I'm so enamored of this dish lately, and have written about it so many times, I decided I should probably just post the damn recipe. So bear with me one more time: navy beans sauteed with cabbage, onions, garlic, sage, and smoky Canadian bacon. Creamy, crunchy, salty, healthy, filling, warm - I'm not sure which of those qualities (probably all, of course) does it for me, but man, I crave it. Makes an incredible meal all on its own. Could be the base of a very nice soup - add broth, simmer a bit, and there you go. Also lovely alongside a pork main dish. See what you think. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Tonight - Wednesday night, the night I actually make a full sit-down dinner - the plan is sauteed chicken breasts finished with a quick pan sauce enriched by a bit of frozen turkey gravy (from last week) and a handful of chopped fresh herbs. (I will most definitely be putting that frozen little gem to good work, mmmmm hmmmm, you'll see it pop up again.) Side of rice and a simple salad (and Honeycrisp apples and fresh pineapple for the kids, who don't eat many veggies, but do very much like fresh fruit). Simple. Low-key. Quick. Nutritious. And most important - always - delicious. When calories are as over-abundant as they are in this (blessed) society, it is all the more important to eat foods that are fresh, real, and what we truly love. And - opinion alert! - we can only discover what we truly love, aka what our bodies truly crave, by eliminating as many fake, processed foods from our diets as possible and filling up instead on real food. REAL. FOOD. And now, I'm done.

Now we all three match! I couldn't resist after Suz and Kim accidentally ended up with different colors of the same Eddie Bauer jacket...now I'm the "white chocolate" of what Suz has dubbed our version of a Whitman's Sampler. Yeah, baby! YUM!

We shed the jackets and got down to serious business - mixing Cosmopolitan martinis. YUM again! Just a hint of sweet, with lots of fresh lime juice - delicious. Then our guest arrived, interior designer Jason Trujillo, and we all four descended into the "naughty pine" (aka Suz's basement) to record our podcast. Jason was great - smart and cool and a blast to chat with - and we all got some snuggle time with Puppy Digby as well (that is one insanely cute dog). Diggers! (For proof that he is indeed a boy dog, check out this photo...)

Last night's soup...quite nice. Will make a tasty lunch today. And that is the end of the turkey, my friends. Another Thanksgiving, officially over. (Hear that? That's my trying-to-shrink ass breathing a huge sigh of relief...)

Today, back to reality. Just wrapped up cleaning my ovens - yuck, yuck, yuck that is an ugly job. Toxic, hideous. But like many pain-in-the-ass chores, in the end satisfying. Sort of. In anticipation of snow on Wednesday (hard to imagine when it's going to be 55 degrees tomorrow, but hey, this IS Minnesota. Or it used to be, now I'm not so sure...), I put out driveway reflectors. Very exciting. Woo. Hoo. Laundry, lots of laundry waiting for me. Sigh. A bit of post-holiday blues, I guess. It was nice hanging with the family all weekend, really nice.

Hope you're hitting the ground running today, back at it y'all!

Think I'll make a big ol' pot of soup for dinner tonight. Brothy, but enriched with a bit of turkey gravy. Carrots, potatoes, lots of onion and garlic. Turkey of course. Pull some of that challah out of the freezer. We'll be jamming! Hearty but not too caloric. I'll let you know how it goes...of course!

Got Christmas lights (put) up last night. We only have lights on one tree, in an attempt to keep it somewhat simple. Although I do love driving around looking at seriously over-the-top displays (with a travel mug of hot chocolate to sip, yum). Still magical, even now that I'm Almost Old.

My nephew Cooper spent his first Thanksgiving in Willmar with the rest of my extended family. I can't get enough of his little orange-y nose, to match his (gradually less, darn) orange-y hair. He and his daddy, Bowen, are having lots of fun together! Babies. They make the holidays (and my blog!) so much fun.

And oh, speaking of fun, after my fortifying soup dinner, I'm heading over to Suz's for Cosmopolitan martinis and hijinxing with my minxes and - tonight - a guest, oooh! Check us out!

Kickin' back in front of the fire, doing a little reading, a little writing, oh yeah, it's NICE! Nathan just came home, John and A are running a few errands, I fit in a gorgeous walk over by Lake Calhoun - one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday. This weather, come on, it's almost obscene! Three days in a row I've been out walking in a t-shirt and sweats. At the end of November! I keep feeling like the other shoe is about to drop...but until then, I'm out and in it and totally enjoying myself.

