11/30/10

Thanksgiving 2010


I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We thoroughly enjoyed cooking the big dinner and it turned out well. We mostly stuck to our original plan, with some changes:

Small turkey (10 lb cage free turkey from local farmer)*
Baked purple yams*
Garlic mashed potatoes*

Friday:
Pear-ginger cranberry sauce* (from my cookbook)
Garlic mashed potatoes*

We tried some new recipes, and I put links to them above, with a star next to the ones I would do again. The stuffing was amazing and I highly recommend it. Janice baked Paula Deen's pumpkin pie recipe modified, with less butter and less cream cheese, and it was really good. The pear-ginger cranberry sauce was great too - I put less sugar, and the ginger and anjou pear adds a lot.

The photo at the top of this post is the centerpiece I made from twigs and branches in our front yard. And a photo of the dinner below is courtesy of Janice's iPhone:


Janice carved the words "give thanks" out of butternut squash leftovers. My aunt recently gave me a set of china as she had 2 sets, and we didn't have one, so we used plates from the set. It was a nice touch. 

Also, I started watching the first season of Glee online over the holidays. I'm kind of late, I know, but that's how things roll in a TV-less household. I LOVE it. It's bringing out my inner orchestra geek. 

11/24/10

Thanksgiving Menu

Janice is coming into town and the 3 of us are going to enjoy a quiet dinner on Thursday. Then we'll head over to my aunt's for a bigger dinner on Friday.

Our tentative plan for Thursday:

Small turkey (10 lb cage free turkey that W bought from a local farmer)
Stuffing
Brussel sprouts w/ lime & honey
Raw butternut squash salad with cranberry dressing
Baked purple yams
Steamed corn
Pumpkin pie from local Smith Farm Market
Bottle of Rex-Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon

And I may attempt this Holiday-Spiced Vegan Creme Brulee.

It looks like a lot but it's actually going to be pretty simple. It's our first time preparing the entire spread as a couple. I'm excited!

For Friday we'll contribute:

Pear-ginger cranberry sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes (both recipes from my cookbook)
Kabocha squash soup with mochi balls

Happy eating!

Two grandmas

I saw the cutest thing shopping for Thanksgiving groceries at Costco today. There were two little old ladies in front of me at the check out line.  They were probably in their late 70s, with full blown white hair. One was an old hand at Costco shopping, and she had brought her friend to experience the goodness of Costco for what I think was her first time. She was giving her tips in her little old lady voice, like "Don't put your receipt in your wallet! Keep it out, otherwise you'll have to take it back out again at the exit." Spoken like a pro.

After they walked away the cash register dude, probably a blonde 18 year old and I smiled at each other and commented on how that just made our days.

I hope that when I'm at the ripe old age of 80 I'll have friends to run errands with and friends who are hip enough to teach me the ways of the young 'uns.

Today I'm grateful for friendships, old and new. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

11/4/10

Video chatting

Video chatting through Skype or Gmail has been the best. Especially when I always drop calls on my cell because I only have one bar with Verizon at home.  


Skyping with Allison (above) and Jiyoo (below).  Oh man, they're so gonna kill me for posting these photos of them all scrubby.  Heheh.  They have no idea I screen captured them. 


Helen below:


And her dog Georgie: