Days 85-90 and Everything in Between
In case you're wondering—I'm still alive.
I've been a busy bee the last week. I just wrapped up my biggest undertaking in culinary school: the menu project. For the last few months, I've been planning a multi-course menu, complete with food photos, recipes, a costing breakdown, an essay on my theme and so on. I turned the project in today and am happy with my work.
I'm also happy that it's over, which is why I celebrated tonight with some culinary school friends at Wondee Siam. A Thai classmate and friend took us to the amazing restaurant in Midtown. She says it's the closest food to home in New York.
Because of the menu project—as well as Thanksgiving—I took a mini-sabbatical from my blog. The holiday was amazing; I was so grateful to see my parents and brother in Ohio. We cooked our butts off and ate so much that my pants are definitely not buttoning like they were before. But it was worth it.
Besides the turkey my dad deep-fried, my mom and I cooked most of Thanksgiving dinner. Appetizers comprised butternut squash soup, a foie gras torchon and rabbit sausage; the turkey and gravy, leek bread pudding, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, a ribbon salad, cranberry sauce and Brussels sprouts with homemade maple bacon were the main entrees and sides; and two pumpkin pies and a caramel apple pie were for dessert.
As if that wasn't enough, my mom and I made my uncle's Polish sausage the next day. I've eaten the dish a thousand times during the holidays, but I've never seen how it's made. I now know the family secret (and am willing to share it with anyone who favors garlic and pork).
After the sausage making, our family headed to chef Michael Symon's flagship, Lola, located in downtown Cleveland. I've been there several times, but it was a first for my husband. He loved it. We (not surprisingly) gorged ourselves on beef cheek pierogies, pork belly, crispy bone marrow, ribeye steak with bone marrow garlic butter, pork chops with cheesy polenta and several desserts. Not to mention the wine and drinks—but how can you pass those when the menu is on an iPad?
I headed back to New York missing my family and feeling as stuffed as a turkey.
After reading that I am stuffed all over again. Did we really have all that food????? Yep I guess we did because after getting on the scale after you left it showed that I had gained the few pounds back that I had previously lost...but to tell you the truth it was totally worth it. It was great having you at my side cooking up our "T" Day dinner. :) Many more of those days are hopefully ahead in the future!
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