Back from the store, my stepdaughter created several adorable little tasties out of the American Girl Tiny Treats Cookbook (great holiday gift idea). Such a clever little book! It's packed with pretty, mini, and easy-to-prepare-and-clean-up treats. Tonight we sampled a teeny birthday cake, ice cream cone, and milkshake.

As for me, I've done zero - and I mean zero - cooking the last couple of days. One major perk of making Thanksgiving dinner for only four people - leftovers, of course. I haven't had Thanksgiving leftovers for years, in fact, I can't remember the last time. Delicious, even two days in, still delicious. Perhaps tomorrow I'll make a turkey curry salad, throw in some walnuts and dried cranberries. Stay tuned...

I believe a turkey-challah sandwich is in order for lunch today, non? With a teeny side of stuffing topped with a smidge of gravy (that damn stuffing, so good, and so not light, eek). Hope you've got some tasties planned for lunch today! My friend Andrew Zimmern has a naughty, naughty turkey tetrazzini recipe on his blog if you're looking for something decadent to do with leftover turkey. It looks incredible. And as I said, naughty. Yeah, baby!

Changed the dining room table over to Christmas today and set out a few other choice decorations. We'll get a tree and wreath at some point this week. The pots of tree tops are out. Here we go! Holiday Hell! How many gifts have I purchased? Exactly ZERO. Which is absolutely typical for me at this point in the season. I never shop early. And it always somehow works out just fine. And I do actually enjoy myself, don't worry, it just takes me awhile to warm to the whole thing. Once I get going I get way into wrapping presents and arranging them under the tree (I love beautiful, unusual papers and keeping bows and such spare and minimal). Piano Christmas CDs. A glass of bubbly by the fireplace. Baking and decorating gingerbread men with Nathan.

Yeah, I'll get there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here we go, wheeeee! The turkey is herb-buttered and officially in the oven, I repeat, officially in the oven (we're eating at 4:00 so I just put it in, at noon). Salad is a go (nice thing about cabbage salad - improves by tossing with dressing a couple of hours ahead). Brownie "pie" is a go (just need to whip cream). Cranberries are a go. Gravy base is a go (to be finished with pan juices). Challah is just completing its first rise, should be ready for the oven in about 40 minutes. Stuffing will go in when turkey comes out. I'll start roasting the potatoes at around 3:00. Pretty relaxing, so far, I can't complain. Next step is set the table. Achieve some form of exercise - absolutely outside, it's a gorgeous day. Shower and pretty myself up a bit. Watch a movie (and enjoy a little popcorn) with the fam. And otherwise cruise until serving time when things always get a bit, uh, hectic.

How's it going for you? Are you relaxed or stressing a bit? I'm thinking of you all and hoping you're having FUN (it's supposed to be fun, remember?) and enjoying the day! I'll check back in with serving photos later this evening. Until then...

Oy. I'm full. Whew. But I really enjoyed it, all of it. The turkey was crisp and juicy. The gravy was particularly delicious this year. I have quite a bit left and am going to freeze it - it will make a gorgeous sauce in the future. I froze half of the challah too - nice breakfast treat in a couple of weeks. I may end up freezing stuffing too... I hardly needed the brownie for dessert, but of course had a (small) slice anyhow. Definitely put me over, oh well! Worth it!

Nathan and I just had a very nice post-dinner walk around the neighborhood, that should help with the ol' digestion. I asked him what he would make for Thanksgiving if he were cooking dinner and he said...pizza. I definitely go through the motions mostly for myself, because I enjoy the planning and cooking as much as - or more than - actually eating the meal! I could take it or leave it when I was a kid too. Until I went to college and then, oh man, I was craving a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner, fantasizing about it, in fact. That's what dorm food will do to a girl!

In the end, a great day. Loved the prep, loved the meal, loved the day with the kids and John. Totally relaxed, ahhh, and now I'm heading for bed! Sleep well, my fellow Thankful Tryptophan Trippers. Zzzzzzz...

Happy 40th Birthday Stephanie!

No, not me! Stephanie Sanford, aka Steph, Little Steph, Sanyer, Severine, my roommate, bridesmaid, quarter's partner, and (with Kim Borgen) my BF since Schroeder Jr. High. My little sister Etta says she's been raised on Stephanie Sanford Stories and it's quite true. Everyone loves Stephanie Stories, she's one very funny chick. I hope you have a fab birthday my dear friend!

