What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: The Mod Squad

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends & family.  Wish I could be with you!

Turtleneck:  Neiman Marcus
Skirt:  Carnaby pattern, knit by yours truly
Tights:  Hue
Boots:  La Canadienne

On My Mind Mondays: What It Means To Be An Adult

Not sure what kind of mood I'm in this week, or today, although "introspective" generally is one word frequently used to describe my mindset.  Some of the things that are on my mind this week are -

1. Friends and feelings:  It seems to me that as adults (whatever that means) we're not supposed to openly air our feelings with our friends.  It's kind of weird because frankly, we can probably speak better about our emotions now then we could when we were, say, eight.  I'm afraid that it's seen as childish and that we're supposed to either keep it to ourselves and suck it up or bitch to our other friends, and that all seems counterproductive.
2. Gifts: Ah, the holiday season.  Let me be the first to say out loud (this probably follows under point 1) that I love gifts.  Yes, I love presents.  But not impersonal, obligatory, or out-of-character ones, and the holidays often have that underlying sense of both 'never enough' and 'is it right'?  I'm interested in dispensing with some of the anxiety and guilt that the holiday season brings with it.  So the ladyfriend and I are either making all our gifts or buying (predominantly) handmade gifts (and not "handmade" in an iPhone way, okay?).  The boy asked for a gift that I'm so excited about - I'm going to refurbish one of his hoodies with various bits of applique, embroidery, and whatever else I want to.   I love that this was his wish. (The fact that I feel like I have to say something about how that won't be his only gift is so revealing about what this season does to us).
3. Thanksgiving:  As an American in Canada, this is the holiday that I miss the most.  I haven't quite been converted to Canadian Thanksgiving (which we spent in the States this year), and I always teach on Thanksgiving Thursday (insert here my classic complaint that Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on whatever day over the weekend everyone agrees to, which just doesn't sit right with me).  It's a food holiday, and I want to spend the day in the kitchen (yep!) making turkey and all kinds of other goodies.  The ladyfriend is getting some of that this year as she's going to see her family in Colorado.  I, and a friend, will be having the turkey dinner at Russell Williams after we're done teaching.  Maybe next year I can take the day off.

The Last of the Turkey

This past Tuesday we had the last meal featuring the leftover turkey.  Oh, there was turkey barley soup for lunch yesterday and still more in the freezer, but this was the last distinct, dinner dish.  Turkey pot pie!  Featuring a leftover crust (from pumpkin pie), leftover brown rice, a make-shift gravy (which I also made to go with it using the last bit of gravy from dinner), carrots from Thanksgiving, turkey (of course), and then a few other bits - peas, onions, garlic, and celery.  It was actually pretty tasty.  I know I sound surprised, but when you make the pot pie into "refrigerator velcro" (to use an Alton Brown phrase), you can never know what to expect.

A Whole Lotta Love

Yes, that's the 19-pound turkey, and all of that for six adults and one child (despite our gracious invitations to a number of friends, who obviously did not know what they would be missing).  The crazy (and frankly, amazing) thing is that the turkey only took three hours to cook.  I know - you're wondering, "How can that be?"  But I followed an Alice Waters's recipe that starts the turkey, which should be at room temperature when it goes in (ours was close-ish), at a high temperature (400 degrees) for the first part.  In fact, I probably could've taken it out even a little earlier if I'd bothered to put the thermometer in right away (thought it was going to take five hours).

The ladyfriend made an amazing stuffing that in addition to the traditional bread had polenta, prosciutto, and mushrooms in it, and my friend "chef" made chicken liver pate, mushroom soup, carrots, and braised red cabbage.  Her son, four and a half years old, also wanted to contribute so he made "mustard bread," which essentially was mustard on bread in little half-sandwich sizes.  For dessert we had the traditional favourites - pumpkin pie (made by yours truly) and apple pie (specialty of the ladyfriend).

And what about the leftovers, you ask...

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: I Know Where This Story's Going

(Yes, I live in Canada so turkey day will have to wait until tomorrow - but stay tuned!  There's a 19-pound turkey involved.)  Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family in the States.

Dress:  Chaiken
Scarf:  Hermes
Tights:  Wolford
Shoes:  Aerosole
Book*:  Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

*If I were really reading, I'd be wearing my glasses.