Long Weekend

Better late than never: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone out there in Internet Land had a nice holiday. It was a wonderful day here, as always, with lots of food and family. I didn't stray from my tried and true menu, although I did do something new with the leftover butternut squash purée: I blended it with some chicken broth and had a lovely lunch today of soup and breadsticks. I also have 3 quarts of freshly made turkey stock in my deep-freeze, so Mike Dukakis will have to make do without my carcasses.

Fortuitously, I was in a bit of a work lull, so I really got to enjoy the long weekend for a change. We decided to take advantage of our already-stretched-out stomachs and just continued to feast nonstop throughout the weekend—including a visit on Sunday to the ultimate destination for pig-outs, Minado.

Pete, Andy, and I saw "Spectre." So ... plot-wise it's the least good (I can't bear to use the word "worst" when Daniel Craig is in the sentence) of the four Craig-as-Bond movies, but it's still plenty good fun, with lots of car chases and fist-fights in a helicopter and cool gadgetry and clever repartee and ridiculously implausible plot turns (and believe me, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief a lot when it comes to these movies). I adore Daniel Craig in this role.

I also caught up on that tottering stack of New Yorkers next to my chair, and even snuck in a new book. I highly recommend Sous Chef by Michael Gibney. The subtitle is "24 Hours on the Line," and that's exactly what you get: a play-by-play of what it's like to be a real sous chef at a Manhattan restaurant. I've read all the memoirs, by chefs both famous and unknown, and this is one of the best. It's fascinating and feels 100% real. (It doesn't hurt that Gibney is not only a long-time chef but also happens to have a Master's in creative writing.) I read the whole thing in two sittings—very enjoyable.

What have you been up to?

Comments

[Kelly Whatley]

I have so enjoyed Daniel Craig's James Bond too!

[Wendy]

Just baiting me right and left, aren't you? (wink) I had seen the article about Dukakis, and now I am agog to know whether he and Kitty have been forced to get a chest freezer for the basement.