thanksgiving in june

Tomorrow night, Drew is headed to China to spend a year doing his dissertation research. Though we'll miss each other (I plan to visit in September and December), it is an exciting time for the both of us. This is a great opportunity for Drew- I mean, how many people can say they've spent a significant time in another country? And as for me, it will be a busy time as I finish my dissertation, do my own dissertation fieldwork, and apply for jobs. 

Living in China for a year means that Drew is missing out on some important holidays...like my birthday. 

Wait, what's that you say? That's not a national holiday? 

Okay, but aside from my birthday, Drew is missing out on some other holidays. For the most part, I don't think he's bothered by this, but it bothers me that he'll be missing out on Thanksgiving. I recognize that Thanksgiving is not without controversy. I actually attempted to read an academic book on its history, but it was boring and I stopped after 10 pages. Plus, in the introduction, the author basically said that we don't know what the first Thanksgiving was like, so, satisfied that I was not inadvertently celebrating the murder of American Indians, it made it easier to stop reading (um, to be clear, I know that happened, but if an academic can't find evidence that Thanksgiving is rooted in this, then it may not exist).

Anyhow, what really matters to me is the Thanksgiving food. I'm not much of a turkey girl, but I can practically eat my weight in stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. So last night, Drew and I had our own Thanksgiving. We made a seitan roast, stuffed with leeks and shitakes. 

It was easy to make (we made it up a few days beforehand) and I think this will become our new Thanksgiving staple. We also made stuffing:

And green bean casserole, but I had to fight for this one. You see, green bean casserole is usually made with canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and french fried onions. I'm a big fan, though I make it with fresh green beans and not canned, but Drew is not. But I assured him that he'd like a homemade green bean casserole, and I was right. I used Alton Brown's recipe, which I watched him make on an episode of his show Good Eats years ago. At first, this dish seems high maintenance, but it's really not. You mix up sliced onions with panko and flour and bake them until crispy for about a half an hour. While that's baking, you blanch green beans and make the mushroom soup. It will all take longer than opening up a bunch of cans and mixing up their contents, but it's completely worth it.   

Of course, we had to have mashed potatoes. These are really simple, just butter and sour cream.

Here's what the full plate looks like:

Even though I don't think it's really Thanksgiving unless I eat pumpkin pie, I conceded and made a chocolate cream pie instead. Drew does not share my enthusiasm for pumpkins, and this was his request. I was happy to comply; after all, I did get green bean casserole on the menu, and I'll get to bake with pumpkins all I want this fall.   

The recipe is from Ashley English's A Year of Pies. I like this cookbook, and I suspect I'll use it more often this fall, which I consider to be pie season (despite it being called A Year of Pies).

Our Thanksgiving was successful, and we were satisfied. We decided that if we ever host Thanksgiving, we're totally going to rock at it. We also realized that there is a reason people grill for summer holidays-it gets too hot in the kitchen! 

deck the halls!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Well, sort of. I think it was 80 degrees outside the day Drew and I did our holiday decorating.

turkey trot!

Drew and I headed down to Oceanside for Thanksgiving where we indulged in running and eating way too much stuffing. Or maybe it was me, not Drew, who ate too much stuffing.

This is my 6th Thanksgiving, and I recently realized that I probably don't have many more to celebrate in Oceanside. I will eventually graduate and move out of Southern California. Hopefully. But I will no doubt miss spending Thanksgiving with the Oceanside family. It's always a riot. It's loud and everyone is talking, sometimes above one another. The only time people aren't talking is about the first 10 seconds after we've served our food and start eating. It's a lot of fun. Meals are always served family style, and sometimes there are so many people that the dinner table extends into the entryway (like it did for my first Thanksgiving there). Instead of passing around dishes of food, you pass around your plate.

Our Thanksgiving began with the Turkey Trot. When I began running a little over 2 months ago, I was run/walking miles at a 15 minute pace. My only goal was to run the entire Turkey Trot, no matter how slow. Drew and I ran the entire 3.1 miles together, separating only to dodge walkers. The race was very flat and went pretty well. The last stretch was along the ocean, and people came out of their beach houses to cheer us on. There was a girl playing her violin and a group of guys blasting music. My cousin Mike was there to greet us at the finish line.

