The Thanksgiving Song

"The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler

Hey all! Happy Thanksgiving. I know I know, the day has already passed, but, I know I'm still thankful for everything I was thankful for on the 26th!

After finishing a marathon week at work (too many ML ferments calling my name to watch them right now...like naughty children!), I happily lit off for Napa for some R and R. First, a quick story. So, we all know I'm in school, right? I'm doing two programs concurently, one in enology and one in viticulture. As you can imagine, this means two classes at once. I finished a big marathon when classes in both programs in late October (everything was due 31 October). Before I went to DC, I logged on a wrote down all of my upcoming due dates. We were in a short course for viticulture...Nematodes of Grapevines...which I knew close to little about. From what I wrote down on the 6th, my final paper was due on November 28th. I put it in my blackberry....all good, all ready. So, I sit down last weekend with the intent of getting ahead for the week because I was going to be able to put in 0 time during the week...only to discover....that my nematode final paper was due the 23rd. This was a 4 pm PST on the 22nd. AWESOME. But no worries kids, I rocked it. I was just up rockin' later than I wanted for the 0530 start monday morning! Reading comprehension is key. I'm a fool.

So, Napa for the holiday was GREAT. I arrived to a house full of dogs...big and small...white and dark...they were amazing! Here are some of them relaxing on the couch...Life at Wheeler Pet Sitting is really tough!


Looks tough, right? Anyway, we cooked and played Euchre (and drank...)the night before, and then awoke the next morning and continued cooking mania. My cousins, Mat and Jennifer, who live in Oakland and are from Missouri arrived later that morning, heritage turkey in hand. I don't have a photo of the special heritage turkey, but I can tell you it had very small breasts! LOL! No, really, it had much more rich dark meat and very limited breast meat...ahhh consumer driven animal selection.

Mat and Jennifer brought 3 friends from Oakland and we all had a very nice time! Good wine, good friends, good food...good times! We ate dinner on my aunt's collection of our family's china. A few generations ago on my Mom's side, our family owned a china mill in England called Hammersley and my Aunt Deb has made herself quite a collection over the years. Most of the women in our family possess pieces that they have accumulated over the years. Before the days of eBay, my mom and I used to go to antique shows and look for it...I clearly remember flipping over cups and saucers and reading the stamps...hoping it was Hammersley. It's our family heritage...in pretty painted cups!

Here's the table all decked out (all photos are Aunt Deb and Uncle Ed's! Thanks guys):



Dinner was fantastic, check out our spread:


A feast!!! Sweet potatoes, mashed white potatoes, turkey, apricot-grand marinier stuffing (complete with giblets), Gramma North's fruit salad, fresh baked rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, spinach salad, roasted veggies....I could go on and on!!

Unfortunately, I pulled a totally ROOKIE gastric bypass patient mistake and was able to eat about zippo of my meal (don't worry, I had left overs). So, our number one food rule is no drinking while eating. #2 is...protein first. If you have a plate full of food, you're supposed to eat your protein, then veggies, then if you have space left, carbs. Well, I'm an idiot and a carbohead. So, there were these amazing little rolls, homemade and warm and amazing, that we made in mini-muffin tins for dinner. So, I figured, I want that roll, so I'm eating it first, end of story. So, I buttered it, and ate it. Well, as you can imagine, once you wet carbohydrates like bread, they expand! (I will have to explain my now VERY complicated relationship with sandwiches at another time!) I ate that whole roll and BANGO, full pouch...sick Catrina...no more thanksgiving food or drink for ~1 hour. It's not the end of the world, but it does show me that I'm a moron!

Later in the evening, because I was hungry as hell, I got to eat some turkey and some roasted veggies. My cousins are professional veggie people, and Mat roasted these veggies...carrots, beets, other roots...they were amazing!!!! I took quite a few home with me.

Here is a photo for me to leave you with!


That's all she wrote about Thanksgiving! More soon! Sorry this is probably riddled with typos!

A bientot!!

All These Things I've Done

"All These Things I've Done" by the Killers

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier...

Howdy Howdy from chilly Northern California. I know, all of you east coasters are rolling your eyes at me. I'm that person you see while traveling that is wearing the scarf in 60 degree sunshine. Yep. I'm there. Acclimation at its best, I suppose. One of my major "side effects" from surgery is that I am literally the coldest human in the universe. Even 113 lbs ago, I was freezing. (Clearly, I am defective.) Now it's WORSE. Picture this: right now, I'm sitting in my bed in the following situation: mattress warmers cranked up to high, which is the temperate equivalent of a low heat frying pan, long fleece pj pants, 3 shirts including a hooded sweatshirt with hood on, and 2 pairs of socks (trust me, the second pair makes a huge difference!) and count them....4 blankets. I'm a freak of nature. Somethings I will never understand. I spent most of the 100+ degree summer feeling cold to the bone. Like, New York February chilled. And I'm not anemic. Just a wierdo. :-)

Other than being freezing, things are going very well. Harvest is done... pretty much, we're pressing off the last of our reds on Thursday, they say. Now I can have weekends...whatever will I do? Homework? Learn guitar? Bike? Run? Empty out my DVR? (Don't worry, I've been on top of GLEE!) I have a fairly extensive bucket list lately...I've been feeling ambitious. Luckily I have the energy to match.

Oh, all of you should most definitely check out my pal Sarah's blog here. She's connected to me through a co-worker (Debbie, the one who took wonderful care of me after surgery and on my birthday and beyond) and she is a stylish and well-spoken chick! She blogs about food, fashion, wine, life! She and I share many of the same food philosophies, so I appreciate her ideas. She is responsible for my burgeoning Luna bar habit! She's a much more frequent blogger than me, too, so that's much more enjoyable for you all.

Traveled to DC this past weekend because, well, I could. I try to make it a habit to travel to see the people I miss (duh....) and that is exactly what I got to do. Good food, good wine, good people. All amazing. Here is a pic from dinner out in DC, my college room mates and some of my favorite people in the world.



Many good drinks were had. At this meal, which was at a restaurant called Momiji DC, I ordered a mixed drink that I could smell from the bar...it smelled so strongly of passionfruit, yet it contained none. Psssssychhhh. Not too sugary. And plenty alcoholic. It was fantastic to catch up with the girls...who seem, like me, to be adults. Frightening.

I'm currently reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I resisted reading it for a long time, but I found it at a library book sale for 50c early in the fall and I thought...what the hell. The book is literally changing my life. Good books do change your life, right? They change your perspective by expanding it...introducing new.



It explores the pursuit of pleasure, spirituality, and balance. I struggle with all of those things. Mostly, I found her quest for spirituality and how it intertwines into her life most intriguing. Up to this point, I thought I was fairly alone in not finding an organized religion that I could really...you know...go all in for and get behind. I had always found myself wishing that I could bespiritually "cherry picking", a practice which seemed as though it should be unacceptable to me. I had some pretty regular "deal-breakers" with many organized religions: women's right to chose, all other religions go to hell, and well, I don't hate homosexuals in the least...love is love, it is all good with me....so I never felt at "home" with any of the organized religions that I know anything about. Sparing you any further spirituality talk, this book suggests that spiritual cherry picking is alright...as long as you aim to live your life in a loving and good manner. Now that I will have more idle time, I will have a little time to mediate on things like these!

Time for some sleep, I think. Thanksgiving soon! Hopefully I will give into my narcissism and blog more frequently, but nothing in life is certain!

Cheers all, see you soon!