some more memories of november 2012

as we leave November, here's some more things happened...

Thanksgiving! My favorite holiday! We began our tradition at Union Square Market, shopping for some fresh herbs and produce for the special dinner. The holiday market was already open on the other side of the park. Taiyo walked around burying his face into a big blueberry muffin, entertaining other market shoppers. In the evening we survived the crowd for the balloon inflation by the Natural History Museum uptown. How they barricade these events and create more chaos is so crazy and unfortunate. It really takes so much fun out of it. We used a shortcut to enter the balloon viewing from subway station, but then at the end of the block they forced us to exit and find our way through the sea of people across Columbus Avenue because that was the official 'entrance' to the event. And the other side was ridiculously crowded and less enjoyable anyway. Next year, we'll do just the half of the balloons and go home happily.

Next day at seven o'clock, my Thanksgiving dinner was ready at it's perfection. My shio-koji-brined turkey was so tender wings fell off when I picked it up from the roasting pan. Then there was of course my famous sausage stuffing with apples and cashews. Mashed potato was lightly herbed with dill, accompanied by herbed miso gravy sauce(Tim called it 'divine') brussels sprouts with bacon, roasted cauliflower with crushed garlic and pine nuts, sweet potato and corn casserole, Japanese potato salad, green salad with ume-shiso dressing, plus roasted fall vegetables Kathy brought in. So 12 adults and one 3-year-old feasted and they all said it was a great dinner and I totally agree. There's no photos to prove since my little camera was in the repair and our new toy iPad mini didn't arrive from China for a few more days.