Earlier this week Suz and I were cracking up about lameass high school jobs and their even worse uniforms - Stephanie at Orange Julius. Me at Bridgeman's. And Suz was telling me about her stint at her local grocery store deli, and the lunch she served a customer one day. The guy ordered roast beef or the like, and a vegetable, and butterscotch pudding for dessert. He took his food, sat down at a little table to eat, but returned with the pudding - turns out Suz had dished him up a nice bowl of nacho cheese for dessert. Mmmm... DAMN I laughed at that! Full-on tears, whew. Such airheads! I can't believe anyone paid any of us to do our jobs so badly. (And don't even get me started talking about the mistakes we made driving, like Sanford hanging a right onto a railroad track... Scary. Hilarious. But scary!)

Ah, well, no nacho cheese on the menu for tomorrow. I baked brownies today, and made dressing for the cabbage salad. Tomorrow the turkey goes in (of course), plus I'll bake challah, roast potatoes, whip cream, assemble the salad, and finish the gravy. Hope your prep is going smoothly as well!

Oh, I'm having so much FUN cooking for Thanksgiving! I decided to start today - tomorrow Nathan is home from school and we'll be busy. The turkey is a-brining (left), the cranberries are a-popping (or popped, as it were, below), the gravy base is, uh, a-cooling. And the stuffing, ohhh, how I lurve stuffing. I put Parmesan cheese and garlic in mine - in fact, my whole menu has a bit of an Italian twist (Marsala in the cranberries, Italian herbs in the turkey and gravy) - which to me bumps it up to sublime. Can't wait until Thursday! (Obviously, ha.) The scent of turkey roasting in one oven while challah bakes in the other ought to tickle even the appetites of my Thanksgiving-blasé family.

Doesn't hurt my mood that it is a gorgeous day out there - warm and sunny, woo hoo! I'm off for a long walk. I'm going to earn my stuffing with a bit of extra effort this week.

How far are you willing to go for Perfect Turkey? By perfect I mean crisp, browned skin over juicy, flavorful breast meat. I'm willing to go pretty far, although I draw the line at roasting the turkey breast-side down (so the breast collects juices) and then flipping the buttery, 14-18 lb, 350-degree bird over to finish roasting. It's supposed to be incredible, and I'm sure it is, but I have other, very simple, and far (!) less dangerous methods that turn out a gorgeous, juicy bird.

So here you go, Perfect Turkey Tips:

First, and these days not at all unusual - brining, aka soaking the (thawed or fresh) turkey in salted, seasoned water, in the refrigerator, for 10-24 hours. What a difference it makes in flavor and texture (juiciness!) and it really is so easy, especially with the big plastic brining or roasting bags you can pick up at the grocery store.

Second, and now we're getting at the two must-dos for achieving nicely browned, crisp skin - air-dry the bird, on a rack, in the refrigerator, overnight before you roast it. Wet, soggy skin does not get nicely crisp, as you might imagine. The turkey's got to sit in the fridge anyhow, obviously, so like brining this is an easy step. Put a couple of cookie racks over a baking sheet, put the (already brined) bird on it, uncovered, and in she goes for a good night's chill.

Third, and again toward nicely browned, crisp skin - correct basting. That means don't baste with the juices in the bottom of the roasting pan. Why? They're wet, those juices, and you just bothered to air-dry the skin, so why make it soft and soggy all over again? Do baste with melted butter (add herbs for extra flavor, if you like). Hot fat = crispy skin. Yeah baby! Mmmm. (How to time the brine and air-dry? Brine overnight Tuesday, air-dry overnight Wednesday. Voila. If the turkey is frozen? Start thawing it in the fridge today, it takes more than 24 hours.)

Fourth, and also easy - loosely cover the breast with foil for the first two hours of roasting. In fact, if the breast is browning nicely under the foil, keep it there the entire time. The shield it provides keeps the breast from cooking faster than the rest of the bird, which it tends to do (and is often why breast meat is overly dry).

So. Let me know if you try any of these ideas. Can you tell I'm going over my notes, making my plan for dinner? It's going to be just the four of us, here, this year. I usually spend Thanksgiving with my aunts Mary and Marge, their families, and my parents and sibs. We rotate houses and menu assignments each year, although the menu is loosely the same - and delicious. I'm so spoiled. My aunts and stepmom are amazing cooks and it is an elegant, gorgeous, fabulous feast, every year. I crave it, in fact. John and my stepdaughter A usually go to NYC to visit his parents and bro, but not this year. So instead of driving out to Willmar and back in a day (dinner is at Marge's this year), we decided to hang here, the four of us, which we've never done before. Cook a pared- down, simple dinner, somewhat tailored to the quirks of my - frankly, weird! - children and husband, none of whom like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, stuffing, or pumpkin pie. Mashed potatoes! Pumpkin pie! Lord, how did this happen? Those are the traditional highlights! But there it is.

