Long Thanksgiving Weekend – > Long Blog Entry
This past weekend, Jamie and I celebrated a fun and long Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family. On the eve of Thanksgiving, we went out with some friends to dinner and drinks in the city. We had an excellent meal at Alma de Cuba, which we had never been to, and then coursed through the chilly streets of Center City in search of a bar or lounge, winding up at the rooftop of Continental. We were outside on the rooftop, but luckily there were these neat, tall heat lamps that kept us warm. My face was red as usual, after drinking a bottle of hoegaarden and still recovering from a sangria I had over dinner.
On Thanksgiving, we went to Jamie’s parents’ house for lunch and his aunt’s house for dinner. We had two meals with turkey that day, and my enlarged belly was quite visible by the evening; I’m surprised no one thought I was pregnant! (Important clarification: I am NOT.)
On Friday, I spent the day with my immediate family. My cute little nephew, Carter, is the most adorable little thing in the world! He is very attuned to sounds, always turning his head at the slightest bit of sound, and always recognizing the voice of his mommy and my mother when they call his name. When he looks at me, he stares, and his jaw drops, showing his two white little bottom teeth, and his head tilts to the side (nearly 90 degrees) to get a different angle of perspective. Then, he’ll smile a smile that looks fake, or maybe it’s the look of disgust. It’s actually quite adorable, but not as adorable as a real smile or laugh, like one responding to the random silly sounds that come out of his mommy’s mouth.
My sisters and I fired up the oven in the evening for some kitchen bonding. The oven in our kitchen is ancient and we use it about once a year– nearly always on Thanksgiving. This year, we made a tray full of lasagna, which Leena supervised me on, as the head chef. We took some risks this year and tried making tiramisu, pumpkin cheesecake, and cheddar biscuits (Red Lobster recipe). All of them turned out really well, with one exception. The tiramisu had way too much fluid and each bite felt like a waterfall in your mouth. As quantitative and analytical people, we discussed the results and evaluated the situation and learned some lessons that we may apply next time… if there is a next time for tiramisu.
Meanwhile, Jamie was in the family room, where he was most of the day. He babysat Carter while my sisters and I cooked and attempted to teach Carter to learn his alphabet, at age 8 months.
On Saturday, Jamie and I prepared our dishes to bring to our Thanksgiving Potluck with friends. Jamie made eggplant parmesean and I made summer rolls. It was a first for each of us, but the dishes came out pretty well!
It was a fun-filled weekend with lots of eating and cooking.
-Lisa
