Thanksgiving was pretty great. I have to admit, I was worried that we wouldn't pull everything off - we had an extensive-ass menu - but we did. We did. Here is what the four of us cooked:

*Turkey (11.1 lbs.: the smallest bird we could find) & gravy
*Mashed potatoes (garlic, and also mashed potato casserole, which is regular mashed potatoes + sour cream + grated cheese, baked with cheese on top: one of Ali's concoctions)
*Old skool stuffing (so much butter)
*Corn bake
*Raspberry salad
*Cranberry, apple, and orange relish
*Steamed broccoli, steamed carrots
*Snowflake rolls (these, admittedly, were store bought)
*Chocolate cupcakes
*Pumpkin pie

and...

*Nachos, with Ali's specialty dip.

The nachos don't really fit into most people's Thanksgiving schemata, but they were a delicious accompaniment to football. My all-time favorite, of course, is my mom's stuffing: there's no written recipe, but the constant is BUTTER. I know she seasons it with thyme, sage, poultry seasoning, s&p, but the exact proportions are a mystery. Srsly, though: I look forward all year to this stuffing, and I did not leave the table disappointed.

Later, after we'd slept off our food hangovers and cleaned up, we saw Four Christmases. I wasn't too eager to see it, not being much of a Vince Vaughn fan (I guess I don't mind Reese Witherspoon?), but it wasn't too bad. I think this assessment was strongly influenced by my initial low expectations, though. Bottom line: Vince Vaughn does and always will play VV, and if you're not in the mood for his schtick, then this is not the holiday movie for you.

Happy post-Thanksgiving kickin' around to all, and to all a good morning! I'm not sure what's on the schedule for today, but I hope it doesn't involve shopping or simple carbohydrates...

Birthday wishes! And one harvest recipe.

Glad tidings to LDS, who celebrates her birthday today! Last night was the party proper, which was excellent because of (but not solely because of) great company, Dark and Stormies*, and a soundtrack feat. MIA. Hellz yes. HELLZ YES! I did stay out later than I have pretty much all semester (rolled into bed around 2:30), and today I dragged. In fact, I considered going to bed about half an hour ago, but remembered [thankfully] that I offered to pick E. up from work at 10. Ah, exhaustion. Despite my less-than-optimal state, I managed to do my grocery shopping, read a workshop story, sort through a massive pile of paperwork, and go to the gym. Not bad, considering.

Also, I cooked a legit harvest dish tonight: sauteed Swiss chard w/sweet potatoes. My mom made this a lot when I was a kid, and though I didn't really dig the greens, I loved the bite-sized pcs. of sweet potato. Here's the recipe:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1/3 c. apple cider
1 cup chopped sweet potato (tiny cubes work best)
1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned and coarsely chopped
seasonings to taste

In a 10" skillet, cook the onions in the oil until said onions are soft but not browned (about 4 minutes). Once onions are soft, add cider and sweet potatoes. Cook sweet potatoes until they are tender (about 5 minutes). If cider evaporates before potatoes are cooked, add a few tablespoons of water. Once potatoes are cooked, add the Swiss chard, cover the skillet, and cook 3-5 minutes (until the chard is wilted). Season to taste; serve immediately.

That's the gist of the recipe, anyway - I am reclining in bed now and was too lazy to find the printed version, whose wording might be a little, uh, more professional. I should note that the real recipe only calls for 1/3 c. cider, but I used 1/2 (because I had more than 1 c. of taters, and because the bunch of chard I used was larger than average). ALSO: in terms of seasoning, I used garlic powder (shaken liberally), fresh ground pepper, fresh ground sea salt. YUM. One other thing: I used a 13" skillet, which verged on being too small. Next time, will use the wok.

Well, I'm off to find an activity that will keep me awake for the next hour or so. Toodles.

*Almost forgot to explain. The Dark and Stormy is possibly my new favorite boozy beverage, composed of rum and ginger beer (in roughly equal parts). Sweet - but not cloyingly so - and lip-tingling, it is perfect for a rainy fall night.

Man, it's only November 7th, and already I've failed to reach my goal of updating every day. Oops. Yesterday was the busiest of all days, though: did a little last-minute lesson planning in the A.M., kept changing outfits because the weather was unseasonably freaking warm/muggy, went to acupuncture, taught my classes, and then Eric and I celebrated our 1.5 yr. anniversary(!) We went to dinner at Caminito, an Argentinian steakhouse here in Noho, and the food was delicious: I ordered Brochette de Lomo (filet and assorted veggies on skewers, served on a bed of seasoned jasmine rice). I do love cooking, but every so often it's nice to go out for a really well-prepared meal. Especially since I do not cook filet for myself. (Heh.)