Therefore, our menu:

Herb-roasted turkey (I'm NOT making chicken for Thanksgiving, I do have my limits) with pan juices
Stuffing (a tiny amount, for me and whoever else might adventurously try a bite or two)
Crispy oven-roasted potatoes (these will be a huge hit)
Home-made challah bread (as will this, aka Rockin' Challah, pictured below; I can in fact imagine both kids eating mostly bread and potatoes. Fine, because they're on the menu. John actually made A pasta (!) the first year we hosted Thanksgiving - ah, the lessons of blending families. My aunts will never forget that - needless to say, kids in our, or most anyone else's family, aren't prepared their own separate Thanksgiving dinner! We've come a long way since then, thank goodness...)
Cranberry-orange relish
Crunchy cabbage salad with orange vinaigrette, pine nuts, and mint
Warm brownie "pie" with whipped cream (basically, nothing more than brownies baked in a 9-inch round pan, ha; I'm going to use my Fudgy Passover Brownie recipe because it's so good, my new fav brownie recipe, actually)

I have to admit that it's nice to not plan appetizers - I figure I'll make a big batch of popcorn at some point, and that's about it. And to know that none of us will be stuffed after dinner - should be a relatively light affair. And hey, given the forecast of 55 degrees, we could go for a bike ride afterward! Crazy! But way cool. (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

It should be spelled Bore-at, not Borat. Yawnsville! Why the hell all the buzz on this movie? I found it neither offensive nor funny, just long, boring, and really rather sad. I'm (clearly) no prude and am in fact a big fan of the butt-fart-poop joke genre as well as truly stupid, crude, slapstick humor (Old School? Austin Powers? Even Jackass had its sick moments...). However, I've never been a fan of acts that trick unsuspecting people into looking like complete asses, so I guess Borat and I weren't meant for each other (another big clue, that I clearly should have heeded: I can't stand the Da Ali G show). I fought sleep the whole time and felt a bit depressed when we left. Weird.

Well, on to something much more fascinating...brace yourselves!...quinoa. Ooooh! And again. I know, I've already written about it, but I made up a couple of recipes and got a cool one from reader Donna, for quinoa bars, so here I am again. I had cooked up another - big - batch of plain quinoa, and after eating it for breakfast for a couple of days I decided to innovate with it a bit. First up, quinoa pancakes. As you can tell from reading here, I cook mostly with fresh food, but once in awhile a good mix does come in handy, such as Krusteaz Wheat & Honey Pancake Mix. I loved this stuff in college, since you only have to add water. It makes soft, fluffy, whole-grain pancakes and best of all, you can mess around like crazy with the ingredients. I've been addding nuts, fruit, wheat germ, flax seeds, yogurt, juice - whatever I have on hand or am in the mood for - to these for years. And today, yes, I added cooked quinoa. Since all you add is water, I just put two cups of Krusteaz mix in a bowl, with a bunch (2 cups?) of cooked quinoa, and added enough water to make a thick batter. I cooked the cakes one at a time in a small, non-stick skillet, cooled them on racks, and froze them between sheets of parchment paper (to keep them from freezing together). Voila, instant breakfast! One pancake is one serving - microwaved until warm, topped with a little cottage cheese and sweetened berries, mmmm, a perfect winter's breakfast. (Delicious with maple syrup as well, by the way! And same technique works for other leftover cooked grains - amaranth made yummy pancakes.)

The other recipe I'm experimenting with is quinoa banana bread. I adapted a pretty standard recipe - and by adapted I mean seriously messed with, so we'll see how it turns out. Luckily quick breads are pretty forgiving. It's just out of the oven, smelling quite fabulous, I must say. Update: tastes quite fabulous as well, John agrees. Sweet, dense, crunchy (with nuts), definitely whole-grain looking and tasting, yet moist. (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

Um, you know what's wrong with this party pic? Yes, you guessed it...no one is in it! Lonely looking party, huh? Ack, I forgot to take pictures of all my lovely neighbors while they were here - too busy chatting, drinking wine, and eating the tasty tasties everyone brought - so, uh, here's the after-party. Damn! Well, it sure was fun. Especially cool to catch up on good news from across the street. And actually meet my neighbor Lindsay, who I've traded lots of foodie emails with. And to have Amy and Kathy here, the daughters of the couple who built this house. We love living in our house and very much appreciate the care and thought and creativity that went into building it, and we love knowing about the circumstances under which it was built. Most people never get to know, unless of course they build the house themselves.

