How to Bake Pies When the Power Keeps Going Out?!

Talk about frustrating! I'm baking pumpkin pies today, the day before Thanksgiving, and the power in Iowa City keeps going out, turning on, going out again, and turning on. I got one pie almost baked when the power went out. The oven stayed warm enough for the pie to finish baking. I stuck a sharp knife in the pumpkin custard and it came out clean.

Hopefully, the power will stay on for the next two pumpkin pies and the other things I have to cook the day before because I only have one stove and one oven plus a microwave.

MidAmerican workers, my thanks to you for getting the power back on a few minutes ago. I hope it stays on through Thanksgiving! I still have to make Paula Dean's racist but delicious string bean casserole, gravy, crescent rolls, and peas (canned for Jim, frozen for me and everyone else). Sarah, our daughter, and her husband, Matt, are bringing wine, salad, and home-made mashed potatoes, which are so good that making instant potatoes as Jim and I would do would be a crime.

Sarah has agreed to check with our son, Jesse, and his girlfriend, Rachel, who moved to Charlotte, NC, for better economic opportunities about Skyping on Thanksgiving Day so we can all be a family together.

After all the National Public Radio (NPR) warnings about what not to talk about at Thanksgiving dinner, I'm at a loss about what to talk about. End-of-life plans seems like a kill-joy talking point. Not going there. Didn't even mention it, though NPR did. Sarah agreed we could talk about politics. Sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations are likely an exciting watershed because powerful people are finally being held accountable for what's been going on for decades. That's something my family agrees on.

I'm not one to excuse Democrats who've engaged in sexual assault and sexual harassment just because Democrats are my tribe. I believe the women. Leftists offering apologies are offering half apologies, especially if, as Charlie Rose said, not all of the allegations are "accurate" or, as Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said, "I don't remember it that way." Those apologies are partial apologies and cast doubt on the women's oral accounts of what happened to them. Don't give these guys credit for full apologies if they're casting doubt on the women accusing them.

Mind you, while I wasn't surprised by Charlie Rose's alleged acts of hubris, given his pompous "What was the significance of the moment?" question baked into his show's introduction and his insufferably patronizing interview of Sarah Palin (justified, Democrats might think, but actually quite sexist and arrogant), I was initially shocked and heart-broken by Sen. Al Franken's. I recently finished his book, "Giant of the Senate," and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I should have trusted my first instincts about Franken's rape jokes, which were offensive. Predators can be smart, talented, and funny. I don't know how many times I need to be reminded of that. It's a lesson I should have learned by now.