Thanksgiving in New York

I have to say, for all the times I've hated this city or grumbled about the complications of living here, there is nothing in the world quite like NYC for the holidays. The whole feeling of the city changes - quite possibly because natives all beat it for somewhere saner and the city fills up with tourists here for the parades and the tree at Rockefeller and the most expensive Christmas shopping they could possibly do.

But there's a wonder to it all, an awe produced by being in one of the greatest cities in the world during a magical time of year. And that feeling is here now, flown in from all over the world for the Macy's parade tomorrow, and with no regard for the fact that I'm just not ready for the year to be over yet! And maybe I'm glad it came along without asking me, because I would have grumbled that this whole holiday thing is silly and could wait a little longer, and I would have missed out on a great day in NYC. I wandered through the city and toured the 42nd St. library - a visit induced by watching Ghostbusters, of course - and was reminded just how awesome this city really can be.



So I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, and hope everyone experiences some of the awe and joy of the holiday season, wherever you may be.

Faux Thanksgiving

Last night was faux Thanksgiving with the Brooklyn friends. The Soup Maestro outdid himself with possibly the best batch of butternut squash soup known to man. It was truly amazing! He also made up game hens with pear and cherry compote and stuffing. I sauteed some green beans with olive oil, butter, garlic, shallots, shiitake mushrooms and salt and pepper. Oh goodness, they were good! For dessert I slaved over a dump cake. If you've never had dump cake, it is the genius invention of what could only be a Southerner, as it's way too sweet, and way too easy to make. To make it you pour a can of crushed pineapple in a cake pan, pour cherry pie filling over that, add a bag of yellow cake mix over the fruit, and then slice up 1/2 cup of butter into pats and place all over the top. No stirring. No splattered cake batter from the electric mixer. No clean-up. And then you bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until the top gets crusty and bubbling. Quite possibly the easiest dessert ever, unless you find opening cans difficult. Which I definitely do not.
Needless to say, we were all in food-induced comas last night. Which didn't prevent us from jamming out to RockBand for a bit and butchering some classic Beatles tunes, but did make for a long commute home.