Give Thanks or Eat Pie Trying

Three things you should know about me:

1.   I don’t like Thanksgiving.  It’s not one of my favorites (which for the record are:  Fourth of July, Christmas, my birthday, and St. Lawrence day).  Thanksgiving for my family is just another turkey meal with a bunch of extra vegetables.  And rolls.  And dessert. 

2.   I very rarely, like almost never, cook – especially if it requires opening the oven door.

3.   Until last year, the thought of having people in my home who weren’t related to me by blood in my personal space home filled me with intense anxiety – and not because I’m a closet hoarder, I swear.  Seriously, the four years that I lived in my apartment, I had one friend over and that was for like fifteen minutes. 

With all that in mind, how is it that tonight there will be 17 people gathering in my house for our Second Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving (PTT) Feast eating turkey that I cooked in my oven?  Yeah, I still can’t figure it out either.

Actually, to understand let’s go back in time.  So, last fall sometime I was eating a Healthy Choice frozen meal – the turkey dinner – for lunch.  Yum-yum!  I thought, well, gee whiz, this is really delicious…IDEA!  Let’s have a Thanksgiving potluck at work and we could all bring stuff in and eat a Thanksgiving-y lunch together.  I had the whole plan in my head – my contribution would be anything store-bought because like, seriously, was I going to cook?  No way.  There are people much more adept in that area than me.  Yea!  Thanksgiving lunch idea, woo-hoo!

Then I told other people and they got the crazy idea that the Thanksgiving potluck should be at my house because I never had a house-warming party and then it kept snowballing and before I knew it I was taking turkey-makin’ lessons at TopChef’s house, watching YouTube videos about carving birds, and preparing for invaders visitors. 

Except for one minor snafu, I survived last year’s PTT feast.  I even had fun and enjoyed having my friends in my home.  I know, crazy, right?  I jokingly said it would be an annual event (although I was pretty sure I said it would be a moveable feast…) 

I haven’t been in much of a celebratory mood lately so I wasn’t really planning on having a Second Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving.  I waffled on the decision and then said, what the hay bale, let’s do it.  If my friends – even some from the city – want to come and share food and fellowship (I totally stole that line…), wear Pilgrim hats, and give pre-thanks at my house, they’re more than welcome. 

By the time you read this, I’ll have cooked (and carved) two turkeys, set a table for 18 people, and convinced my friends that to really experience Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving like the Pilgrims, we really must don bonnets and Pilgrim man hats.

Hey, anything’s possible.  

And a Happy Harvest to you and yours!

  

Schellenberg Wished He Was This Cool

Who’s Schellenberg, you ask?  Only the “Father of American Archival Appraisal,” according to Wikipedia – as an aside, there’s not an article about T. R. on Wikipedia…what gives?!  Basically, he wrote the book on archival methodology.  No, seriously, I was assigned to read  his book – or a chapter – in grad school.

But today is not Schellenberg’s day.  Nope, today is the Feast Day of St. Lawrence, patron saint of archivists and librarians.  Long story short, Larry, an archivist and librarian in the early church achieved martyrdom when he was roasted over a gridiron because he wouldn’t reveal the names of wealthy Christians.  Supposedly, as he was roasting, he told his executioners to turn him over because he was done on that side.  I like a guy with a sense of humor.  Even when he’s roasting to death.    

Fast forward a couple years and now we have the Feast Day of St. Lawrence on August 10^th.  All pious archivists and librarians with a lunch hour to kill honor his memory by feasting on cold cuts (because of that whole roasting on a spit thing…although I’m lobbying that we change the tradition so that we eat rotisserie chicken instead).  

You know I don’t like to plan anything but I do like to talk about parties I’m going to throw.  The Mad Men Memorial Day Cocktail Party, the birthday Tax Day May Day when the hell’s it gonna happen roller skating party, Summer Field Day (there were gonna be medals, I swear!)  Usually the parties don’t get out of the talking stage.  With one exception.

That exception is St. Lawrence Day.  St. Lawrence Day is always on my calendar and there’s always a celebration planned.

Here’s the deal – for the last couple of years, a group of my colleagues have gathered at the local deli to observe Larry's day.  This year was no different.  Today, 19 colleagues showed up for the 3^rd Annual Feast of St. Lawrence!  We broke bread and enjoyed one another's company, all under the comforting gaze of St. Lawrence.    

In between bites, we paid homage.

 

Celebrating the Feast of St. Lawrence!

So, save the date.  Same day, same place next year!  And I promise, we won’t roast you!    

**I have no idea what's going on with the font of this post...sorry!

America Eats This?!