Near the finish line, Drew graciously slowed down to take my picture crossing the finish line.
My official time was 31:15, or about a 10 minute mile. Drew finished one second later. Here is the 'after' picture:

The rest of the day was dedicated to relaxing, football, wii, and pecan pie.

happy holidays

I spent Christmas with the Oceanside family, and I just got back on Saturday afternoon. Here are the holiday highlights:

I finally got around to Christmas shopping early last week. I went to Fashion Island last Sunday, in search of wine charms. Instead, I got distracted by the bakeware at Macy's, cookbooks at Barnes and Noble, and the sale at Bath and Body Works. Clearly, I cannot be trusted to shop for other people. I left Fashion Island without the wine charms and with two scented candles...for myself. So anyway, I was browsing the holiday cards at Barnes and Noble (I'm not sure why since I don't actually send any) and this woman starts to make smalltalk about the lack of card selection and how she forgot to send a card to her insurance man. I thought to myself, what the hell is an insurance man and why does he get a card?

The next day, I picked up my bridesmaid dress at David's Bridal, and then I went to the Irvine Spectrum to complete all of my Christmas shopping. This time, I stuck to my shopping list. Nothing too interesting happened here, except for a funny experience at the Cheesecake Factory. I went in to get a slice of cheesecake to go. When the guy behind the cheesecake counter handed me my cheesecake, he called me "young lady." I hate it when people call me this, but what made this funny was that the guy and I were probably the same age.

Moving on to Oceanside now. I continued my crossword puzzle mission; this time I did the ones in the San Diego newspaper and not the LA Times like I'm used to. The crossword puzzles were more of a group effort in Oceanside, and I learned that completing them in pencil is practically a law in the M household. On the first day, I used a pen to do the crossword puzzle, and everyone looked at me like I was on crack.

Whenever I go to Oceanside for Christmas, we have these recurring conversations about the weather. They go something like this: Someone will complain that it is "cold and freezing." Then I look at that person, roll my eyes, and tell him or her to stop whining. This happened multiple times in the course of 4 days. I told the O-side family that my grandma C had to reschedule Christmas because of the cold weather and snowstorms. They scoffed and said that they would never reschedule Christmas. When it started to rain, they jokingly wondered if we should cancel Christmas. More eye rolling.

There are always lots of laughs whenever I go to Oceanside. The family ikes to make fun of my alleged tendencies to hit on family friends when I've been drinking. We all make fun of each other a lot, particularly my mom's cousin Mike and I. Eileen said that he and I share the Ryan family sense of humor and a witty sarcasm.

So now I'm back in Irvine, stocking up on my sleep and taking advantage of the after Christmas sales. I bought a new cookbook, and I stocked up on bubble baths, body creams, and lotions from Bath and Body Works.

absence makes the heart grow fonder...for candy cane cookies

Before I talk about cupcakes and cookies, I would like to say a few words about purple potatoes. Purple potatoes intrigued me. They looked kind of strange, and I was a bit apprehensive about cooking with them. Well, now I'm a fan. They are fun, they taste just like all the other potatoes, and they add some neat-o color to your food. I used a combination of purple, red, and gold potatoes to make a chickpea potato curry the other day.

So, it's the holiday season. (This is what the calendar tells me; the weather tells me that it's September or October.) I really enjoy baking any time of the year, but I like it even more during the holidays. I have fond memories of baking cookies and making candy with my family. Each year, I always make sugar cookies and peanut clusters because these were holiday traditions in my home. I haven't held on to every tradition- I don't make peanut brittle or almond bark dipped pretzels. But, I have added a couple of my own. Recently, I have started to make gingerbread each year. This year, I made gingerbread cupcakes.

And, as I've mentioned earlier, I am obsessed with all things pumpkin. So, it would not be the holiday season without it. Below are vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with a cinnamon glaze.

Finally, the Oceanside crew has introduced me to these Italian Cookies. They are light, fluffy, and sort of resemble a sugar cookie.

It is embarrassing to admit that most of my baking failures occur when I am following a family recipe. My mom's fudge? While hers is this soft, gooey, fudgy perfection, I couldn't even cut through my version. My Grandma R's cinnamon rolls? My version was crunchy and barely edible. My Grandma C's candy cane cookies? Hers are these delicate, crisp, peppermint-y cookies. Mine are simply a disaster.

