happy thanksgiving! i know, we briefly fell off our diligent one post per week ritual...fortunately this is not because we were particularly busy over thanksgiving (three day weekend in exchange for working the holiday itself, not a bad deal), but because we were enjoying some serious relaxation and family time. i really happen to love thanksgiving because it's truly a holiday to do just that--no religious obligation (unless you are david and devoutly practice footballism), no gift giving pressure, just a lot of warm smells and feelings.
a lot of people think of thanksgiving as a meal of strong tradition, a time to prepare old favorites with tastes to conjure fond memories, regardless of how time consuming (or fat laden) they might be. as soon as i got really into cooking, i began to view this holiday instead as a time to revise those old favorites and to search for some new traditions. culinary experimentation this year included a lot of roasting of vegetables...
...mixing of spices
...and new riffs on old favorites, like these bite-sized apple pies.
the big winner, as voted on by all participants in our meal, was this kale salad, which was a snap to make and is exactly what a heavy, starchy dinner needs. green, bright, lemony and just enough heat to keep your tastebuds alive. we will be making this frequently.
we did manage to squeeze in some exercise to offset all the eating and sitting, including a run with the kids in their newly insulated stroller:
as well as a surprise black friday evening in the high 50s that called for a nice long jog up and down the magnificent mile to check out the christmas window displays.
reese has continued with his forward motion, occasionally getting his belly off the ground (a true accomplishment), and has graduated to solid foods. and by solid i mean breast milk with some rice cereal sprinkled in it. i had forgotten how much i dislike feeding babies who don't know how to eat. i just don't have the patience. this is similarly a problem with my dysphasic patients, who look at me fearfully with food spilling out of their mouths and plead, "slow down!" but, reese is getting used to the spoon, and is remaining open minded about prunes.
however, seeing as i'm convinced beyond reason that he's a perfect child and can do no wrong, i do not care about the food all over both of us, or the fact that he no longer takes naps in his bed. lately his only naps are in somebody's arms, in his jumper because he fell asleep bouncing, or in the boppy because he fell asleep eating.
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| my two professional cat nappers, one of whom turned 5 this weekend! |
bean, who as we well know likes to mentally perfect any physical task before taking it on, reached for a spoon the other day and fed herself an entire bowl of yogurt. remarkable. each day into her toddlerhood she becomes more strong willed, so we are always searching for ways to make life run smoothly. however, she also gets a little smarter, more engaged, and more fun as well, so it seems a fair trade.
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| exploring. |
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| note the bruise from opening the door into her head. |
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| my fierce peccary. |
other than all the cooking and eating, we did manage to finish nani's birthday present (but forgot to take a picture of it unwrapped),
  as well as one of my xmas knits that i started a month ago. it was horrifically tedious. however, the only thanksgiving related sale i attended was at my neighborhood yarn shop, where i picked up a few skeins of this beautiful peruvian wool to make something nice for reese. i stayed up late last night finishing my project, and as a reward today i made reese a quick little beanie just to play with the yarn. it was a lot of fun seeing the patterns emerge...excited to make him another piece of some sort to match it. |
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