Friday... Back At It

Hey look here... scenes from yesterday. But you would have seen those already if you follow me on Instagram. Sometimes I wonder if a blog is necessary when you have that. Blogs are words pictures. Instagram is nothing but pictures with words. Eh.

Friday after the gorge fest and I'm at work. Turkey coma... not that I ate too much of it. I didn't really eat all that much, now that I think about it. One of the perks of cooking everything I suppose. I should keep at it. Big high school reunion milestone next year.

Don't get me started.

Work has been steady, which I expected. Because people don't take a holiday from being sick. For? From? Whatever. I woke up nice and early this morning for the drive up. Not too bad, perhaps slightly more busy than usual.

I need more coffee. And a warm blanket. And a nap.

Or... I'll just keep online shopping. Probably my best bet.

Happy Thanksgiving

Originally I was going to attempt at live blog of today. Didn't happen. But I was on Instagram for most of it, so if you follow me you saw what I was up to.


Now I am just writing about the day. Very busy, but enjoyable. Food was cooked, people were fed. Plenty of alcohol to be had. Leftovers sent home with all participants, including yours truly.


It's late and I'm exhausted. I have to get up early to head back upstate for work. So it looks like there will be no Black Friday shopping for me. For the best, I think.


Hope you had a good one.

Sidesgiving

Because I am heading home tonight and M has to work the holiday, we had Thanksgiving dinner last night. Since he's a vegetarian, he prefers sides, but I did buy him a meat-free "turkey" to round out the meal. The brand is Gardein, which I bought at Honest Weight. I have to say... it was pretty good. Could have done without the cranberry stuffing, but I will probably buy this again for him for Christmas.

Our dinner -

• Green bean casserole - tried and true. First time I added soy sauce... or maybe I always have and just keep forgetting. Either way, lovely.
•  Cornbread stuffing casserole - M wanted Stove Top, but then had mentioned a co-worker had tried the Trader Joe's version and liked it. So I went with that, using vegetable stock for the liquid and added a tablespoon more butter than the recipe called for. Pretty good, I had to stop myself from eating all of it. M does need leftovers for tomorrow.
• Gardein savory stuffed turk'y - So much better than tofurky. So. Much. Better. It does have a weird taste that I couldn't place, but it wouldn't stop me from having it again. It also comes with gravy packs which helped me out since I couldn't find a veggie friendly pre-made gravy.
• Corn - nothing fancy, just heated up.
• Mashed potatoes - instant, I cheated. Fancied it up with cream and extra butter. And the gravy from the turk'y helped.
• Bloody Mary's - why not? Plus I needed to kill the last of the vodka that's been sitting there. Extra horseradish. Because. Yes.
  

Total price for this dinner, excluding drinks, was ~$24.00. All but the stuffing and turk'y was bought at Dollar Tree. So now you know, a holiday dinner is possible from there. Slightly more expensive than if I had bought it from Walmart or perhaps the supermarket, but if it's the closest place... do what you gotta do.

Three Days Until Thanksgiving!

Last night I did my annual call to remind my mom to start thawing the turkey.


Only this year she didn't get a turkey. She didn't really plan anything, either. So I have foolishly taken it upon myself to plan this years Turkey Day meal. And I still have no idea what I am doing. I know there are people who plan this out months in advance, spread sheets and all. I wish I had that organization skills.


But I can google. And I am really good and jotting down random things on bits of paper. Or writing things on Word, since I'm working at a computer all day. Here is what I have so far:


Today:

• Ingredient shop and extra supplies
• Prep some sides or desserts
• Thaw out turkey

Tomorrow:

• Buy whatever I forget to buy today
• Prep more sides and desserts
• Set aside items to bring downstate

Wednesday:

• Pack car
• Drive downstate
• Brine turkey
• Bake bread
• Buy ice/alcohol/whatever else I forgot the last few days

Thursday:

• Drink lots of coffee
• Spin crepes
• Roast turkey
• Prepare salad
• Wear stretchy pants
• Food coma

Let's see how well I follow this.

