If you had invoked me before you began this journey,

That was a very good Thanksgiving.

First off - in my complete sanity, I did all the cooking. For eight. We had domnall and myself, my father, churchofwonk, elinor_dear, reynier, and my aunt and uncle. Admittedly, our conversation turned horribly geeky near the end, leaving the older generation out, and I feel a little bad. But everyone seemed at least to have enjoyed it all and left happy.

There was turducken, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, a butternut squash/sweet potato soup, parsnips roasted with maple syrup (quite good), andouille sausage wrapped in bacon (don't ask, domnall was responsible...), and biscuits. For dessert there were pumpkin, pecan, and mince pies. The jar of cranberry jelly was unopened as the can opener had trotted off into hiding.

Afterwards there was geekiness - gaming talk and much laughter over my attempts to play Portal.


All in all - fun, good food, and I am happy. My desire to cook is rising rapidly. Also, I may start looking into those gel things for kitchens... Or a specific pair of shoes for cooking. (People seem to like crocs, at least according to a post recently on The Kitchn.)

Currently home early as everyone else (all 2 people right now) needed to leave at 1:30. Such is life.


Weekend was nicely productive, in it's own way. Didn't end up seeing Gonzo, but *shrug* The best bit was we got into a lovely amount of trouble at Williams-Sonoma. Lots of new baking items, some other stuff (such as glass bowls and a number of KitchenAid attachments. Oh yes, a roasting pan - turducken here I come!).

We also hit 17th Street, which was (as usual) successful. Bought lamb and some tamarind curry - not for the same recipe, I should add. Lamb is one of my all-time favorite meats, and I'm always pleased to have an excuse to cook it. In this case, it was avilina and taranos over for dinner and the initial use of the tagine. Mmm... lamb and onions and garlic and corriander (which may be one of my new favorite spices).

The tamarind curry is something else. A while ago, I happened to be there and pick up a container of a tikki masala simmer sauce. Just add meat, simmer, and you're good. Figured it'd be tasty for the times when I just wasn't feeling fully up to cooking. It was - exceedingly so. So, the next time we were there, picked up the coconut curry - which was fed to my father the last time he came over for dinner. Quite tasty, we had it with rice, peas, and lamb. (Did I mention my deep love of lamb?) The brand is Maya Kaimal, if anyone's interested. It could be argued it's a bit expensive ($6.50 for 15 oz) but the sauces are tasty, really easy, and the ingredients fall into "no unpronouncable or unrecognizable things". (In the case of the tamarind curry: onion, all natural coconut milk, tomato puree, water, vegetable oil, ginger, spices, garlic, salt, brown mustard seeds, tamarind, green chili, fresh curry leaves, and turmeric.)


Side note, Judi Dench as M is love.