I’m procrastinating by menu planning because I won’t be eating at home most of next week.
Most of my planning right now is around food to be made and given or carried elsewhere.
This weekend onwards, several friends will be in town with their families for Thanksgiving (NY expats coming back to visit; the new yorkers are all leaving town).
– Sat – One of my closest friends is driving up from NC with her whole posse. I haven’t seen the kids in a long time, so I’m thinking about making dinner to take over and hang with them for the evening. Pan-Asian should work for all: Soy sauce chicken (sous vide experiment) plus some tofu for the vegetarian kid, Umami noodles, Dumplings, Scallion pancakes or Pajeon, tbd veggies (maybe garlic green beans & Sichuan potato shreds or cauliflower), rice,
– Sun – Another friend is in town for her daughter’s Quinceañera (well, in lieu of it – daughter chose to bring a small group of friends to nyc for the weekend instead of a big party): Pizza & The Rockettes are on the menu.
– Mon – Cooking & baking for travel. Will keep back some food from Sat’s cooking for myself.
– Tues – Travel day. Dinner either with a friend at the other end, or I’ll pick up Banh mis, Cha gio, and assorted Dim sum for my aunt and me on our way home from the train.
– Wed – Dinner with the friend if it didn’t happen on Tues, and if it did, then my aunt & I will eat the things I mentioned while we prep the sides for Thursday.
– Thurs – Turkey Day.
– Fri – Home in time for adults-only dinner with the NC folks, the 3rd in our trio, and their spouses.
– Sat – Girls dinner to conclude a day spent together after several years .(pre-pandemic was the last time). I’ve booked a new sushi place that looks interesting, but if we are too tired / lazy from the day we may just order in from one of the visitor’s old neighborhood faves.
– Sun – Back to normal. I told someone I would do something with them but I can’t rememeber who or what, so if they don’t remind me I’ll have a quiet day as an antidote to too much social time over the week.
For Thanksgiving prep, I have made chicken liver pate already, but have to wait on salmon rillettes until the day before I leave. Not sure if I am doing anything with puff pastry, I’m feeling a bit lazy about it. Maybe I’ll get my mojo back, there are still a few days to go.
Going to bake a couple of chocolate loaves for my nephews, though they also love the orange olive oil cake, so maybe I’ll turn that into a loaf (for some reason I am stuck on a loaf shape this year).
I was going to make chocolate date & nut energy balls for the 2 older boys because they love them so much, but dates have been out of stock every time I’ve gone to the store. If I see them today / tomorrow, they’ll be back on the agenda. If not, I’ll ask my SIL to see if they’re available at a store near them & we can make them when I’m there.
Wish you all a great weekend and a good week ahead.
For those in the US, an early Happy Thanksiving to all! Always thankful for the folks here, for the community, banter, and support.
The 2024 Thanksgiving thread is here for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet:
