Up early

Well, the pummple pie certainly looks pretty. I also have my cookie sheets ready to go for a full day of baking tomorrow (no fighting shopping crowds for me). Off to the wilds of Maryland...

Safe travels and happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pie

As in years past (okay, I think I've only done it once or twice), I'm baking the pie for my family's Thanksgiving. I grew up with Mrs. Smith baking our pies (while my mother is quite a baker, she never tackled pies - why is that, Mom?). After being guilt-tripped by Martha Stewart on more than one occasion as to how easy it was to make her pie crust plus working with this girl named Dawn from Nebraska who swore that homemade pies were the only way, I've decided to turn my family around. There was that one year that I made a pie and Mom bought a pumpkin pie from Mrs. Smith anyway. I think I guilt-tripped her enough so won't continue that here (but remember that episode of Friends where Monica caters her father's birthday party and her mother stocks the freezers with lasagnas in case...?).

This year's pie will be...a pumpple pie. I'm so excited to try it!

Success

Well, yesterday was a resounding success. I shopped for hours on end and think I got a majority of my shopping done (I say 'think' because I need to sit down and make sure I know who exactly I need gifts for - I'm talking those random people that always give surprise gifts and you never plan on it; I did buy some generic gifts just in case...). I always try to do themes of sorts with my gifts - for instance, two work colleagues are getting batter bowls, spatulas, and gingerbread pancake mix. Makes it much easier on me and makes more sense than a random assortment of things I think they'll like.

My grandmother was the easiest one - a Vera Bradley wallet (luckily they are discontinuing a pattern that works and it was 50% off) since she had her purse stolen last month along with her lime green Vera Bradley wallet I had gotten her a few years before. This purchase caused me having to venture into the store (as Mom & I refer to it) 'where Vera Bradley threw up'. I mean really, do you need a Vera Bradley curling iron case?! Can't you just let your iron cool before you pack it like a normal person?

Sadly, no time for a peppermint mocha. I did stop at Subway for a veggie patty on wheat, though. That's almost the same, right?

Review

What have I been up to, I bet you're asking? Or maybe you don't care. Either way, I'm going to tell you. Aside from making it to my job and going to sleep by 9:00 each night, not much, but I, for my waking hours, offer the following:

I finally made that 'savory lasagna' that I talked about. It wasn't pretty, but it sure was good. Whole wheat lasagna noodles + creamy butternut squash sauce much like this recipe + part-skim ricotta + wilted kale (can't get enough of those ruffled greens!) + a sprinkle of parmesan + bake according to lasagna box directions = a gooey, warm, taste-of-fall-in-each-mouthful kind of dish. Note for next time that I might need to drain my butternut squash really well because it was a little watery right out of the oven; it did firm up upon sitting, though.

I've been having really weird dreams lately. I had a very vivid one a couple of nights ago of my mother coming over and cleaning my kitchen. It really is a mess and could use a thorough tidying and scrubbing. Mom?

I also made more applesauce using some beautiful organic varieties from my CSA bag (some tart and some sweet). Something about the smell of it cooking in the kitchen and the moist air just makes me all warm and fuzzy. My personal take on the one necessary ingredient (well besides apples) is sea salt. This time I added some brown sugar and lemon juice too. Something about the sweet and savory. Perfect. I made both smooth (thank you, immersion blender!) and chunky versions. The smooth went in the freezer and the chunky in my belly (I packed little cups of it for lunches like I was in elementary school). Yum.

I monitored the activities of my neighbors that share my backyard fence line. Except they took down the fence. And the beautiful flowering cherry tree that I loved to sit under each spring/summer. And I think they filled in their in-ground swimming pool. Weird. Right now they've just laid grass seed and straw. Not much else. That's the news. Exciting, huh?

I experimented with acorn squash and using it as a bowl. I thought this was a fussy gourmet thing to do. Little did I know how easy it was. I just cut the acorn squash in half, scraped out the seeds (which I baked later as a crunchy snack), and placed the halves face-down on a prepared baking sheet (with sides since this does create liquid). I was inspired by this recipe and used it as a jumping off point. The two halves were baked for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Meanwhile, I cooked one cup of jasmine rice in a pot and started a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil, shallots, and minced garlic. I then added chopped celery (from my CSA bag - very delicate stalks) and kale (again, love this stuff!) to the skillet and cooked until the celery was a little tender and the kale wilted. Once cooked, the rice went into the skillet to absorb the flavors; salt and pepper were added. After the squash halves had baked for 30 minutes, I pulled them out, scooped out some of the squash meat and mixed it in with the rice. The rice mixture then went into the squash halves (now upright in a covered baking dish) and back into the oven for another 30 minutes. I think this will be revisited for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner with the parents - perhaps with some dried cranberries or nuts for a bit more tooth. We'll see.

I have started doing a 'research day' every week now where I don't go into work but instead go to the local university's library or to my own kitchen table for a quiet day of research. These past weeks I've been getting to know the microfiche machines. Did you know you can now scan microfiche to PDF documents?! This might not mean much to most of you, but for those in my circle of friends who have spent hours pouring over microfiche, this technological development is a godsend. And made me feel old. I haven't been out of school that long, have I?

Today I am actually off of work (comp day for being on duty on Saturday) and am going Christmas shopping before the rush. I hope to knock out a lot of the people on my list today. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Oh, and I might treat myself to a peppermint mocha for being so productive!

Yawn

I have been so exhausted lately. It may be the change of seasons and that whole 'fall back' in the hours so that now when I drive home from work it's pitch-black and I don't want to do anything else other than crash. But last night I went to bed at 9:00 after having slept in that morning until 7:30 or so (late for me) so it might be more. Will be going this week to have my thyroid tested (both underactive and overactive thyroids run in my family) to see if that's the culprit.

Other than being tired, I had a pretty restful weekend - cooked a little bit but also took one step forward in my quest to stockpile my yummy produce for the winter. Saturday I spent an hour or so steam-blanching fresh spinach and freezing it for future use. I got a great book out of the library that pretty much breaks down (with pictures no less!) how to pickle, freeze, can, preserve, or do anything else to foods. And they tell you what method is preferred for each food. Spinach = freeze, so that's what I did!

Latest reason

My latest reason I need to make a trek up to Boston... Aside from visiting dear friends (and dear new little ones courtesy of my friends Mommy, Esq. and Megan), this exhibit at MFA Boston looks delish!