My First 5k

My non-running butt finished a 5k. And not too shabby, I might add - finished 33:45. I thought it would take longer than that. 

Things I learned from this:

1. Bring hat and gloves. I was freezing walking to the starting line and for a mile in. Plus, I could have tucked a tissue in there... I was worried I'd get a runny rose because it was cold.as.frick. Especially in the shade.
2. Know where you need to start. M and I started at the back of the gold group/beginning of the white group. This definitely was not where we needed to be. The first 1/4 mile was spent walking behind large groups of people, slow joggers, children, etc. Even once we were running, we were still dodging people left and right up until the finish line.
3. Pace yourself. This takes practice, but it's something you should be able to better gauge after a few trial runs.
4. Bring hat and gloves. Seriously. I was freezing.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

If there's one thing I love about Thanksgiving, it's all the leftovers you need to consume for the next week or so. My sister and brother-in-law came out for the holiday weekend to spend some time enjoying the finer things the east coast has to offer -- namely, lots of beer.

Kilawing Kambing

We may not have had turkey, but goat was the key player of the night's dishes - caldareta (meat stew), papaitan (offal and bile soup), and kilawin (ceviche style meat and offal).

The goat kilawin caused a bit of a debate, since kilawin is traditionally made with seafood. Can you actually call it kilawin if it's made with meat? I said yes, because kilawin is cooking raw meat with vinegar. I suppose technically it isn't since the goat skin and meat were cooked... but that's just splitting hairs, isn't it?

This stuff was fantastic. Slightly smoky taste from the butcher taking a torch to the skin to remove the hair. Spicy from the thinly sliced jalepenos, and slightly sour from the vinegar. If I threw this on a hot plate it would be sisig. Perfect with beer and rice (I'm Asian... I had to.)

I'll Get You Next Time Turkey

I really hope the reason there was no turkey this year wasn't because I couldn't cook it.

posted from Bloggeroid

My Dinner One Week Ago

Can you believe Thanksgiving was only a week ago? I think I’m still stuffed from it… and to be honest, I didn’t eat all that much that night. But here are the pictures from the noshing.

I’ve also gone and posted the pictures from my Thanksgiving cooking. Take a look if you’d like… and you’ll get to see my sister’s dog, Harrison Ford (you should see him in his Indiana Jones costume!).

Happy Thanksgiving

0423 - Woke up. Why did I decide to get up at this time? Oh yeah... Thanksgiving. It's still dark out, the house is still sleeping. Checked my phone and sure enough, a handful of text messages that I didn't reply to.

"Okay we're meeting up at ____________,  at the corner of __________ and ___________."
"What time would be good for you?"
"Hey! Pre-gobble drinks?"
"Are you still going?"
"Where are you?"

Being the considerate person I am, I quietly crept into the kitchen to start on my cooking. My phone on the other hand, not so considerate. The alarm went off as I was grabbing items in the pantry, waking up the dogs and my sister (who just happened to be sleeping on a nearby couch). This led to some canine whimpering to be taken out, or be fed, or perhaps both. My sister woke up in a daze, and I guided her upstairs, since it was about to get a little noisy.

Finally My Thanksgiving Post

Just bits and pieces of it anyways. Thanksgiving in my family involves family members cooking up a dish or two, and one person taking care of the rest. The person who took care of the rest this year? Me. And as stressing as it was, it was fantastic.

Green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. I made it mostly for M, since he was coming down to celebrate his first Thanksgiving with my family. He hardly touched it, and refused to bring any back home with him. Butthead.

I made this the night before and why oh why did I stop making these? They are so easy and tasty and now I'm craving them. Will definitely make these again for Christmas. But I may have to add more butter because it was way too crumbly. Or maybe I shouldn't bake it as long. Whatever.

The Day After

Black friday... you do not scare me!

I am starving, I need foodage. Yesterday's lack of Thanksgiving delights has left me yearning for something. You would think that the fridge would be stocked, but alas it is not.