Afterward, we drank a little wine and watched a little "How I Met Your Mother," which is surprisingly entertaining. I must say, I had my doubts about this show, but Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris do deliver. And now, we have only one episode left of season one: onward & upward to season two! (If there is one. Which I think there is, but I'm not positive. Which, if there isn't, will require us to find and latch onto a new series-on-DVD. Which most likely won't be "24," because I also have my doubts about that show.)

I'm making it my goal (or one of my goals: one of my short-term goals) to update every day in November, in honor of National Blog Posting Month. Hopefully, I will not cop out too often by posting pictures of jewelry I covet, but you know. Monday morning. The creative juices aren't flowing just yet. (Aside: isn't this necklace perfectly autumnal? BAUBLES.)

It's a plain fact that I never get as much done on the weekends as I plan to, despite my best time-management efforts. This weekend was no different, but I'm more satisfied with how I used my time since I did a wide variety of things: completed a workshop critique/letter, graded a bunch of student papers, took a mini-shopping trip, got coffee and a sandwich with H., researched possible alternative career paths. Went to the gym (x2). Went out Friday night (w. Sis and Eric) to Fitzwilly's. Went out Saturday evening (w. Sis and Eric) to the Hangar. Read. Baked cookies and watched a movie. Talked to my mom. I'm coming to realize that my sense of productivity isn't shaped as much by how much academic work I get done - else this weekend might have seemed like a failure: oops - but by the variety of things I do. It's all about balance, I guess.

Another week, another dollar, or something like that. I've been meaning to update since last weekend, but...it was just another of those crazy weeks. I'm surprised I had time for acupuncture.

Last weekend, Eric and I went to Concord. We only spent a day there (I being eternally tethered to Noho by thesis duties & therefore unable to spend more than 24 hours away from my computer: dramz), but managed to see most of the things we wanted: The Old Manse, the Old North Bridge, Author's Ridge (in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery), The Orchard House (L.M Alcott's adult home), Walden Pond, and The Wayside (where L.M. Alcott lived as a child). Of these, my favorite was the Wayside, where the Hawthornes and the Lothrops also lived at various points in history. I guess Nat Hawthorne was "obsessed" (tour guide's words) with Gothic architecture, so he added a three-story Gothic-style tower in the middle of the house. A son of one of the home's subsequent owners then painted a mural on the ceiling of this tower: pastoral scenes dedicated to Hawthorne. Another high point was visiting Walden Pond at dusk: the air held a nice chill, the water lost its reflection, the pines were dark. We got some great pictures - which, of course, I haven't yet gotten around to posting. Sigh.

The only downside of the trip (besides not being able to stay longer) was lunch. E. and I went to the Walden Grille, which we'd read about online & which looked like a decent place. WRONG! This was the worst food I've had in a restaurant in maybe three years. E. ordered his burger medium and got a hockey puck; I ordered a chicken wrap, and both the wrap and the chicken had the consistency of leather. (Well, I guess the wrap's consistency was more like parchment, but anyway...) Our fries had clearly been "re-fried" - having worked as a short order cook in college, I know these things. And on top of this all, our waitress was rude!
Just a warning: if you find yourself in Concord at lunchtime, avoid this place at all costs.

This weekend doesn't promise to be as exciting, though I guess I shouldn't nay-say before it happens. Last night, Lisha hosted a knitting/YouTube viewing session, which was excellent and relaxing. I couldn't believe how long it had been since I'd knit, but I got back into the swing of it [fairly] easily and made some progress on a scarf that I started back in '05. Heh.Who knows? This might be the year that I actually finish a scarf...

The miracle need not be explained:

My life has taken a turn for the miraculous: my car's engine light unprecipitatedly went off. For those not familiar with this mechanical mini-saga, my car's engine light went on in early August and stayed on, even after a diagnostic at the dealership and my purchase of a new gas cap. I was freaked out at first, not wanting to inadvertently wreck my not-quite-paid-off car, but this anxiety waned as friends and friends told me that, really, this glitch is nothing to worry about.

I hadn't thought about the light in a long time. As I was driving to campus yesterday, something seemed amiss with my dash panel. It took me a minute to realize that the engine light was absent (so used to looking at it I had become!), and that chances of imminent mechanical failure had just decreased like, tenfold.

Hallelujah.

Sys and I are having a "harvest potluck" tonight, in appreciation of 1) Autumn! 2) Friday 3) Delicious fall cooking. On the menu are:

Country style pork ribs
Stuffed mushrooms (vegetarian and non)
Ali's famous cheesy, oniony mashed potatoes
Pumpkin cake
[Possibly] Corn bake
Spiced cider

Perhaps the only thing I like as much as walking in the fall is cooking in the fall. Lovely, the warm home and aromatic sage and onions, cinnamon and cloves.

