Academic Painting

At Nook’s Cranny yesterday, I noticed that the shop now sells Turkey Day items. And as Franklin promised, the pack of Turkey Day DIY recipes is also available for those who didn’t unlock it on Thursday.

Tommy: Seems like you're interested in a Turkey Day chair.
I bought this chair for my room.

Jolly Redd was in town, so I checked out his art. His scary painting and famous painting were both fake, but his academic painting and ancient statue both looked real! Usually there’s only one real one, but I was glad to see an exception this time. I already have the ancient statue in my museum, so I bought the academic painting.

Today, the painting from Jolly Redd arrived in the mail. I took it over to the museum, and Blathers confirmed its authenticity. But when I went into the gallery, I didn’t even notice it at first. I wasn’t expecting it to be so small! It’s not much bigger than the information cards beneath each painting!

The academic painting in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons museum.

But still, it sure is nice to get something new for the art gallery!

Academic Painting - November 28th, 2020 - Donated by Jeff

K.K. Slider was in town for his usual Saturday night performance, and Agent S informed me that she’s totally in love with him! 😛

Agent S: Going to a concert for an artist you are totally in love with is, like, SUPER exciting!
Aren’t dogs supposed to chase squirrels? Not the other way around…

I asked K.K. to play a random song, and he played Steep Hill. It’s a sad song, but it’s one of my favorites.

For once, I’m looking forward to getting my house judged by the Happy Home Academy tomorrow. Since I replaced my exercise equipment with the complete Turkey Day set, I’m expecting a significant jump in my score. Hopefully it will reach 150k, but we’ll see! 🙂

I’ll probably be back with another blog entry tomorrow. I’m going to try to buy some turnips from Daisy Mae in the morning, since I forgot last week. Hope to see you then!

Turkey Day

Today is Turkey Day (also known as Thanksgiving in the U.S., or as the harvest festival in previous Animal Crossing games). Franklin the chef was at the plaza, along with most of my villagers! It was quite a festive scene that reminds me of the harvest festival on GameCube. And the hats that villagers wear also resemble Franklin’s original hat.

The Turkey Day festivities in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The event, however, works much like it did in New Leaf. We have to gather ingredients for Franklin, and then he will cook each dish. First up was some clam chowder. He asked me to gather up three manila clams (he likes to use local ingredients) from the beach.

Franklin: Make no mistake: I brought with me everything I need to whip up a positively gobblicious clam chowder.
Gobblicious definition: make taste buds go loco.

I dug them up and took them to the turkey. It was time to start cooking!

Franklin: Let's get cooking!

He made the chowder and then gave me a Turkey Day rug for helping out. Next, he wanted to make some pumpkin pie, which required just an orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin. I simply grabbed them from my pumpkin patch and handed them over to Franklin. He made the pie and then handed me a Turkey Day wall.

Next up was some seafood gratin. He needed a round mushroom and a mussel. One thing I can’t help noticing is that the foods require fewer ingredients than they did in New Leaf. Anyway, I got the mushroom out of storage and went diving for the mussel. Franklin made the gratin and gave me some Turkey Day flooring.

The steaming gratin in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch.

The final dish was a fish meuniere. For that, he needed a sea bass and a dab. When I spoke to Hornsby, I noticed a Turkey Day typo!

Hornsby: Sooo tasty! Turkey Day is the best day. On my next birthday, I'm gonna wish for every day be Turkey Day.
It should say he’s wishing for every day to be Turkey Day.

After changing into a chef’s hat to become Jeff the chef, I went fishing and caught a dab. But before I went looking for a sea bass, I decided to try out another aspect of Turkey Day: getting ingredients from islanders that are cooking at home. When I visited Midge, she needed a turban shell I had in my pockets. I handed it over, and in return, she gave me a sea bass!

But she also clued me in that you can make dishes even better by adding secret ingredients!

Midge: But you can really dazzle 'em by using something out of the ordinary like barred knifejaw, fly with me!

New Leaf’s harvest festival had secret ingredients too, but here, Franklin made no mention of it! At least not yet. I took the sea bass and dab to Franklin and he made the final dish. He gave me a cornucopia for completing all four dishes.

But then he also mentioned that I could go above and beyond by bringing him the secret ingredient for each dish. Unlike in New Leaf, these can be added after the dish is already done. That’s a big relief!

So I helped out my villagers and learned tips for the secret ingredients. Then I spent a bunch of time fishing and diving to find everything I needed. Fortunately, you don’t need to re-acquire the original ingredients; just add the new ones!

I eventually upgrade all four dishes, and they now have a golden sparkle to show that they’re extra special.

The sparkling, perfect food dishes on Turkey Day.

Franklin also gave me a Turkey Day casserole, Turkey Day decorations, Turkey Day table, and…a DIY recipe collection that teaches me how to make all of the Turkey Day furniture! I crafted the remaining items and turned my exercise room into a Turkey Day room.

The Turkey Day furniture in ACNH.

The furniture looks realistic, and it has a warm, cozy feel to it…even if it seems a bit old-fashioned. It’s quite a departure from the pink and purple harvest furniture that appeared in the older games.

One interesting thing about Turkey Day: I’m pretty sure that rare fish and sea creatures seem to show up more often today. I caught multiples of things I rarely see, like football fish, rays, and pikes. While diving, I caught my very first sea pig and Dungeness crab.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.! I hope you all enjoyed your Turkey Day!

Update: Here is my Turkey Day video.

Pirate Pants, At Last

I received my gift from Gullivarrr in the mail today, and it was some badly-needed pirate pants!

Trying on the pirate pants.

Of course my pirate outfit is still not complete, but it certainly helps to have some pants. Finally, I don’t have to walk around pantsless every time I dress as a pirate! 😛

Saharah was in town, and I bought everything she had except for the small rug. I ended up with a pink heart rug, straw wall, red-and-blue checked rug, and paintball flooring.

Saharah: Speak to me again when your pockets contain more emptiness.

When I visited Bones, I was afraid he was going to eat me! 😮

Bones: Oh man...so yummy... C'mere... I wanna fit you in my tummy... Huuoouuuaahhhh!

Just kidding. He was just dreaming…of eating somebody. 🤷

I was happy to find Celeste over by the museum tonight. She taught me the recipe for a Sagittarius arrow.

Celeste: Oh, good evening! Aren't the stars just exquisite tonight?

Over at Peach Park, I made some more changes. I added another waterfall to the east, and a small piece of land just south of it. I had to trim some of the land west of Midge’s house to keep the river from becoming too narrow, but it worked out pretty well, I think. But I may not be done with the area just yet…

An updated look at Peach Park.

I shot down some more balloon presents and learned a recipe for a leaf stool. But I also got a duplicate mushroom wreath recipe, which I’ll add to my free DIY pile for the next time I open my gate. And speaking of which, I just want to let you know that there will be no Friday Night Forest this week.

I’ll be back with my Turkey Day blog entry tomorrow, and I’ll be posting my Turkey Day video on Friday morning. So be sure to check them out!