Recipes

SIDESSALADS

In Which I Drink A Cactus

Cactus leaf

Let me start this post with a caveat: unless you are already at least somewhat into juicing and used to buying copious quantities of fruits and vegetables and leafy things (or are a blogger trying to make something cool to write about, ahem), you are probably going to have to leave the cactus out of this recipe if you're ever going to actually make it. Because let me tell you: de-spining a cactus leaf is no small job, and I have a very sad finger right now to prove it.

You might, at this point, be asking yourself what I am doing holding a cactus in the first place, let alone trying to drink it. Because I've been pretty clear about the fact that, try as I might, I am not a green juice person. I pick up a couple of pre-made bottles in Whole Foods from time to time when I'm feeling guilty about my various excesses, but within a day or two I typically remember that there are things that taste better than green juice, like everything, and start eating and drinking those things instead.

ENTREES

Chicken Thighs with Capers & Artichoke Hearts

Hmmmmmmmm.

My favorite meal on the planet is the "Trust Me" menu at Sugarfish, a sushi place with a couple of locations around the Southern California area. The menu has some a la carte options, but really you have three choices: the "Trust Me," the "Trust Me Lite," and the "Nozawa" (a.k.a. "Trust Me Mega"). You tell your server how hungry you are, and then you sit back, trust, and allow the joy to happen.

That is what I need you to do here. Trust, and allow the joy to happen.

SWEETS

It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like…

I always have a little trouble accessing my Christmas Spirit. It was easier when I lived in New York City, I think, because I was always out in the world, wandering through subway stations filled with shoppers and down streets past Santa after Santa. I actually left the house at night, and saw Christmas lights everywhere I turned.

Leaving the house after dark isn’t a thing I do very often these days; once we get back from our afternoon activity and start dinner, that’s usually it for me. And it’s for a good reason: there is literally nowhere in the world I’d rather be than in my own living room (which is usually the case, but especially at this time of year). We’ve been decorating, and cooking, and lighting a fire every single night, and watching Christmas movies and making forts and baking cookies. And with each night that passes, I get just a little bit more into that lovely-but-elusive holiday state of mind.

Did I mention that my efforts to make our home feel all Christmassy are also resulting in considerable cookie consumption? Oh my goodness so many cookies. The problem, of course, is that one type of cookie just won’t do: we have to make sugar cookies so that they can be decorated, and we have to make chocolate chip cookies because obviously, and we have to make Santa’s Favorite Cookies because even though Santa may not technically be on his way yet, practice makes perfect, right?

Eat

Thanksgiving Recipe Rundown

How pretty is this centerpiece?! 

Here you go: my annual posting of (honestly) unscrewupable recipe ideas for your Thanksgiving consideration. I'm on my way to the store a little later today to pick up the ingredients for our celebration, and Kendrick has requested that I include one of those green bean/pearl onion dishes, so if anyone has an especially great recipe to share I'd so appreciate it!

Happy shopping, happy eating, happy Thanksgiving. (You guys make me happy everyday. Thank you.)

Eat

Soul Food

Soup never solved anyone's problems, but sometimes it can help. This is the meal I make when I need the food equivalent of a hug, so I'm making it tonight, and eating it under a blanket, my phone and computer turned off and something Disney on the TV.


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