The potluck spread of appetizers and desserts was impressive - and of course delicious! In particular, Gretchen's blue-cheese walnut spread (great for a Thanksgiving appetizer!), and Lindsay's dipped gingersnaps (perfect Christmas cookies!), were downright addictive. (Both ladies graciously shared their recipes, which are in comments, below.)

Ah, I had a great time getting ready for everyone to come over. I need a good party to kick my butt into gear, get rid of stacks of papers, etc. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of stacks around. But they are diminshed, and to me look different and better, so it's all good.

It's. All. Good.

'Night!

Merry Chr...NO! I'm not going there quite yet. I did replace our seriously dead petunias with pine bough arrangements today, but that's as far as I'm going for now, don't worry. (OK, I did also toss slimy, squirrel-gutted pumpkins - that was a pretty combo, dead petunias and moldy pumpkins - but retiring stale Halloween decorations is not the same as putting out Christmas stuff). I appreciated the lovely fresh-pine scent as I made these arrangements, but I also thought, eh, I'm not really in the mood for this yet. Kinda Scroogie, I know. Eh. I'll get there.

PS Man was I glad that I hadn't covered our shrubs in that obnoxious (although way cool-looking) fake spider-web crap this year. I did it last year, and totally lost my steam for picking it off our shrubs, so there it sat, blowing sadly in the wind, for a good part of the winter. Pathetic. I'll never put it out again, I'm learning these things now that I'm almost-40: Don't Put Out Decorations You Don't Feel Like Taking Down. Or That You Can't Take Down In 30 Minutes, Preferably Less (exception: Christmas tree).

Motivated to get the most out of my walks (I've recently read Survival of the Thinnest, good quick read, with some new concepts, I highly recommend it), I bought myself a heart-rate monitor yesterday. How fun! I discovered that my resting heart-rate is nice and low, hovers around 50. That's good (better than I probably deserve, actually - yay for genetics, I guess. Same with my 90/70 BP, that's just how I roll...it's definitely nothing I've specifically worked for). I also discovered that I can get my heart rate up around 150-155 when I'm walking, but I do have to concentrate on movin' my butt along at a pretty good clip - 5 miles/hour. Good to know, it kept me kickin' it, it was fun. (Tangent Alert! Writing that made me think back to junior high - ah, such lovely days - and my sis Stacey, two years younger than me, telling me that her friend's older sister had told her that I wiggled my butt too much when I walked. For some reason, hearing that did not make me laugh, or wiggle my butt as hard as I possibly could, as it should have, but instead crushed me and left me stiff-legging it down the halls at school trying to figure out how the hell one walks without moving one's butt too much. Sigh.)

Product recommendation! A new Salsa Lisa (the original is terrific), Roasted Chipotle salsa. Good smoky, spicy, rich flavor. Delicious with raw veggies (that's how I ate it) so I imagine it would be sublime on tortilla chips, mmm. There used to be a cool Garrison Keillor quote on Salsa Lisa jars, but it's not there anymore - anyone know why? Salsa Lisa is a Minnesota product, available in the dairy section at grocery stores (not sure of its distritbution outside of MN).

I'm back. Fully recovered. No more jet lag. Whew! I was pretty dorksville last week, falling asleep at dinner time, waking up refreshed at 3 a.m. I completely forgot about Nathan's parent-teacher conference on Friday morning (even though I'd been up for hours). Ugh. So it feels good - as in less embarrassing - to be back in the game. Yeah, baby!

Which is good, because I'm hosting our neighborhood "women's association" meeting on Thursday evening. It's not a lot of prep, since everyone brings food or drink to share, but still, I'd like to not forget that 50 women are coming to my home. Hey, I'll walk out on my front stoop in my robe, no problemo. I've even been busted watering plants in my robe. But I'm not so keen on hosting a party in my robe. No.

I even managed to successfully continue my "reducing" efforts last week. Got back to, and then below, pre-London weight. Pretty good for me. Weight loss is a slow, slow, painfully slow endeavor for me these almost-40 days, and a trip or even a dinner party can set me back for a week or more. Irritating! But this time the return was reasonable. A good trip during AND after - not bad, huh? Healthiest-possible food + everyday exercise helps too, I'm sure. So does venting to Kim and Suz (how cute are they in their matching jackets?)!!!

