We had some turkey, and--hey did you know that the name "turkey", the bird, actually DOES relate to the country? Yup. Heard it on NPR while I was cooking on Wednesday. Here's the link (I know you'll be thankful to know, finally):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97541602
So, I picked Mom up at the Sacto Amtrak on Tuesday. She hadn't been here since a month after we moved in, so things had changed some. Well, not that much--we still have a few unpacked-box piles that we've just learned to accept as part of our landscape. Sort of a permanent "just moved in" kind of look...
I spent some of Wednesday cooking (as previously noted). Anything unusual? The dressing was extra-good! It's from Sunset and includes artichoke hearts and Parmesan cheese. Here's the recipe (except that I deleted the stock and stuffed the turkey with it): http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=523487. Oh, and then the roasted-sweet-potato cheesecake--another Sunset find that I've made a few times before. A lovely concoction, indeed, served with maple whipped cream. Here's that one: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1119574 My apple/orange/cranberry relish was OK, but didn't have as much of a bite. Needs more tang.Dylan and Rachel rolled in mid-day on Thursday. Not a big group, but fun! I'm never prepared for how short the meal is compared with how long it takes to prepare. Never. Something wrong with that ratio. And I always chill the Martinelli's and then forget about it until the next day. It's a tradition.
Tom drove Mom back to the train station Friday afternoon, whilst Dylan and I were creating a "clean room" in the shop. It was a corner of the space that we walled off with black plastic, vacuumed, and laid a cloth on the floor. He had brought a table (in pieces) that he needed to keep working on in order to ship it Tuesday (you may have seen it before, but if you haven't here's the link: http://dylangold.com/stink2.html ). So, he and I worked on that while Rachel collected and painted manzanita branches for her apartment, a few of which she painted. Manzanita is the coolest. Amazing color and branching form!
Besides the table, Dylan was working on a design for bookcases for a project he and his partners are bidding on. More on that, later, I hope.
After the kids had left, I went to check out an artisan's fair in Nevada City, with which I was quite impressed. It's research! I'm always scoping out these affairs to figure out which ones seem like a good fit for me at some time in the near future.
Sunday was a day for a deep breath and to reflect a bit on how thankful we are for so much and so many. Overwhelmed, is more like it. And I love the way things never work out quite like I imagine they will, but always more interesting. I hope your time with family and/or friends was fun and memorable in some way!
