NOT THE THANKSGIVING THAT I HAD PLANNED FOR

In my first post I wrote about the experience I had during the lunch that my wife and I hosted last September. In the days and weeks after the lunch I continued to have indigestion and an upset stomach from time to time. Often, I would get hiccups during meals to the point where  I was having hiccups at almost every meal. I was distressing. Still, I had no idea of what was going on. I thought I was stressed at work which was true but  I could not understand how that was affecting my eating.

Jump forward to Thanksgiving. Like everyone else, we make a big deal out of Thanksgiving dinner. The family came for Thanksgiving dinner. I remember that I had spent the better part of the afternoon in my workshop working on a few projects. When I came in before dinner everyone was already engaged in eating appetizers. I was hungry from working in my shop so I dug into the cheese and crackers. I remember that I ate my fill of cheese and crackers before dinner. 

As I said, Thanksgiving dinner was a big affair for us. We had roast duck, sweet potatoes with pecans, salad, and bread. We also had a  bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. About half way through the meal I started to have problems. I could hardly get the food down my throat because of the phlegm coming up my throat. Then, I started to get pains in my right side. I tried not to make a big deal of it because I did not want to ruin everyone's Thanksgiving dinner. 

The next morning, the pain had not gone away, in fact, it had gotten worse, a lot worse. Since it was Sunday, we decided to go to the walk-in clinic. We went right after breakfast thinking that I would be in and out with a prescription to cure  my indigestion, or whatever was ailing me and that would be that. We were totally unprepared for what happened next.

I did not wait long at the walk-in clinic, there were not that many there on Sunday morning. I was thankful for that. The attending doctor examined me then told me that I had to go to ER.

Here's a recipe from my Thanksgiving Dinner, it went down pretty easy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water

Pecan Topping
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted in an oven for 5 minutes
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a large pot, or a deep skillet over medium heat.  Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water, bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover.  Cooke for 30 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.  Take the cover off, continue to simmer until all most of the liquid has evaporated.  Around 10 minutes more.  Mash potatoes and place into a baking dish around 8 x 8 inches.

Topping:  Mix everything together for the topping in a separate bowl.

Spread topping over the mashed potatoes.  Bake until the pecans are toasted and potatoes are warm.  Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes, longer if the potatoes are cold.  Serve.