Notes from the holiday

Yay, very belated Kiva birthday gifts for the nephews purchased.

Note to self: evaporated milk does not last forever. However, 5 oz of milk, years past the "best by" date, causes no problems in the pumpkin pie.

Decadent food of the day: potatoes au gratin per the Chez Panisse/Alice Waters Vegetables cookbook. I think the potatoes i used must not have had enough loose starch to thicken the cream-broth mixture, so the potatoes and onion just swim in the heavy cream. I'd fried sage in butter to add as seasoning but all is overwhelmed by CREAM. Oddly, though, our favorite butterball, Mr M, who will show up moments after one quietly opens of ice cream or cheese, turned up his nose at the sauce left in the bowl.

(no subject)

Yesterday was drowsily spent with video entertainment and yarn and occasional pleasurable cooking adventures. I had a nice Skype chat with my parents in the morning and shared glimpses of tables. Christine had an hour of meal-triggered reeling for a disappointment on her trip east to see family, but it didn't linger. We did have a good twilight walk, enjoying the very quiet streets.

I didn't mind seeing the gas station, the Super Mercado and the local Fast Pizza places open, but seeing major grocery chain Safeway open made me disappointed. Why can't the big corporation leave the profits of the emergencies and forgotten purchases to the little vendors on the holiday, and let the staff have the holiday? I'm not sure how entirely sound that thinking is; Christine poked at it a little but didn't dispute it entirely.

My First Sock is coming along nicely, albeit very imperfect. It fits loosely over the toes and top of my foot, so i did some decreases at the arch. The gap for the heel seems to strain at the corners: i can't decide if i should frog back. Making a mate for the sock will be entertaining. How many rows did i do in the toe?

I find myself thinking often of the first Thanksgiving Christine and i shared in Philly. I think we weren't engaged yet. We were sick, but i'd done enough cooking so that we had plenty to eat as we snuggled and then walked around West Philadelphia, kicking leaves. I suppose it was a Thanksgiving or two after that, that she came and visited me in Philly, one after we'd been married, and i'd spent enough time commuting to coastal NC for visits. I remember the blissful feeling on Friday: there were days of being together before returning to our work worlds. There's something habitual about the two day weekend, not quite enough rest, and back to work, that this four day holiday addresses. One of those holidays i made a decoration in the pie crust of a cornucopia that Christine thought was a turkey, or perhaps it was a turkey that Christine thought was a cornucopia. I was a little sad that the purchased crust didn't have enough extra to cut out tiny leaf decorations for the pumpkin pie. I used pecans, instead.

As i goofed off much of Wednesday, i still have some work to do.

Greycie has become much more cuddly with me after Christine's absence.

--==∞==--

I can't tell if the prozac has kicked in or if it's the spacious delight of the holiday.

I'm not sure what to do about goal setting, about observing the holidays, about my upcoming travel.

(no subject)

Oh, bah, all Greycie Loo wants to do is sit on the couch with me, watch Highlander, and encourage me on my second sock. Really! That's what she said!