I've been doing some inevitable thinking as the big 4-0 approaches (1.5 months, birthday of this blog as well):

Physically: I'm less-than-thrilled with my weight right now, but it's moving. And I feel great, and relatively free from aches and pains, except for my sore piriformis which continues to bother me - and, is completely managable, so no big deal. I still haven't discovered a grey hair (yes!). I've been blessed with good skin - no wrinkles unless I'm smiling, and then there are lots of them, but that's OK, because I'm smiling. My hands are definitely 40 looking, oh well. Teeth - two mini-cavities in my whole life, just last year, so not bad. All-in-all, I'm not going to complain too much, I know I've been given a pretty good genetic base from which to operate. Like anyone, I'd change a little of this and a little of that if I'd been given the choice, but for the most part, it's a good skin to live in.

Mentally: I haven't quite discovered what I want to "be" when I grow up, that's always in the back (and front, and center) of my mind (and John's too, I'm sure, ha). So I'll keep experimenting. Something related to food? That was the plan when I left my job at Park Nicollet Institute three years ago, but now, I don't know. I don't think so. Something creative, that's for sure. We'll see. Having had time the past three years to be at home and take care of Nathan has been amazing. Amazing. I've absolutely loved it. I worked full-time through his baby-and toddler-hood so I really appreciate this time I've had with him, before he's a teenager and gone all the time and then off to college. And then I'll miss him like crazy, but not enough to wish I had another baby. That's what nephews like Cooper are for! There's something else out there for me to do, it's just over the horizon so I can't...quite...see it... But it's getting closer, I can feel it.

As is the big day! I have no idea what I want to do for my birthday. At first I was going to have a big party, invite everyone, rent a room, bring in lots of food and drink, have a DJ, dance my brains out. I even got as far as making out a guest list a few months ago. But, eh, it didn't feel right. Maybe I'll do it this summer instead - ? Something will come to mind, guess I'll just sit on it for a bit more...

Reading a book in front of a roaring fire, while sipping a spot of hot tea, after a brisk walk around the neighborhood, with chicken stock simmering on the back of the stove...ahhhhh, I had a damn nice weekend. NICE!

I turned the stock into a tortellini soup, with leeks, garlic, and carrots, garnished with chopped arugula and grated parm. The star was the stock, however, long-simmered and rich, yum. Stunning Stacey and Cooper Cuteness (aka my sister and nephew) joined us for dinner (Coop had baby lentils, rice, and sweet potatoes, sitting in Nathan's old highchair, which I love to see in use again). Cooper=Baby Yumminess. He is the best-smelling baby ever, he's positively dreamy. I think I kissed his pudgy cheeks at least 200 times, poor little guy. Luckily, he's used to his mom and dad doing the same so seemed utterly unfazed by it. Just like Nathan, he adjusted quickly to being hugged and smooched regularly, ha.

I wrapped the weekend with a trip over to Suz's for the cackling and talking-sh*t otherwise known as our "Motherhood After Dark" podcast, Feminine Hijinx. I laughed so hard on the way home that I wasn't even driving well, thanks to Maven of Mischief Kim's shenanigans. When I pulled up alongside her at a red light - she in her mini-van, Sweet Action - she rolled down her window, performed an uncharacteristically rude gesture (made famous by Samantha on Sex and the City when describing Richard's cheating ways, and that is all I'll say), yelled, "Yep, that's how I roll!" then peeled out when the light turned green. Peeled. Out. Rrrrrrrrttt... In a mini-van! I was choking, the whole thing happened so fast, and is sooooo NOT suburban mommy (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, I've always loved that about Kim), damn, I'm laughing again. Maven indeed!

Mmmmeatballs. Love 'em. I made up this batch today, most of which I'll freeze for quick, healthy protein when I need it. Meatballs - healthy? Yes, because these are baked turkey-bulgur meatballs. OMG that sounds revolting, seeing it written that way, but they're actually absolutely delicious - tender and garlicky - and I figure about 65 cals each at an inch or so across. I'll rename them when I post the recipe! You could make them smaller and include them in a brothy soup. Or make them as patties for sandwiches. Or put them in a lovely tomato sauce for pasta. Lots of options. The trick is not to pack them too much as you shape them or they'll end up hard as hockey pucks. (Suz, you can go to town on that line; recipe posted in comments, below.)

Speaking of Suz, we had our Friday Morning Coffee date today, our usual blast! She has lots of stories about their new dog, Sir Digby, a Cavachon pup who is as cute and snuggly as they come. (Nathan and I visited the newcomer on Wednesday after school.) Puppies!

And babies! Have to sneak in this recent pic of my nephew Cooper, 'cuz he's so darn cute. He LOVES sweet potatoes and you can tell... How? Check out his little (orange) nose!

