Thanksigiving

Three dinners later, it went from a warm 70° to a cool 50°.

We made:
-Spinach dip w/ French bread
-Whole wheat stuffing
-Pumpkin pie from starch (sans crust which was from a mix)

Then we made another Pumpkin pie, and scalloped potatoes.

After the second pumpkin pie I caught a nasty cold, knocked out with a fever and the shivers- condemned to spend the holiday weekend in a deep slumber of strange dreams.

So Timon went to our black tie thanksgiving sans me, in his tux with glasses! Hopefully photos will soon surface of that night's festivities.

At our third dinner, a potluck, the salad people dropped out and there were about 6-8 potato dishes, I kid you not. People lovin their potatoes! One of the most amazing ones was the sweet potato dish with a crunchy sweet coffee cake topping! Candied pecans? YES! Awesome. Awesome like the brie + apricot preserves toasted in pastry appetizer...m,, rich smooth sweet.

We survived. I about coughed my back out. And inadvertently knocked over a BAG OF EGGS. Onto the Floor. And rescued them! So we have a jar of 10 eggs- with mostly intact yolks. Quiche on the menu soon!

Happy thanksgiving!

We are working half days today, then taking off to prep for thanksgiving dinner! Last year we played football but Timon hurt his knee so he's laying low for now. A bright morning we look forward to spending time with our friends.

These are pumpkin puffs that we ate in Xiamen. They are huge- like the size of a grapefruit! Filled with air, paper thin, and deep fried, I turned it around and around not find any seam how they made it. What a mystery.

Timon is growing a beard in anticipation for santa try-outs.

I saw this girl on the metro yesterday. I never thought of God as pink, purple, and block letters. Of course God made varsity.


Other random bits:
Admiring christmas cards at Silver Box.

Wanting to make these fun paper stars!

Goodbye unk

RIP unk, thank you for your generosity, enthusiasm, and creative sense of humor.

One of my favorite memories was when we were little and we would all want piggy back rides from Unk. I would always ask to sit on his shoulders, so I could touch the foil bits in the ceiling. Unk, like my dad would save random stuff, like plastic pieces and wire. I was enthralled especially with the colored wire; my cousins and I would get crafty and make stuff- someone bent my name for me, and I made a cat. Unk would take two colors and put them in his electric screw driver and let us push the button to twist them together perfectly. This interest later led me to me admiration of Alexander Calder (via a PBS documentary my Dad showed me).

Unk was also good at being insightful to helping everyone out. When I was in college, painting with gouache and acrylics Unk came by the house and saw that I needed a water jar that didn't leak all over my bag. So he got he some really durable jars with tight fitting lids. I hadn't even thought of that!

Unk was always willing to lend a hand, spoil us, and try his hand at daunting activities like Christmas dinner.

Thanks Unk, we'll miss you.

Hairy crabs

My parents and aunt came to town last week! We when sightseeing
exploring and discovered new things- like hairy crab! October is
hairy-crab season here so we were treated to taste one of Shanghai's
favorite delicacies. They come from Yangcheng lake, (about 2 hrs away-
T and I visited there in 2008) These little guys are known for having
a clump of fur on their claws and hair on some other limbs. The first
time I saw them, the fur was all matted and wet and I thought it was a
chewed piece of swampy brown gum.

Hairy crabs are known for being sweeter and their "butter" or "brains"
as I call them is bright orange and super rich. In a trade for flavor,
they are small- about the size of your fist. I seldom eat hairy crab
since its so expensive, ranging from 25-200rmb ($4-$30 USD) depending
on the restaurant. We bought them off a little shop in the alley. We
learned that the crabs are sold as couples- one male and one female.
(I also learned how to tell genders apart- by their belly plates) The
fur on the claws is fine and soft, but the hair growing out of the arm
shells is stiff and bristley like a horsehair brush.

We steamed them and and ate them with garlic butter- YUM!

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mitten_crab

And they are also sold in vending machines, ALIVE. http://gizmodo.com/5670648/this-vending-machine-sells-live-crabs

ciao!