There's a frenzy a'brewin'

For the past few days, none other than Mel Gibson has been shooting scenes in Northampton for his new movie. I haven't seen him, but traces of him are everywhere: in the cops positioned on the street corners, in the crooked signs pointing the way to extras' parking. People are buzzing. This morning, on the corner across from my apartment, four or five cops stood in a huddle, guarding what appeared to be some sort of DJ tent. (You know, those tarp-sided tents used to house DJs at outdoor festivals?) Some sort of early-morning party? I wondered. Or audio equipment, being preemptively protected from rain that has not yet fallen? I don't think today is capable of rain, it being the most gorgeous, sharp-edged sort of October day. But you never know.

It's getting cold here. Evidently, our heat has been turned on, and I shouldn't' say "evidently" because it would be a hell of a lot colder if there were no heat. But, Ali has been keeping track of the temp. in her room & it hasn't gotten above 68. What's going to happen in the winter? she wonders. I wonder, too, because 68 is not warm enough for lizard blooded people like myself. Incidentally, 68 is the minimum temperature at which rental properties must be kept during the winter months (according to the Board of Health, whom I contacted last winter).

Alice is in town! For yesterday and today. We're going to bum around the downtown this afternoon, maybe get ourselves some pastries, check out the foliage, & so on. Friends!

The windiest month.

I'm, uh, back from Madison, though if I'd stayed, would anyone have found it surprising? Wisconsin remains as awesome as in my memory: rolling green and wide, faintly cow-smelling, the September sky muted. Sunday, Eric and I bummed for a few hours in Madison, getting lunch at State Street Brats (cheese curds!), browsing the bookstore, just walking. Janesville, too made me homesick: for apple picking, Sunday dinners, backyards.

Nostalgiafest 2008, it's true. This week, I even browsed Madison real estate...

In other news, Darren and Sara are coming over for dinner tonight, and here's what's on the menu:

Roast pork loin (with carrots and onions)
Mashed sweet potatoes
Salad with apple-walnut dressing
Bread (to be purchased from the Hungry Ghost)
Sweet potato pie (not homemade, admittedly...)

A little sweet potato heavy, I admit, but I'd already planned to make the mashed 'taters when I saw the pie and I thought, "What the hell! I love sweet potatoes!" And therefore, so must everyone else. I may have misplaced the recipe for the dressing, but I should be able to find it before dinnertime. Fingers crossed.
But, I'm pretty excited to cook this roast: roasts are the perfect indicator of fall and all the excellent cold-weather cooking to come.

Rabbit.

I'm about halfway through Rabbit is Rich and am totally obsessed with it: to the point that I want to secretly read while my boss is out of the office. To the point that (yesterday afternoon), instead of attacking the massive list of chores I've been meaning to do all week, I made some tea and read until dinnertime. I am forcing myself to read slowly and relish each sentence. This is difficult for me, with my tendency toward speed reading. (Aside: I don't remember in what context I learned to speed read, but I think it was taught in middle school. In conjunction, perhaps, with typing?) But I'm doin' it.

The other day at work, I Wikipediaed Updike and was surprised to read that "some people" have criticized his work for being too rambling: sprawling. Here's the exact quote:

Updike is one of the most exquisite masters of prose style produced by 20th century America. Yet, his novels have been faulted for lacking any sense of action or character development. It appears at times that his ability to spin lovely phrases of delicate beauty and nuance overwhelm his desire to tell a simple, important story in the lives of his characters.

Whaaaaaa? First off, I know I shouldn't have expected to find serious, peer-reviewed lit-crit on Wikipedia - and I didn't expect this, actually - but... But. The above statements are just so global and unevinced. I mean, "any sense of action or character development" - is it possible for a work to lack entirely a sense of action? Even a speaker's leap from one thought pattern to another could classify as action. So, yeah. I don't know about Wikipedia.

What miffed me more, though, is Wiki's assessment of "no character development." I don't know about y'all, but to my mind, Rabbit Angstrom is one of the best American characters: ever. By "best," I mean not only most convincing (i.e., having consistent personality traits, seemingly-logical or consistent lines of reasoning, resembling an actual person), but most likely to earn my sympathy as a reader. I don't, on a superficial level, want to identify with/feel empathy for Rabbit: he's philandering, mildly overweight, a car salesman. But he's human, and his actions are presented in the context of his complete environment, which, having been developed for hundreds and hundreds of pages, and several decades, provides the reader a means to more profoundly understand Rabbit's motivations. Rabbit, like all of us, is inextricable from his environment; Updike's meticulous attention to environmental detail - the rings left on the patio table by a sweating glass, or a woman's constellation of freckles - suffuses his work, and informs the [psychic, physical] motion of his characters.

***

Today is legit sweatshirt weather! (Last night was also sweatshirt weather, but I wasn't so excited then: I haven't taken out my intermediate-weight comforter yet, and I kept waking up because I was cold under my summer blanket.) Soon, it will be time for a trip to the apple orchard, and for pumpkin carving, and for pies.