While we watch

Oh, lazy days, I love you. The only productive things I did today were to clean the kitchen, knit a hat, and make some food. Otherwise, it was breakfast with Tony and a TV Carnage DVD, sugar snap peas with hummus during a viewing of Man on Wire, a long nap, and dinner with episodes of 90210 (the original, not the remake).

Dan, on the other hand, not only ate and cleaned (and made some killer grilled cheese) but also built a fort and went to a bar. His productivity puts me to shame.

Thankseating

That turkey I won? Pretty tasty! But that's thanks to Martha, who prepared it and spiced it (Moroccan-style) expertly.




I ate so many appetizers (Chinese, Indian, and American) I had to walk away at one point to catch my breath. The highlight? A kind of fried chickpea patty. Mmmmm.


I was almost too full for the dinner proper.




But I persevered. Can I take a moment to say I love Susan Stamberg's mother-in-law's cranberry sauce with horseradish? I do. That's it in the small bowl, all light pink and delicious, in the photo above.




Ah, the meat! The side dishes! Highlight: Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout Gratin with Pine Nut-Breadcrumb Topping (but the cream sauce could have been thicker).




Ah, the brown-and-serve rolls! The salads! Highlight: Southwestern Christmas Salad with avocado, red onion, pomegranate seeds, grapefruit, and oranges.


Not pictured: Plate #4 (dessert): Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust that I made. It could have cooked a little more, but I was enamored all the same. There were several other desserts I wanted to try, but I hit a wall while eating my last brown-and-serve roll.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gentlemen at snack.

From the blog of Matt Cassity:
Wednesday — Poker night. August won. I made a menu of snacks curated by Jenny.

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True. My new occupation: Snack Curator.

Here are the items we discussed as possible poker night snacks.

Matt's restrictions:
Savory
Vegetarian
No stove top or microwave
(He does have a toaster oven and a crock pot. I didn't even utilize the crock pot. Next time.)

Idea one: Cheese toasts. You can put garlic or different spices on them. Or just cheese. I don't think he made these, but thinking about them made me want some.

Idea two: Globe grapes scooped out and filled with goat cheese then the goat cheese part can be dipped in chopped, salted pistachios. Matt couldn't find globe grapes so did this with cherry tomatoes.

Idea three: Provencal Olives (recipe below)
If you have 24 hours, you can refrigerate this mixture (anywhere from 24 hours to 1 week) and then strain the liquid off before serving:
3 c. black or green whole olives (not canned)
4 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T. sherry vinegar
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (coarsely ground)
salt
1 T. chopped fresh (or 1/2 T dry) rosemary
1 1/2 T chopped fresh (or 3/4 tsp dry) thyme

Idea four: Union Square Care Bar Nuts (recipe below)
preheat (toaster) oven to 350 F
On baking sheet (or toaster oven equivalent), spread 1 1/4 lbs assorted unsalted nuts (Matt featured the Brazil nut, which is a crowd-pleaser of a nut if there is such a thing.)
Toast in oven until golden, about 10 min.
While toasting, in large bowl mix:
2 T. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tsp packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp. unsalted butter, melted
Toss nuts with mixture. Serve warm.

There was also some discussion of figs.

To a tea

I think it was my grandmother who gave me these three miniature tea cups and saucers (pictured above) when I was small, which I treasure in that I-love-you-but-don't-want-to-break-you way. I also loved my Holly Hobbie tea set, and it was both very sturdy and had a tiny teapot so that was the one I played tea with. I never drank real tea at my tea parties. "Pretend tea" was water, milk (into which I dunked cookies or graham crackers, which wasn't the best idea, as the cups were too small to clean easily), or an empty cup.

I never became a coffee drinker (one Santa Lucia celebration in 3rd grade nixed that for me), but I do drink real tea and tisanes (in a bigger cup) these days.

Soon, I'm going to a real, live ladies' tea party. I've made cheese puffs with black sesame seeds (with that spicy cheese finally procured from the Union Square Green Market), zucchini bread with lemon curd, and mini pavlova with berries and cream. I'm taking a Rooibos (fair trade and organic certified) tisane, one of my favorites because you can't over-steep it, and a Moroccan mint tea made of green gunpowder tea (to which some fresh mint will be added). I am really looking forward to tea and high-class snacking.