I'll call this Cheater's Coconut Cake. I baked it for John's office's United Way fundraiser - I bake one or two cakes each year. And I usually do a pretty major scratch cake. But this time I just thought, hey, coconut cake sounds great, and it's so easy to make...using a mix. Gasp! No! And canned cream cheese icing as well. What the? A little coconut extract in the cake batter, with fresh, soft coconut piled in the middle and on top of the cake... Ooooh, sweet, coconutty yumminess - if you love coconut, of course. Which apparently not everyone does, but my god, people, what's not to like? I don't trust people who don't like coconut, it's not natural. (Just kidding - ?)

And here's an excerpt from a terrific article on baking bread, from Mark Bittman, aka "The Minimalist," at The New York Times:

This story began in late September when Mr. [Jim] Lahey sent an e-mail message inviting me to attend a session of a class he was giving at Sullivan Street Bakery, which he owns, at 533 West 47th Street in Manhattan. His wording was irresistible: “I’ll be teaching a truly minimalist breadmaking technique that allows people to make excellent bread at home with very little effort. The method is surprisingly simple — I think a 4-year-old could master it — and the results are fantastic.”

I set up a time to visit Mr. Lahey, and we baked together, and the only bad news is that you cannot put your 4-year-old to work producing bread for you. The method is complicated enough that you would need a very ambitious 8-year-old. But the results are indeed fantastic.

I highly recommend the article, and recipe, which I confess I haven't made but am very excited about. So, coconut haters, do you hate freshly-baked bread too? Yeah, I didn't think so... (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

Uh, let me take a giant step back here and say, the oats are no longer being felt. All that nauseatingly chipper, oh, I feel so great! We did so much in two days! (See below.) CRASH. I completely died out late Monday afternoon and have yet to fully recover. Yes indeed, I am almost 40, and in case I had forgotten, well, my inability to bounce back from jet lag has proven it to me, in spades. Fine! I get it! I'm old, I'm tired, I'm sore as hell (what's up with that?), and I've been starving since we returned. I hate that, the post-vaca munchies. John's got them too. Don't get me wrong - the trip was totally worth it, OMG did we have a great time, but ouch. I'm feeling my old, not my oats. Sigh.

I don't know if this counts as restorative, but it sure tasted good to me yesterday. I have some delicious Nueske's Canadian bacon - if you haven't tried it, you should, it blows away any other Canadian bacon. (Available locally at Byerly's.) Thickly-sliced, sweetly-smoky, butter-tender. And a great source of protein for not a lot of calories. Much more satisfying than real bacon. So anyhow, I chopped up some of that lovely Nueske's, sauteed it in a bit of olive oil until crisp; stirred in garlic, onion, and thinly sliced cabbage until tender; then stirred in a drained, rinsed can of navy beans. Continued to saute until the beans were heated through and browned a bit. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Absolutely delicious, and so filling and healthy! Mmm... Similar in concept to the pork sausage with white beans recipe I've already posted, but lighter and even quicker to prepare. Give 'er a go...

Gee, I sure could go for afternoon tea at Liberty...that was some incredible experience. Scoooooooones, she moooooooaaaaans. I just had a cup of decaf Darjeeling after my lunch and somehow it wasn't quite the same. Cheers. Quite. Bollocks. Indeed. Bloody. Brilliant. Crisps. Shag. Lift. Loo. (Think I need a nap?!)

Afternoon Tea in London! A highlight, of many highlights, this past weekend with Bartley and Maud Bryt. A quickie indeed - flew overnight Thursday, returned yesterday. But we more than managed to pack our two London days full of veddy London experiences. Basically, we had a BLAST.

Bartley and Maud flew from New York to Stansted airport; John and I flew into Gatwick. We all arrived around the same time Friday noonish at the charming and comfy Number Sixteen Hotel in South Kensington. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we were out the door, into the mid-50-degree sunshine (which persisted all weekend, quite lovely), and on our way to our first meal, lunch at Olivetto's. After various pasta dishes (artichoke, fish roe, and crab) and a delicious shared bowl of chickpea soup with crispy pancetta, we walked a bit. Consulted the map. Talked to a few passers-by. And then hopped on a bus - double-decker, of course - and a few stops later spontaneously back off again when John spotted a sign for Churchill's Bunker Museum and said, hey, I think that's supposed to be great. And it was.

Let me pause here to say that that moment, of Random Spontaneous Serendipity, defined our trip. We set out each day with a loose plan (thanks to John's and especially Maud's extensive pre-trip research), heading in a general-ish direction, and then proceeded to modify it on-the-go as compelling sights, smells, and nothing more than plain ol' gut instinct moved us. It was brilliant, brilliant.

