thanksgiving: beware, epic post follows

i had, quite literally, the best thanksgiving weekend a girl could ask for.

early i went over to my friend j's (we needed to get our 20lb turkey in the oven by 9ish), where i ended up staying for the next several evenings. a few of the gays have apartments that take up the entire 6th floor of this building in hell's kitchen. doors are left open and lots of wandering between apartments occurs. it's all very Friends-like. actually, it IS friends. except for that there are no straight men so none of us sleep together.

we watched the parade and if you watched the parade, did you notice kermit singing a sweet little song called "i believe?" that song MAY have been written by a very dear friend of mine and so when matt lauer announced his name on NATIONAL TELEVISION we might have screamed giddily for a long time about how we're famous now because HE'S now famous. also, the song is lovely and definitely brought a few tears to my eyes. also worth noting: the whole country got rickrolled. that's funny to me for a few reasons. those who know what rickrolling is, agrees that it's totally jumped the shark. but then there's this large swath of the population that has no idea what rickrolling is (seriously, none of my friends knew) and so i'm sure they're all saying, "why is rick astley up there? he have a new album? actually, rick astley is looking good! i'd totally do him." (that's pretty much j's reaction, verbatim.)

i made cranberry sauce that was meant to be a bit chutney/relishy but i added too much orange. actually, i added too much orange rind and it was all kinds of bitter and pithy. took a fair amount of wrangling to fix it but i ended up quite pleased with it. i also made this braised savoy cabbage. and let me tell you about the palaver that was actually finding a savoy cabbage even though it is TOTALLY in season RIGHT NOW. so whole foods had these ugly white looking savoys. bad. food emporium didn't have any. and so i bought a shitload of kale thinking i'd figure something out. i stopped at my ghetto gristedes for some stock (i do not make stocks. i know they are easy. i know they taste 100 times better. i do not have the time to make stocks! nor the freezer space to keep them. don't judge). and what do i see as i'm walking down the produce aisle? loads and loads of gorgeous savoy cabbages. so i went back to my original plan and stuck with orangette who has yet to do me wrong. seriously, make anything she posts and you will fall in love with it. i've been going crazy for all her vegetable recipes lately and she was head over heels for this savoy cabbage. i was excited to show it off.

the problem occurred when, as all the people were loading up their plates, nobody knew what my cabbage was and few people dug in. but those who did were all, "who made this green stuff with the cheese on top?" and i was all, "that's me! it's braised savoy cabbage!" and they were all, "this is amazing, it's the best thing on my plate." and then everyone else was jealous of those who had savoy cabbage and then got up to see what all the fuss was about and before i knew it, EVERYONE was making a fuss over my delicious brilliance. my culinary wisdom in a veggie dish with literally 4 ingredients that took no time at all to make. so thanks molly, i owe you one.

we spent the rest of the weekend lazing, drinking, eating leftovers, playing board games and watching t.v. (something i rarely do as i don't have cable). my new addiction is "whatever martha!" a show where martha's daughter alexis and a friend do nothing but make fun of old martha stewart episodes, with alexis reminiscing (and not all that bitterly, either) about what it's like to be raised by someone who spent hours organizing and tagging her linen closets. plural, closets. more than one closet with linens in them. some segments she remembers helping with as a small girl and she chafes as martha talks about how "she" painted the antique tiling instead of how "they" did it. "what am i, martha? chopped liver?!" you hear alexis say to the television. it's the MST3000 for home design/DIY shows. LOVE.

we also stopped by macy's to see their puppet show and stopped in to get a photo taken with santa. he made me sit on his lap. ew. and also made me tell him what i wanted for christmas. very strange. i mean, i know that's his job, but we were all adults and all were doing this for fun and, you know, don't actually believe in santa so it seems ridiculous to have to sit on an old man's lap to chat with him about presents. truth be told, he's probably pretty bored and likely gets off a bit having a couple grown women sitting on his knees. and because we were feeling a bit child-like, santa visit was followed by grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

had a truly lovely dinner at jessie's in hoboken where i laughed, a lot. jessie's husband is a republican and greeted me with a big, hugely sarcastic yet warm, "jasmine! yes we can!" but can anything beat a good dinner with lots of laughs, fantastic company and a cozy sitting room? i didn't think so.

sunday was breakfast at al's. chocolate chip pancakes, lots of christmas music and a game of clue. followed by putting up and decorating ted's christmas tree while singing carols and drinking egg nog. and yes, that is the little mermaid on top of the tree. and also a black barbie. and an ornament of a naked man with a sock over his wang. festive!

we also watched bridget jones's diary (1 and 2), and love actually. all of which reminded me that i need to find and marry colin firth. unless he's married already. in which case, i'll settle for someone who looks like him and acts like any character from any of his movies. i love love him.