To Thine Own Self, Be Food

It was a rather low-key Thanksgiving Day here at the Chez Nelson...and no wonder.  The menu was pretty understated (for me, that is): Appetizers: Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Blue Cheese and Pear Crostini The Dinner: Turkey Roasted Mashed Potatoes Green Beans & Corn Medley Stuffing Gravy Cranberry Relish Pumpkin Cheesecake Dutch Apple Pie Dutch Apple Pie with Blue Cheese And then you remember that I did my Thanksgiving Dinner like this: Layer #1 & 2: My mom's stuffing, which had, hours ago, filled the main orifice of Mr. Turkey.  Then, the stuffing layer was covered with a nice, generous layer of shredded turkey, cooked the day before. Layer #3: A straight-up, no-frills corn and green bean medley.  Green bean casserole would be good.  So would scalloped corn.  So would diced roasted sweet potatoes or squash.  You just gotta have some vegetable in there. Layer #4: Mashed potatoes.  I roasted some Yukon Golds in the oven first then mashed

Well, what a month November has been. My National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) novel is almost at 40,000 words, so I'm par to finish on the last day of the month .  Nothing like the 11th hour, right? Professionally speaking, there are changes coming in the next month for me.  I took a job last month that didn't quite fit my overall career goals, so I'm making some changes in that regard.  Hopefully, this change will make my home life a lot less stressful.  I have also had some interesting business propositions come my way, and now I guess it's time to, putting it crudely, crap or get off the pot. Or, like Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption - get busy livin' or get busy dyin'. I can talk more at length about that some time later.  For today, though, I am finally going to reveal my Thanksgiving dinner plans. The past several years' Thanksgivings have been full-out, all the stops affairs.  And especially the past two years, there have

A little over a week until that great American holiday of Thanksgiving.  And the big furor this year are the number of shopping places that are announcing that they will open on Thanksgiving Day, in addition to Black Friday.  Of course, critics from sea to shining sea are outraged at the desecration of the sacred American Family Holiday. You know, because we just can't have good family time any other day of the year besides Thanksgiving. But, don't read that last sentence the wrong way.  Although close members of my family participate, I do not go Black Friday shopping...ergo, I would not consider shopping on Thanksgiving either. To me, Thanksgiving is ALL ABOUT FOOD.  Of course it would be. In fact, my mom and I already have our Thanksgiving meal planned.  I want to wait a few days...then, you'll all have your set Thanksgiving menus, and won't want to take my idea. Let's just say it doesn't quite involve your mom's green bean casserole.  I'm n

The first week of National Novel Writing Month is over (NaNoWriMo), and because of work, kids' activities, and all that jazz, I have fallen behind on my word count.  So, on a free morning like I happen to have right now, I am doing the right thing... Procrastinating. It's weird.  I love to write, and I should leap at the chance to work on my story.  But, to be honest, it's been a struggle this year.  It's a story idea I absolutely love and have had in my head for about two years...but I feel like I'm killing it with my subpar, half-hearted writing.  But, that's my problem, not yours.  Your problem is to read my subpar, half-hearted writing here. Ha.  Jokes! So, anyway.  I'm procrastinating on writing my novel this morning.  Instead, I did my grocery list, submitted an invitation request for the new Echo on Amazon, flatironed my hair, and cleaned and organized my kitchen countertops.  And as always, cleaning and reorganizing any kind of home space usu

Tuesdays are Ethnic Food Night here at Chez Nelson.  So far, we've done chicken curry, shrimp and pork spring rolls, and alfredo lasagna (probably not really true Italian, but who's keeping track?). Tonight, we paid a little homage to our Korean family with: Bulgogi (a Korean marinated and grilled beef), rice, homemade white kimchi, and seaweed wraps. The dynamics of this meal was incredible: savory beef, neutral rice, salty wrap, and spicy-sweetish kimchi. I don't have much to say about this tonight, except that you should make it sometime.

Monday is my Sunday...and Sunday is a fun day. Good things: 1. The last soccer game was yesterday, and so now, our evenings and weekends will be soccer-practice-and-game free!  Let me say, though...I do support my children.  It's just, well, it'll be nice to have the time back...time to eat meals together again and whatnot. 2. My parents have dug up about a 14' x 24' patch in their backyard so that we can do a nice, big, communal garden next spring.  My mom and I are big garlic lovers, so we decided to give growing out own a shot.  And that special member of the Allium family went into the ground this morning to sit and get all deliciously garlicky over the winter.   I know it's hard to tell exactly what's going on here...but if you look at the top and bottom center of the picture, you'll a group of small bulb-looking things.  That's the garlic, planted in happy little groups.  The other junk in the picture are the worked-in scraps fro

Ate at P.F. Chang's today for lunch and received this fortune... Hahahahahahaha!  How fitting.  It is, after all, National Novel Writing Month...so, yes, I will write a book.  Thank you, mass-produced Chinese fortune cookie fortune. If I'm a little scarce here, that's probably the reason why.  Oh, and yeah, I need to talk about work here one of these days.  Along with craft beer. Speaking of which...let this tide you over. Trappist ales are my new favorite beer these days.  And tonight I tried them with an extra sharp cheddar.  Verrrrrry nice.