For instance, dinner Friday night. At first the plan was to head back to the hotel around 4 p.m. for a short nap, shower, and change of clothes, then out for a late dinner. But as we made our way through the Churchill museum, the David Hockney exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, and a half-pint of ale at a smoky pub, we realized that while we overall felt pretty damn good, every time we slowed down a bit we felt exhausted and that a stop for a nap would be the end of our day. So we blew off the nap, kept walking around in the refreshingly (and unusually) crisp, dry air, and accidentally stumbled onto the tail-end of a very British, very spiffy wedding at St. Margaret's church near Westminster Abbey. A parade of characters, there's no other way to say it - a gorgeous, over-the-top, jewel-colored parade of clothes, coats, ties, gloves, and of course, ladies' hats. After lots of speculating, Bartley finally asked one of the passing guests who had been married... Turned out to be Clemmie Hambro, Winston Churchill's great-granddaughter!

Chuckling at our (sort of) Churchill-themed day, and the colorful spectacle of upper-class British-ness we had just witnessed, we eventually hopped in a cab to go "somewhere" in search of an "Indian, Lebanese, or whatever looks good" restaurant "near our hotel." We were briefly side-tracked by Chinatown, thinking we could find great Chinese... But nothing jumped out at us (in fact, several options positively repulsed), so we rather organically flowed back to our original plan and ended up enjoying an informal, delicious, Middle-Eastern dinner of warm breads, cool spreads, salty pickled vegetables, chicken kebabs, and a savory/sweet stewed lamb with rice, washed down with plenty of wine, at a cozy spot near enough the hotel to allow for a digestif after-dinner walk.

We all slept like rocks in our comfy beds, swathed in one of my very favorite indulgences - decadently cool, crisp, freshly-ironed linens, ahhhh. After an unfortunately not-so-comfy (and curse-filled!) morning shower for John, who had not only the hot water disappear, but then all water disappear half-way through soaping up, due to maintenance of some sort, ack, we were out the door again. We scored a lovely, sunny table and yummy brunch (serious coffee, nice) at another cafe that just "felt right," followed by must-do chocolate shopping for John, then hopped on the Tube to make our way to the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. We lucked out - again - with an unplanned, gorgeous walk along the Thames before we breezed through the Tate's permanent collection.

After another now-necessary post-museum walk (what is it about museums, as much as I love them, that steals every bit of energy from one's body and pours cement into one's head?), we cabbed over to Liberty department store for shopping and - again, on a whim - the above-mentioned afternoon tea. What a treat! I've always wanted to have afternoon tea but have never pulled it off - how perfect to finally achieve it in London! This was the real deal - pink champagne; smooth-as-silk Darjeeling tea with milk and sugar; dainty, tender celery, smoked salmon, and egg salad sandwiches; and buttery, soft, warm scones smeared generously with clotted cream and rose jam (OMG, decadent and heavenly).

Pleasantly stuffed, but running a bit late for our 7:30 p.m. theater tickets, we rushed back to Number Sixteen, changed clothes, and set out to see Tom Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll at the Duke of York Theater. A politically complicated, yet funny and music-filled story, we all four thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Off again, a quick walk over to our 10:45 p.m. dinner res at The Ivy, a trendy London see-and-be-seen table. Bartley and I opted for (their elegant interpretation of) traditional Brit fare - he had shepherd's pie, I had fish & chips with a lovely pea-mint puree. Both dishes were excellent - filling, but excellent. I also opened with a delicious "salad" of lentils, dandelion greens, and braised ham hock. A tender, salty, creamy winner, yum. John and Maud opted for lighter fare - onion soup, salmon, spinach salad. Lovely burgundy wine, smoooooth and rich, baby, mmm. After a few bites of warm spice cake and cheeses for dessert, we were toast. Time for bed, at 2:00 a.m. (!), and the end of our trip. We said our goodbyes in the hotel lobby, headed off to our respective rooms to pack and sleep a (very little) bit, and made our separate ways back home yesterday.

A lot to say for only a two-day trip, huh? Sorry, I'm just excited about everything we experienced, I so enjoyed myself. Plus, after 12 solid hours of sleep last night (!), I'm positively feeling my oats today! What a weekend, my friends, wow. It's obviously not ideal to have only two days in London, but we sure made the best of it and enjoyed every single minute, of exploring the stunning city, of course, London is very beautiful; but particularly of our time alone with Bartley and Maud, basically two of the smartest, coolest people on the planet that we just don't get to see nearly often enough. So guys, where are we going next year?!

OK, I'm out of here, gotta walk off my scones, clotted cream, chips, and ham hocks...