, bossiest person you’ve ever met and the ACTUAL LEAST I can do is wash that china.  Finally, Three, if you find yourself having accidentally wandered into my parents’ house and say, “I see you have a china cabinet there.  Let’s pretend you’re going to use that china; who in this known universe will wash it when you do?”  No matter where I am in said known universe, my dad will say, “Amanda will do it,” and that will be final.

Unfortunately for all, I am not the kind of wonderful, selfless daughter/sister/wife who keeps her trap shut and washes the dishes without complaint – which is why, after dinner, my brother-in-law of ten years cleared the table and scraped and stacked as much as he could and then said,

“Are you SURE you don’t want me to wash the dishes, Amanda?”

I sighed the most mournful, devastated sigh ever Thanksgiving-sighed.

“No,” I said.  “I’ll do it.”

“Amanda will do it,” my dad repeated.

It took me somewhere between seventeen hours and twenty minutes to wash the dishes.  I’m pretty sure my dad pulled a couple of dirty pots out of the garage he’d been saving for the occasion.  It’s important to note that I didn’t pack a single leftover, or dry a single glass, or do anything beyond rub a sponge onto food-bearing surfaces.  The hem of my sweatshirt did get a little wet from leaning over the sink, which was very terrible.

Finally, after the last fork had been put away, my dad said,

“Okay, time for Apple Brown Betty.”

“Use paper plates,” I said.

“Ha ha,” everyone said, as they pulled my grandmother’s fancy dessert dishes out of the cupboard.

The photo above is of my beautiful, fabulous sister and me.

This week on North Dakota Today we talked about The Snowflake and Journey Home Animal Rescue.  Check it out!  (Valley News Live)

This is a joyful look at the drive from Thompson to Bismarck, courtesy of Clay Jenkinson. (Listening to America)

Speaking of joyful, students in Towner got together for a community dinner. (KX Net)

Fargo’s Faye Seidler is encouraging you to “be the hope others need.” (Fargo Forum)

If you are one of my non-North Dakota readers, check out this story on the generational rules of making lefse. (Grand Forks Herald)

If you watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, chances are you saw six North Dakotans perform with the Band Directors Marching Band. (Fargo Forum)

Three businesses in Bismarck are filling a train car with clothing and necessary items to give to kids in need. (KFYR TV)

Speaking of trains, New Salem’s Travis Wilkens’ cell phone took a 2,600-mile ride in a load of grain. (KFYR TV)

Congratulations to Grand Forks’ Aaron Stefanich, North Dakota’s Librarian of the Year. (Grand Forks Herald)

This isn’t nice news at all, but I got an email letting me know that my old 2007 blog would be shut down and when I thought, “What blog?” and clicked on it, I found this – which is pretty telling as to the amount of misplaced confidence I’ve had for a very long time. (Blogspot)

As a reminder, I’ll be appearing on North Dakota Today on Monday mornings. Tune in, and send me the people and stories that are nice.  Thank you in advance!