“Some people don’t understand that sitting in your own house, alone in peace, eating snacks, and minding your own business is priceless.”    ~ Tom Hardy
Food + Wellness
Thanksgiving Dinner!
This was my Thanksgiving dinner. Not perfectly plated, but it was perfectly delicious! I’m so full and tired.
Thanksgiving dinner was a combined effort. My mom made the turkey and the oyster and cornbread stuffing. We cooked the macaroni and cheese together. I made the collard greens. My aunt made the candied sweet potatoes and mushroom stuffing. Then my aunt and I made the gravy together. The cranberry sauce was the traditional canned variety from Ocean Spray, which you can tell by the lines! LOL.
Thank you to those of you who read my posts faithfully and also to those of you who drop by now and again. You’re very much appreciated! Happy Thanksgiving!
Dinner Tonight + Book Goals
This was my dinner tonight! It was very good, but spicier than intended.
I sauteed Vidalia onions and orange peppers in olive oil, then seasoned with garlic powder, lemon pepper and balsamic vinegar.
When I cut up the onions and peppers, I kept the scraps and boiled them in water to make a vegetable broth. The basmati rice was cooked in the broth, along with a bit of of butter and a chicken bullion cube.
Imitation crab pieces were added to the onions and peppers right before removing from the heat. I buy the fake crab every few months, but don’t think that I’ll continue. I did a quick search and found an article stating that they are extremely processed.
Which I knew, but I didn’t realize exactly how much less healthy they are compared to real crab. Again, this should have been more obvious to me. The calories are about the same, but there is way less protein and nutrients than real crab, but more carbs. I think I’ll buy canned crab from now on instead. Although, I guess I should look at that label too!
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Now to books! Since this year is wrapping up, I have some more book goals. I need to start and finish a book, so I can return it to the library. It’s called, “The Comedy of Error: Why Evolution Made Us Laugh,” by Jonathan Silvertown.
I’d like to read five more books before the year ends. The number is rather random and pulled from the air, but it feels doable and a decent amount. I’m not yet sure what the other four books will be, but I have a few in mind.
One book that I’m really interested in reading is a novel called, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold,” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I heard a lot about this book from several YouTubers and was reminded of it again today. Apparently it’s part of a series of four books. There seem to be a mix of reviews, but I’m definitely feeling a pull to read it.
This book seems to have everything that I love. Coffee, cafes, time travel and short stories. The story is about a small cafe in Tokyo where people can time travel. But they have to return before the coffee gets cold.
This reminds me of a Korean drama on Netflix called Nine Time Travels. Nine magical incense sticks allow the main character to travel back exactly 20 years to the day. But he returns when the stick stops burning.
The Farmer’s Daughter Restaurant
The Cranberry + Apple Skillet Cake at The Farmer’s Daughter in Easton is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
On a scale of one to five stars, I give it six! The description sounds amazing: “cornmeal baked pancake. roasted cranberry. apple. pear. cider farm syrup + cinnamon honey butter” and it’s better than it sounds. It might sound like it could be too filling or too sweet. But it’s not. It’s the perfect amount of sweet and bits of sour with the cranberry. The amounts of fruit and pancake are perfectly balanced, so it’s not so dense that you couldn’t eat much.
It tastes amazing without the butter, but when you spread the butter on it and taste it, the experience elevates even higher. Like to a spiritual level.
The downside of The Farmer’s Daughter is that everyone wants to eat there. So there is a wait. And it was very cold this morning. Luckily, there is a decent amount of street parking and more parking behind the restaurant. Once you give your name, you can wait in your car and are called when a table is ready.
I was meeting a friend, who lives in the area, so she arrived first and started waiting for us. Once we were seated, we both ordered the Pumpkin Chai Latte.
There is an extensive drink menu for brunch and the most beautiful concoctions kept parading by us as we watched in amazement.
Our lattes were very good, but we both thought they tasted like turmeric. Sort of looked like it too. Not sure what that was about.
Anyway, back to the skillet cake. It was so warm and made me appreciate the cold weather. When you’re warmed from the inside, that cozy feeling you get. Like you want to just snuggle in a blanket, watch a movie and enjoy being inside. That’s the feeling. I prefer the summer, but autumn and winter have a coziness that can’t be beat.
The menu is so creative, playful and inviting. The offerings are unique and make you feel appreciated as a customer. Like even though the owner doesn’t know us, she adores us anyway. What a wonderful experience. Just wow. And the service is wonderful too. Top notch. I’m looking forward to many more meals there.
More Than Just the Contents of My Fridge
Last week I mentioned that I was organizing my fridge and that I may share a picture after I finished. Well, it’s done. Ta da! Not glamorous, but it’s clean. Also, there’s more space and it’s easier to grab things. The storage bins work well and the cubes for soup stock are perfect.
Is this super trivial? Yup. But sometimes the most mundane things now can end up being quite interesting in the future. And the most missed. Because we took them for granted and thought they would always be around.
I’m so glad that I took pictures of Wollaston Theatre before it was demolished. There was a beautiful tree that I used to walk by everyday for years. Until it was taken down. I still regret not photographing it.
I treasure the pictures that I took of the two gas tanks and the Filene’s clock at Downtown Crossing. If you’re from the Boston area, you know what I’m talking about.
There’s a lot of nostalgia that can come up with these types of things. The last time that I took a picture of my fridge was for Pi Day, March 14, 2015. I was shocked when I saw this date.
Pi Day was one of my favorite days because it used to be a big thing with food bloggers. Also the number always fascinated me.
Three years to the day after that post, my father died. On Pi Day 2018. I’ll never forget that morning, because of all the news that Stephen Hawking died. I kept thinking that given his mathematical brilliance, it made sense that he would die on the day when everyone celebrates a number. Little did I know that my father would die before the night ended.
No matter the age or their medical condition, the death of a parent is still shocking. I was heartbroken and shocked. But my father was also brilliant and he especially loved pie. The last time that I had seen him alive he was eating pie. So in a strange way, his death on that day made sense too.
Pi Day now is very bittersweet. As the years go by, it’s more sweet than bitter. But that’s the nature of life and sometimes the nature of food. So when I share with you the contents of my fridge, it means a lot more to me than you might initially think.
