Thanksgiving Lives On

I love Thanksgiving so much that I decided it wasn't over yet.  Or that I at least wasn't going to let it slip by unnoticed, since I did make my dad stop carving so I could take pictures of the turkey.  Above is Mr. Turkey, all golden brown and fresh from the oven.  I was surprised by my squeamishness, but I really had some issues with my parents discussing the handling of various turkey parts and, er, fluids.  Turkeys look a lot more like birds than chickens do, and I did not like that one bit.  I really believe that if you're going to eat meat, you should be aware of what it goes through to get to your plate.  I don't know that it means I need to go hunting like Michael Pollan, but it does feel a little hypocritical that I was so uncomfortable with turkey parts.

I hung around the kitchen taking pictures anyway.  Here's daddy-o, starting to carve away, and my mom handling turkey juices.  Ick.

Here is Mr. Turkey-Barracuda, post carving.

Can you tell why I named him Turkey-Barracuda?  Do you see the crazy barracuda face, open jaw, and pointy fin?  It's like a Magic Eye poster... you probably either see it or you don't.

On to less gruesome pictures, my mom and I made our annual cheesecake!  It came out a little more jiggly than usual, but still delicious.  Mom managed to lose a chunk from the top in a Saran wrap incident.

Maybe I can get the recipe from her?  We've been using the same one for years and it never fails us!  I'll see if she'll read it to me over the phone.  Seriously, cheesecake is pretty easy to make.  You'd never think so, but it is.  Well, maybe not this cheesecake.  (HOLY DESSERT, BATMAN!)

I have many favorite things about being at home, including meals being made for me, a bedroom that stays really dark in the morning so I can sleep late, and hanging out with the fam.   But one of the BEST things about being in Larchmont is the luxurious Trader Joe's shopping experience!  It's such a pain in the butt to go to the one on 14th Street because of the crowds and then my long commute back uptown, so I don't do it as much as I'd like.  But going to the store at home is GREAT.  It's never that crowded (except right around 3pm when Central School lets out), and I can actually browse without being swept along by the masses.  The only problem is that I sometimes go overboard and end up with tons of food to drag home with me on the train, which is never fun.  But usually worth it.  :)  This time, while searching for my favorite banana bonanza trek mix (obviously discontinued, like so many of my TJ's favorites to come before it), I stumbled upon this crazy looking bag of nuts!

It's made with peanuts, almonds, brown sugar, freeze dried fruits, and berry juices.  It sounded a lot better than it was, but I still enjoyed it.  I put a sprinkling in my oatmeal the morning after Thanksgiving.  I was trying to keep it light...

Look at how dark and cloudy it was!  The kitchen at my parents' house gets so much sunlight (my number one priority in a home), so shadowy morning pictures are really unusual.

I think that closes the book on Thanksgiving.  I was so sad that we didn't get to take back any leftovers (except for the cheesecake).  Leftovers are the best part of the holiday!  It's ok.  My waistline is grateful.

Get excited for a recap of my weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex!

The Diet that Isn't

Full disclosure: last night I came home after dinner whining to Allison about how much this diet sucks. She reminded me that I am not actually on a diet -- well, not a weight-loss diet. But it feels like one! Waaah. (She would be calling the waaah-mbulance now.) Overall, though, I didn't get as hungry as I expected yesterday. Still full from my Milk Bar extravaganza? I didn't even have my yogurt for PM snack! I just ate the fruit.

I went out for dinner with an old camp friend to a Greek restaurant, Ethos, in Murray Hill. They had perfectly unprocessed salads. Even the dressing was just olive oil and lemon juice... well, that's what they said. I don't know if I believe it. I had the Ethos salad: mixed greens, grilled fennel, apple slices, goat cheese, sundried tomato, and kalamata olives. Really satisfying. I'm not salad-ed out yet, but I'm sure it's coming. And the cheese didn't make me feel sick! It was a pretty small amount, so that may be why. More full disclosure: I had a little pita. Alex and I agreed that if social situations required a little leeway, then it was allowed. Amy asked if I wanted to share hummus, and I wasn't quite ready to tell her about my challenge, after not having seen her for years. Even I will admit that this challenge is a little weird from a non-foodie point of view. For the sake of my reputation, I agreed to a little hummus and pita. Why didn't I just say, "No, thanks"? Because I am the world's worst liar, and the next sentence out of my mouth would have inevitably been, "I am just totally craving hummus and carbs!" And then I would have seemed even weirder.

I attempted to go to Trader Joe's for some granola ingredients after dinner, but left empty-handed. WHAT is going on with this city?! I went to WF the day before and they didn't have plain old rolled oats either. Something weird is going on here. And since we all know TJ's is a little bit of a zoo, it's not worth waiting on that line for just a couple of things. So I have moved my granola plans to tonight. I finally made it home around 9:30 after the TJ's disaster and the longest bus ride ever, and I needed dessert. What I wanted: a big bowl of cereal. What I had: one TJ's flattened banana with almond butter and a plain Oikos with a little Agave nectar. Le sigh.

The I spent some time preparing lunch for today, but it didn't really work. I still got to the office at 9:30 somehow. Gotta work on that...

Will post today's bfast and lunch lata!