Food Friday makes a very interesting, very historical return!  On July 4^th, a new temporary restaurant opened in Washington, DC – America Eats Tavern.  The restaurant is a partnership between ThinkFoodGroup and the Foundation for the National Archives and was opened in conjunction with the Archives’ new exhibit, What’s Cooking Uncle Sam?

I think the idea for the restaurant is pretty cool.   The menu is inspired by the history of American cooking.  The descriptions of the food are less about what the food is and more about the food’s history; for instance, here’s the description for the cobb salad - 

COBB SALAD
Robert Cobb, Hollywood, 1936

Cobb was the owner of the renowned Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood. One night he was hungry and supposedly created this salad from the leftovers he discovered in the walk-in refrigerator. He loved the result so much that he added it to the menu.

Pretty cool, right?

A couple of us braved the sweltering heat on Friday night to experience what America eats.  We took a 3-2-1 approach - 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert.  We split everything so there was more for us to try!  Since I’m using a lot of brain power to write a blog post for work (cough, cough), I thought I’d just post the pictures so you can see what America eats too. 

Grilled Butter Oysters - not a fan. 

On the bottom - Vermicelli Prepared like Pudding
- the grandfather of today's mac and cheese.
On the top - Shrimp Remoulade and Fried Green
Tomatoes - So...I really loved that movie and
that's why I suggested this dish.

Shrimp and Pork Jambalaya -
that's real crawfish in there! 

The jambalaya "plated."  Interesting fact -
the woman responsible for making Thanksgiving
a national holiday is credited with publishing the
first known recipe for jambalaya in 1853. 

BBQ Beef Short Ribs and "Cold Slaw" -
yummy and delicious.  Cold slaw or coleslaw
was brought to America by Dutch settlers.

Vermont Sugar on Snow - so, this is "snow" that is
drizzled with hot maple syrup.  Verry sweet.
The drink in the upper right hand corner is
called the Switchel.  It's a New England field
workers drink that blends molasses, ginger, cider
vinegar, and my favorite, rum. 
|And it's served in a mason jar which is so cute! 

Becoming a Regular

You’ve probably figured out by now that I have a love-hate relationship with food.  I love to eat out and I hate to cook.  I’m really, really trying to cook more at home – to prove it, just come take a look at my freezer stocked with all sorts of meat stuffs!  But sometimes the kitchen is just too hot to cook in!

Not counting lunch – which would really throw this equation out of whack – I have been known to eat dinner out four five four times a week.  I know it’s ridiculous.  Think of how much money I could save!  Think of all that unhealthy food that I’m eating!  But that’s a topic for another day.

There are two places in my little slice of Maryland suburbia where I eat pretty frequently – so frequently that I have earned the proud distinction of being “a regular.”  Who doesn’t love being a regular?  You waltz in after a hard day at work and they greet you like they’ve known you your whole life or like they just saw you yesterday…which they probably have but that’s neither here nor there.

Each place is really different from one another but I like them both because they have great atmospheres, oh, and good food! 

Jersey Mike’s is a chain sandwich shop where they sell subs (hoagies).  They also have the most delicious Philly cheesesteaks in the area – that’s my regular sandwich.  Nine times out of a ten, I go in and the guys welcome me back and say – #17, no onions, no peppers, light ketchup.  For here.  And I giggle (okay, the guys behind the counter may be cute) and say – yep!  Sometimes I throw them off and I order a #7 - a turkey and cheese sandwich with mayo.  Because sometimes you just need a little variety in your life.  I was just there (again) tonight because there was no way I was cooking in 98 degree heat!  So that makes two nights this week already.  Thank goodness I’m going away for the weekend!

The other place is the Tastee Diner which has been in the area since 1935.  The Tastee is about the shabbiest looking place you can imagine; if you want to do some interesting people watching – hit that place up around 1 AM on a Saturday night.  Oh my.  But the food…the food is really good.  The Tastee is my weekend spot.  I usually hit it for grilled cheese sandwiches or the Saturday night dinner special – baked turkey with dressing.  Oh my.  I love it because the tables have old table juke boxes…but not the shiny fake ones that you find in shiny fake diners.  Plus, you can play keno there.  I’m not sure but I think keno is like the Maryland state lotto game or something.  I never heard of it until I moved here.  So, all in one place you can get dinner, listen to some tunes, and gamble.  It’s kinda like a casino on the Vegas strip except without all those annoying bright lights and showgirls.  Okay, you might see a showgirl every now and again.  But she’s probably just doing it to earn money for school.        

Last Saturday, when I took my mom to the Tastee for breakfast, she told the lady at the cash register that she heard I was becoming a regular.  The lady replied – yes she is.  I’ve never been so proud. 

I made it.  I’m a regular!