How cute is my brother?

Unsurprisingly, the ladies love him.

Holiday movies

Along with lots of food, my Thanksgiving also included lots of movies, starting with The Godfather, which was playing on cable with commercials and stretched from like 11am - 4pm. We literally watched it all day! Then came a couple that I would not recommend - Year One, The Brothers Bloom, then one I would maybe recommend - Transformers 2 (fun bc of the effects), and finally one that I would probably recommend - Sunshine Cleaning. I tried to get my dad interested in Fantastic Mr. Fox, but that didn't happen. I think holiday movies are a great tradition, I can't wait to see A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey over Christmas!

Shmanksgiving!

This year I cooked a big meal for my dad. I selected traditional fare (stuffing, potatoes, brussels), but also tried to include an interesting twist in each dish. Surprisingly, everything came out great! I was so happy..and exhausted. Check out what I made! And no, these pictures aren't from our table..

Roasted chicken with pears and shallots. Recipe.














Mashed potatoes and celery root with leeks and coconut milk. Recipe.




I also made roasted brussel sprouts with shiitake mushrooms and fennel, and sausage cornbread stuffing with chestnuts, but no pics. For dessert:

Apple and pumpkin cake.












And the highlight, butternut squash pie with gingerbread crust. Yum! Recipe.

Strong days

This is kind of how I feel most days, like there's a strong me and a me that just likes to get carried around and smile. Different days require different me's.

What led me to this pic is an interview with Zoe Bell, a prolific stunt woman who played Uma Thurman's double in Kill Bill. Read her tips for the strong you here.

Baumbach's back.

Could be good?

Babehs!

I am in love with this baby. He makes frequent appearances on smittenkitchen.com and is Adorable. Right??

And how to make them..

Neck Warmers

Love love these chunky neck warmers on Etsy! I wish I could make them. More.

Food Books

Lately my obsession with food has gone beyond the kitchen and infiltrated my bookshelf. Ruth Reichl (second recent obsession) has written two great books that combine food and life, while discussing her time as the food editor for the LA Times and the restaurant critic at the NY Times: Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires. I also learned that we share a birthday, which I hope hope is a good sign for my cooking! Reichl recommended author MFK Fisher, who's writing really amazed me. I was immediately drawn in to her tales of eating and cooking around the world during the second World War. The Measure of Her Powers combines short essays that she's written and is a great introduction to her work.

Food flags!

France. How cute are these?










Korea. See more here.

Funny

These seats would have been perfect in the Jeep I drove in high school...

Spiced Hot Dark Chocolate

I tried this tonight, and while it was good, I overdid it on the cayenne, which over-powered the other spices. I also cut the recipe down and used way less chocolate than was called for, subbing in cocoa powder instead. The end result was less sweet than it would have been, but healthier and still yummy. Recipe.

Okra Curry

This was a yummy way to eat okra, I had never cooked with it before. She doesn't tell you to slice up the okra before sauteing though, and I found that was necessary. Recipe.

Squash and Chickpea Salad

This was so so good, like, amazing. I'm not huge into dinner foods that are sweet, so I appreciated the savoryness of this squash dish. Roasting garlic with the squash made such a difference. Recipe.

Baked Persimmons

I'm going to post more about the cooking that I've been doing, because I've been the only one enjoying it so why not share?? I made these earlier in the week, yummy but I think I'll top them with a little brown sugar next time so that they caramelise a bit more. Recipe.

Loving All is Love

Julia Pott