Talking about bird shed the most! I agree. I don’t complain about my own cat shedding with changing seasons, but those pigeons shed endlessly on my outdoor plants, and I don’t even feed them.
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A few meals…
With the current lock down, sometimes things get scare in the shops. Went to the Asian store, only betel leaves left on the shelves in the herbs section. Never heard of it, with some quick research, made some Thai shrimp mango wraps. Also made some Vietnamese grilled beef and lemongrass wrap Thit Bo Nuong La Lot, forgot to take photo. Interesting leaves, will get them again!
Thai mango sticky rice with salty coconut cream
H made pizza, strangely the wood didn’t burn properly, maybe they were damp. So to get the right temperature, he added 9 logs instead of 3 in normal days. The fire kept going on forever, after the pizza, we tossed a chicken and afterwards a quickly marinated pork belly with 5 spices. To our surprise, the Weber turned into a smoker , everything was delicious and fed us for days.
Made 7 hours pork shoulder pulled pork, a tasty recipe given @mariacarmen back in 2016! She used a slow cooker, I used an oven. Didn’t have any tortilla, we ate with some ratatouille and some home made sourdough. The bread was alright with 70% hydration rate, but difficult to knead, I sandwiched the dough between two silicone sheets and did my best. I think I come to the understanding my starter needs extra boost and feeding before each bread baking. I only fed enough to maintain the life.
And there was lime tart.
I guess everybody must be busy cooking dinner! Happy thanksgiving all!!
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what a beautiful array of dishes! glad you liked the pork, yours looks amazing! who’s bday, yours?
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Mini T-day dinner for me & the BF, to leave him with leftovers while I’m at seester’s for the better part of the next 3 days (helping her with her dog biz - yes, apparently some people are traveling and need their pets taken care of, even during a pandemic.) Tomorrow she and i will be shoveling down Sichuan take-out.
Bought a smoked turkey leg (partially cooked) and sous-vided it all day. Tender and juicy. I made TPST of stuffing - best part of thxgiving, for me - with sauteed leeks/celery, bfast sausage, and fresh sage, rosemary and thyme. Buttery mashed potatoes, and a shallot/thyme gravy from homemade turkey neck stock. And last, green beans with sauteed shallots, bacon and mushrooms, in a very light roux, TJs french fried onions and honey almonds over the top, and a drizzle of maple syrup before reheating. Found a can of the jellied cranberry too - the BF’s fave.
Happy bird day to you all tomorrow!
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I love the way they prepare the betel leaves at our favorite Thai restaurant; crispy lightly tempura battered betel leaves with grilled shrimp, shallots, roasted coconut, ground peanuts, cilantro, and scallions, with a chili lime dressing.
As usual, what a magnificent array of dishes!
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Chinese takeout tonight. An assortment. And we cooked up a batch of pork and zucchini dumplings from the Asian market.
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Interesting and creative use of betel leaves with tempura battered. I’ve tried to look for recipes, they are usually wraps. Thanks for the idea.
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Yup, an unusual milestone one. Going to be a whole year celebration as one of the gifts is a pastry class with chef Contincini, long queuing and the reserved class will happen next November! Funny, gifts received are mostly food! I guess during the lock down, one can only justify to go to food shopping! Also waiting for restaurants to open next year, probably in mid January. H was more lucky, his bday is a month earlier and there was 9 pm curfew but everything were opened.
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@ naf -Happy Milestone Birthday!! I celebrated my 60th in Paris. My husband’s Parisian colleague recommended we dine at La Coupole in Montparnasse. It was a lovely meal and a beautiful restaurant.
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Thanks retrospek. That was memorable, celebrating in Paris. I missed traveling…
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Just lunch out … Close by our flat and luckily as it was quite a nasty rainy afternoon. We just made it home before the downpour. There were four of us, as it was a mixture of business and pleasure.
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A quiet relaxing day since it was just me.
Scooby Snack was manchego, membrillo, Marcona almonds, dried apricots and proscuitto.
Dinner was all of Mom’s favorites: roasted turkey breast (dry brined with s/p, minced rosemary, lemon zest), gravy, mashed sour cream potatoes, mashed maple-ginger sweet potatoes (both served in an antique flow blue covered serving dish I bought in Cty. Cork, Ireland, when vacationing with Mom back in the early 2000s…she convinced me to buy it and helped me wrap it up in my luggage for the trip home), glazed carrots, green beans with sauteed shallots and bacon, cranberry-orange relish, store bought Parker House rolls and a single, albeit large, glass of wine.
Dessert was a Marlborough Pie with some Talenti Madagascar Vanilla Bean ice cream.
The pie had been mentioned on a food board last week, and was intriguing enough for me to try. Texture was pure custard, with stewed apples (applesauce) blended in. The dry sherry was the outlier and the biggest concern to me. I cut that quantity from 3/4 cup back to a 1/2 cup, and I’m glad I did. You definitely taste the sherry, but it wasn’t as overpowering as it could have been.
Would I make it again? Probably not. And Mom definitely wouldn’t have liked it. But I’m glad I tried it.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a minor knife wound, right? While I was breaking down the turkey breast meat for the fridge, the carving knife slipped and sliced across the top of my left middle finger between the first knuckle and fingernail. A Band Aid took care if it this time. And at least it wasn’t the entire edge of my fingernail and nail bed as was done in the Great Thanksgiving Knife Incident of 2011.
And Mom is looking down at me and shaking her head, I just know it. 
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How wonderful, LindaWhit. And you still have a long weekend ahead, right?
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I think I made the same turkey breast!
You know your mom, I don’t, but maybe she is also nodding her head.
I’m hoping mine is.
As is often the case on Thanksgiving, I’ve finished cooking, and don’t feel like eating.
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Yes! My company has always given us off the day after Thanksgiving…since I’m the one who sets the holidays… 
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Oh, I ate. LOL I should have waited for dessert.
And your meal looks great!
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Mood today was neither here nor there. Some moments while cooking, I felt great. Others I wondered why we were even bothering with all this food for two people. Nevertheless, dinner was good.
This Thanksgiving is different for a lot of people for many different reasons. For me, it is the first without grandma (and the fourth without dad). While the two empty chairs were rather unsettling and something I’ll probably never get used to, we still forged ahead and tried to have the best dinner we could. Mom made the turkey, stuffed artichokes, and stuffed mushrooms. BF did the sausage stuffing and biscuits. I took care of the mashed potatoes and bacon Brussels Sprouts.
We ended up eating in front of the TV watching movies. The dining room table was not a scene I wanted to go through this year.
Regardless of your circumstance, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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happy belated birthday, naf!!
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and same to you. it’s not the best year for most people to feel festive, i know. food looks wonderful, though.
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miss this more than anything else.
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