Gobble gobble recap

So, the Big Day is behind us and all can return to normal (ish) until Christmas. Now seems like a good time to recap my dad's visit to California, Turkey Day itself, and maybe name off a few things I'm thankful for this year.
Dad was in town for about ten days total -- the first few due to a talk that he was giving at the Science and Society conference at UC Berkeley, and then he stuck around for Thanksgiving, too. We had a swell time -- a lot of eating and shopping (two of my very favorite things, as you all well know). We ate at Liasion on my recommendation, and it was just as good the second time around. I had to-die-for French onion soup followed by roast chicken, plus we had some oysters to share. I capped it out with tart tatin. Yum. Throughout the week we also hit up Scoma's, ordered some good California Chinese food (very hard to come by in Texas), visited a brew pub and an old school diner in Berkeley, and dad cooked three nights -- beef stroganoff, chicken almond, and mac and cheese -- all favorite dishes of mine from childhood. Oh boy, did we eat well.

I'm so excited

And I just can't hide it! Today has been a fabulous start to November, I have to say. First of all, I stopped at Starbucks this morning and they had their seasonal red cups out already! An official cue to the holiday season, in my book. Plus they were featuring peppermint mochas! *Picture me doing a crazy happy dance right now* It was delicious -- because you know I ordered one! Plus I picked up Rod Stewart's new Christmas CD, aptly named "Merry Christmas, Baby," and it is excellent -- two thumbs up. But all of this is just build up to the really excellent news -- both my parents are coming out to California for Thanksgiving! I could not be more thrilled by this news.

We'd originally discussed something similar a few months back, but that was before my grandmother got really sick and things got all screwed up. I, of course, have been stressing about this for weeks already, and for awhile there, things were looking kind of bleak. But alas! By some miracle, everything has worked out exactly how I wanted it to, and I'll be hosting Thanksgiving for my whole family this year. Its been three Thanksgivings since we were all together, what with me on the East Coast and the brother here in Cali. I am just so pleased that we're all going to be together, and that I get to cook us all a fantastic meal. And now I have to get back to planning said meal...

Happy November!

What's going on (cue Motown music)

I know, I know. How long has it been since my last post? And I was doing so good for a while there…In all seriousness, October has sped by me and I can’t believe we’ve only got a week to go until November. A big part of that is because I recently spent ten days in Massachusetts – an unexpected trip, to be sure, and not for a fun reason. I know that when they lose someone special to them, a lot of other bloggers write some kind of tribute post, often zeroing in on how that person’s influence relates to the blog’s topic. And then tons of strangers out there in the universe write in with their condolences and special stories of their own, and perhaps the whole thing makes the blogger feel better, comforted, less alone. Well, maybe someday I’ll write a post about my grandmother’s food eccentricities, her penchant for baking, the cookbook collection she made me for my sixteenth birthday, the applesauce she and my grandfather made every fall, her unwavering encouragement of me and my aspirations…but I’m not there yet.

So in the meantime, let me do a little round-up of what’s been going in food-wise in my life. I made significant progress on the cookbook challenge before taking a break, but I’m getting back on track this week with four recipes lined up – eggplant gratin, radishes with compound butter, elephant ears, and cheese puffs (gougeres in French).

I made pumpkin mac and cheese the other day, a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens that I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It was eh, okay. I think in actuality it tasted just fine, but what I really wanted was ooey gooey cheesy mac and cheese, and this was not that. So I was disappointed and probably won’t make the recipe again. Tonight I’m going to try a recipe, also from BHG, for pumpkin rice pudding, which I think will be much more successful. Have I ever talked about my mom’s rice pudding? The recipe is from a Sun-Maid golden raisins box many years ago and it’s just the best. I wish she could make me some right now.

The brother and I had a nice fall day last Saturday – we did a corn maze, visited a pumpkin patch, and then carved those pumpkins (later dubbed Dennis and Amelia). I roasted up the pumpkin seeds with some olive oil, salt, black pepper, and a touch of cayenne – they came out pretty good! I also made an apple pie (the only one I've made so far the season -- ridiculous!). I used to like apple pie best when it was warm from the oven, but I think I like it better now nice and cold. Is that weird? The apples at the farmers' market are just fascinating -- and the cider is yummy too (although not as good as the New England stuff).

I drank sooo much Dunkin Donuts coffee and ate at least five Boston Creme doughnuts. True story. Although now I haven't had Starbucks in like, two weeks. That's a tragedy in my book.

Finally, I’d like to make an observation – Applebee’s food really sucks these days (except for the boneless Buffalo wings, which are always delish). I guess maybe it always sucked and I just wasn’t picky enough to notice. Well, I am now, and its ruined for me. Maybe for the best?

Oh, and let me say – I returned to the west coast with a stack of Thanksgiving related magazines about a foot tall. I’m still making my way through them – so fun! Have I mentioned lately how much I love the holidays?

When you go to San Francisco...

So, it’s official – California dreamin’ is now California reality. That’s right, folks – in a few weeks, I am leaving the Berkshires behind and headed west to the land of fruit and nuts. I know you’ll want to laugh at me, but I have it in my head that I need to go westward, to the land of gold and oranges.

So how did this happen? I had a long talk with myself a few months ago about where I wanted my life to go next, what my goals are, and what I felt like I was missing. One of the biggest things to immediately pop into my head was family. As you probably know, my family is scattered across the country – my parents are in Texas, my brother in California, and then my extended family is mostly in Michigan and Massachusetts. My grandparents live pretty close to where I am now, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned. I have been so lucky to be able to be close with them – I mean, I’ve always been close to them, but once I moved to Vermont and then here, I was able to spend a lot more time with them. I try to visit them every few weeks, and I bring my dog with me – he and my grandfather have grown very close, too. 

So, I love being close to them…but the price I pay is that I see the rest of my family only about twice a year – and we’re all together over Christmas…and that’s about it. It makes me really sad, because I think that as far as modern families go, we’re really close. Sure, we squabble (and sometimes worse), but we all really love each other and enjoy each other’s company. That’s especially true with my brother and I – we’re fairly close in age, and I am lucky enough to say that he’s one of my best friends.

So to summarize, being closer to my family seemed like a worthy goal.

And from there, my immediate next thought was food. I mean, of course. And of course, San Francisco and the Bay Area are a major food hotspot. Not only is Berkeley home to Chez Panisse and the beginning of the locavore, slow food movement in America, but go a little north and you’re in wine country (ahem, the French Laundry – Thomas Keller is a god). Plus the city is overflowing with awesome restaurants, particularly seafood (which you know to be a passion of mine). So that kind of seemed to make sense.

And then I thought about my job. Food and food writing are still a passion of mine (thank goodness for this blog and the opportunity to spout off about whatever is on my foodie mind at the moment, even if it is rather sporadically). I hope to be able to pick up some freelance assignments out that way and continue to move forward in that sense – and there’s the thing. I wasn’t going to move forward where I was working. Although there are some major advantages to the job, it wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to be…and I was soooo tired of being sooooo broke all the time.

Put all that together and what do you get? California, baby! So I started looking for jobs and a great one came my way and off I go! I am going to miss my grandparents SO MUCH (I wish I could just pack them in my suitcase and take them with me), but that is the only con to an otherwise pro-filled list. As the guy from Doc Hollywood once said,"Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do...and sometimes, that's in California."

I’ll write again soon – this time probably about the Dungeness crab I just ate and the cake from Miette that I’m looking forward to (never mind lunch at Chez Panisse). Looking forward to it!