Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We spent the holiday with E's parents, as usual. This year our dinner company, which has been gradually thinning, merged with another group that had also been declining in numbers; together, there were 20+ people, some familiar and some new. We made baked honey brie in phyllo dough with cranberry chutney and brought 2 bottles of wine. (Turned out that almost everyone brought wine, and there were over a dozen bottles on the kitchen counter... even deadlier than the book club!) Most of the people at dinner were university professors. The hostess and the 'core' group had met in Malawi during their time in the Peace Corps; one couple taught public policy together at a university in DC and flew often to Beijing and South Africa; another was going on a long trip to New Zealand. It was fascinating getting to know them. New traditions this year were pomegranate appetizers (and spraying the juice everywhere) and ping pong tourneys. Overall a fun evening, but it went by so quickly that the holiday was over before I knew it. All the anticipation...

Other highlights of the weekend include spending time in the country, meeting with family friends, and... oh, raking, raking, raking.


Hubs in a babushka, ready for an afternoon of toiling in the yard


Snow on the leaves


Leaves begone!


Two hours later... hubs and his rake take a break

We also took a jaunt through Bedford County just for kicks - visited the Bedford Springs Resort, a posh hotel tucked among hills and gorgeous hiking trails. ('Visit' means walk through the building, fawn over the architecture, read about the history, steal a cupcake or two that were set out in the foyer at 4pm for traditional English tea...) The parents-in-law were quite taken by it. Methinks Santa will give them a night's stay and dinner for two at Christmas.

Then we went to the infamously law-defying Gravity Hill! Hottest tourist spot in Bedford County. Incidentally, it's near the apple orchards we stopped at... (get it? apples? gravity?) The claim to fame is that one coasts uphill on this road, despite what physics and common sense tell us. We were skeptical, until we tried it a few times. There was another car on the little stretch of hill testing the claim too, over and over again. It's a clever optical illusion.

Here are videos that we took (hubs narrating):

Part I:

Drifting backwards ('uphill') while on neutral

Part II:

Uphill again, this time facing forward. The road really did look like an upward slope.

Not the most exciting videos, but now you know how this little hill got its name. We live for cheap thrills.

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And finally, let's give thanks to the beautiful month of November.



Taken right outside the house


Pretty weed that sticks to everything


On the road, near Blue Knob State Park, PA


Dusk, and a full moon rising as we were returning home from our adventures in Bedford, PA

Vino!

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! The 2007 vintage was released on November 15th, and there was much rejoicing around the world. It's a simple fruity wine that's bottled soon after the grapes are harvested (and meant to be savored just as hastily), made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. A unique method called carbon maceration is employed, which means instead of crushing the grapes first, the grapes are fermented from inside the skin. Because it tastes like alcoholic fruit juice, it's the 'ditzy blonde' of wines - it's one wine that won't be offended if you drink it with ice cubes(!). Probably the only reason wine drinkers even care about the BN is the marketing hype... yeah. (Hard to ignore a wine that's so widely anticipated and celebrated; so well-loved you would... bathe in it? Une piscine de Beaujolais au Japon - sacre bleu!)

Got two bottles - the regular BN from Georges DuBoeuf and a Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau from Leonard de Saint-Aubin. I'm saving the latter, which I'm skeptical about, for our private sipping pleasure and taking the DuBoeuf to Thanksgiving.

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While I was huddling around the wine rack picking out another bottle for tomorrow, I took advantage of the little daylight left and snapped some shots.


My dusty collection





No fear of being thirsty in the House of Meow!

Wine: check. Now, for my Thanksgiving contribution... I volunteered appetizers, but I only have ideas for dessert. Foolish? I'd better wish on my lucky stars that the grocery stores will be open later. What should I make? (Maybe I should pop open a bottle to help me think. ;)) The kitchen calls...

Les Feuilles Mortes

Another season, another year. Time to don wool coats, strap on high boots, and reckon with my love-hate relationship with turtlenecks again.

The best part of the season is the food. So many delicious seasonal comfort foods, from soups and casseroles to pies and cider... just thinking about fall, one can almost imagine the warm smell of cinnamon and apples wafting through the cool crisp air. We went apple-picking in October, like we do every year, and we're almost through with the 20 lb bag of apples. Lately I've turned from apples to cranberries - I have been in the kitchen (barefoot!) almost every night this week making sauces and muffins. My back hurts and I get cranky after 11pm, but it's well worth it. There's something about the cool weather that makes the kitchen so inviting, and me its (sometimes) willing slave.

I've also been diligent with my needle 'n yarn! Been working on two concurrent projects - Project HubbyScarf and Project FuzzyScarf.


HubbyScarf and FuzzyScarf

The former is a simple green ribbed scarf for E that matches his coat. (Amateur knitters make simple scarves.) The latter, a purple variegated scarf, is a treat for myself, made of the softest yarn imaginable - so soft that all you want to do is cuddle with it. It almost feels like cashmere, until you peek under the label and it says 'acrylic fiber blend'. Yes, plain ole' acrylic, meaning it probably contains vinyl acetate, which has endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Imagine, a toxic cancer wrap around my neck. But it's so soft! It's a blissfully soft toxic wrap that feels like a cloud.

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Thoughts du jour:

* The market is upsetting. When I was younger, I used to think it's funny when people say that being an adult means constantly worrying about money. Well, I guess it's not so funny anymore, and in fact quite sobering. Major sux0rz.
* For that matter, the state of the world is pretty upsetting too.
* I haven't touched my piano in weeks, and the guilt is starting to bite. I had grand plans to read all the Czerny I have, but instead I'm slowly unlearning the pieces I already know, from lack of practice. Sigh.
* On a lighter note, we went to a Bhangra competition last weekend - cool stuff! It must be tons of fun being in a synchronized dance group.

Speaking of synchronized dancing, I found this video of some young Singaporean kids busting out mad dance moves; they must only be 13 or 14 years old, but they're definitely more polished than even the groups I've seen in college. Check it out:



(They even have a blog! Dang, some of them are still in Primary School!)