Head for the Hills

I am so drained right now. Like I can't even find the motivation to work, which is a legit excuse when EVERYONE except me and two other people are here in the office today. Not fair at all.

I am excited for Thanksgiving though, because every year my family ditches the rest of my family and heads for the hills mountains. We rent the same condo. We walk downtown. We watch people ski or snowboard. We hide our dog in the condo, because we're not supposed to have any pets. I read lots of books and sleep in. And go shopping on Black Friday because the biggest store in town is the Staples. Yeah, it's gonna be great to get away.


What are your Thanksgiving plans?

I'm backkkk

Thanksgiving and generally getting away from the city was great. We stayed in a bigger condo this time--it was awesome. My parents slept in a king size bed in a loft, then the main level had a living room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms with queen size beds. And the downstairs level had another mini kitchen, complete with its own bathroom/shower and queen size bed.

It was perfect. Well, almost. The kitchen appliances were kinda crazy. Case in point: On Thanksgiving day, we put the turkey in the oven, and set the cooking time for 3 hours. Well, in between that time, we put brie and garlic cloves in there to cook, and what we didn't know, but found out the hard way, was that everytime we opened the oven door, the oven would completely stop baking! Luckily, my mom checked on the turkey about an hour after we put in it there, and that's when she discovered the problem. Another problem we had was with the stove top. I ended up making all three sides--Cook's Illustrated Green Bean Casserole, glazed carrots, and squash with browned butter and fresh thyme. The problem I had, was that the stove top wouldn't cool down--for one of the dishes I had to go from high to lo, and even though the knob was on lo, it felt like high. I ended up just using different burners. And my glazed carrots--the easiest recipe out of all of them--I didn't read the directions right. *my bad* So instead of glazed carrots, we had steamed carrots--probably healthier anyways, right? In addition to the oven problems, my mom broke the blender, and we later discovered that only the right side of the toaster actually worked. We did survive though--instead of eating at 3:30, we ate at 6.

Good times were had by all. We didn't get any snow up there, so no one skiied, and it was 45 degrees on Thanksgiving Day. Of course when we left on Saturday, it was snowing. Figures! While we were up in Steamboat we went swimming in the hot springs and it snowed while we were out there! I caught snowflakes on my tongue. It was awesome. I had a blast. I even stayed the weekend with the family. It was nice having my mom make my meals, be around our dog Hailey, and play Wii with my lil brother. And I quasi helped my other brother with some RA stuff. I don't miss homework, that's for sure. All in all, it was a great weekend--I don't wanna be here at work, but I'm thankful to have a job.

At the last minute...

I'm so antsy right now. I feel anxious for Thanksgiving and really random. I feel like running around my office and jumping up and down and shouting crazy things and laughing hysterically. AHHHHHHH!

Every year my immediate family and I spend Thanksgiving up in Steamboat Springs. We usually rent the same condo, and my Dad and brother will go skiing while my mom and I either go shopping or curl up by the fireplace with a good book. Or take a long, hot bath. This year could be different due to family drama. But I still can't wait to escape the city and be surrounded by the wonderful trees and snow. Well, hopefully there's snow up there.

Last Thanksgiving I made creamed onions. I got the recipe from my friend Katie's mom, Diane. Katie and I met sophomore year of college and were both RA's. During the holidays, I never went home for Thanksgiving--it was just too expensive for a college kid to afford, so I often spent the holidays with college friends. In this case, I spent Thanksgiving with Katie and her family in New Hampshire. And I later got to see them again after they moved to Maine. Regardless, this particular Thanksgiving we actually spent in Cape Cod, with her grandparents. Her grandma made the best apple pie, and we made homemade applesauce (amazing!). All very good memories as you can see. Anyways, one of the specialties they always have at Thanksgiving is Diane's onions. They were really good, and believed to bring good health and longevity. Well last year I made them for my family, and they were great, but we couldn't eat them all.

So this year, I'm determined to make something. I want to feel as tho I've contributed to the meal. I asked my mom for suggestions and she suggested I do a vegetable dish, as the desserts are already covered. I've been browsing ideas online but I haven't really come up with anything that's exciting or something that my family will actually eat.

Here's my current ideas:

1. Glazed Carrots--kinda boring, but also simple. They have my Dad's vote.
   
2. Butternut Squash with Browned Butter and Thyme. (This has my vote.)
3. Green Beans; either the homemade green bean casserole courtesy of my mom's coworker's recipe OR simple green beans topped with olive oil and some salt.
   

I know this is last minute, but does anyone out there have any other suggestions? What's your vote??

p.s. I should add that we already are planning on having stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, and turkey.