I never realized how much I loved my Grandma's candy cane cookies until I moved to California and didn't eat them every year. My Grandma bakes a lot, and you can always count on her for cookies. She bakes batches of cookies and bars and then she freezes them so that there is always something sweet on hand for her and my grandpa, or for unexpected guests. I guess that this habit runs in the family: I tend to do the same. After all, you never know when you're going to get hit by a cookie craving.

I'm calling my grandma this weekend to talk about candy cane cookies. I'm going to verify that I have the correct recipe, and I'm going to ask my grandma to share any helpful hints. While there are some family recipes that I could do without (anything with jello), candy cane cookies are one holiday tradition that I would like to continue.

Thanksgiving Highlights

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! I am back from Oceanside, nice and refreshed and ready to finish out the quarter. Here are the Thanksgiving highlights:

I learned how to make stuffing. Karen got out this big bowl and we dumped a whole bunch of bread cubes into it. While she dumped in spices, chicken broth, eggs, and sauteed onions and mushrooms, I vigorously stirred it all together. Eileen was pretty impressed. And, apparently, you really do need to use lots of butter when making stuffing.

Toasted pecans are the secret to a great pecan pie. Karen made an awesome pecan pie, and I got the recipe. Oh so good. That is all.

I was watching the football game on Thanksgiving day, and the NFL kept airing these commercials about its campaign to fight childhood obesity. I'm sitting there, passing the time until it's time to eat, and I'm thinking to myself, "It's Thanksgiving; can't the fight for childhood obesity wait until tomorrow?" Oh, and the Jonas Brothers performed during halftime. Or, as I like to refer to them: "Hanson, Part 2."

We went out shopping on Black Friday. Kylie wanted to leave the house at 6 in the morning, but Karen quickly vetoed that and we left at 8. The stores were not as crowded as I'd anticipated, and I got some good deals on some clothes. So, there were 2 San Diego Chargers cheerleaders standing outside of this store autographing Chargers cheerleaders calendars. Of course, they were wearing their midriff-bearing uniforms that show lots of leg. The best part? The store was right next to Santa's workshop; you know, the North Pole replica with snow and elves. About 10 feet from the scantily clad cheerleaders were kids waiting to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus. Hilarious! The irony! I can't even make this stuff up!

I've decided that the Ugg in Ugg boots is short for Ugly. Enough said.

I went to Kellen and Cole's high school's football game on Friday night; it's playoff season. It was my first football game in California, and the first that I'd been to since my marching band days at the University of Minnesota. In contrast to the playoff games I went to in high school, there was no snow on Friday night.

In the downtime in Oceanside, I like to watch the Food Network. (I don't get this channel in Irvine) I was watching this show hosted by Guy Fieri, and he was asking people which holiday family recipe they wish would just die. And I thought to myself, "anything with Jello."

I've been here for 2 years, and for the first time my family asked me some pointed questions about my program and research. They asked how much longer I would be at UCI, and I joked that they must be getting tired of seeing me at family holidays. Anyway, I gave them a general idea of my program requirements: 3 qualifying papers, advancement exams, prospectus, and dissertation. They sure were curious, so I started to talk about my papers. I told them that my first paper was about abortion rates and social spending. Their response? Silence. I chuckled and joked that nothing halts a conversation like abortion. That lightened the mood. I told them that my research interests just get more depressing and that it's all downhill after abortion. I explained that my second paper is on the anti-rape movement. They were interested and listened while I briefly discussed that paper. Then, because I just can't quit while I'm ahead, I told them that I was doing a lot of reading about female genital mutilation. They asked what my dissertation would be about, and I told them that I didn't know but that it would probably encompass citizenship, female sexuality, and bodily integrity and control. I think that I may have ensured that my family will never again make the mistake of asking me about my program and research interests.

Audrey, my 80 some year old great aunt, watches the Daily Show! She says that this is how she gets the news! (along with reading the LA Times and Time magazine) I find this to be so surprising and amusing all at the same time. Cool points for Audrey.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, so I guess it's officially the holiday season. I don't think that I will ever get used to listening to Christmas music and seeing Christmas decorations while simultaneously experiencing 70 degree weather.

Tonight, I made eggnog poundcake. It tastes good, but not quite eggnog-y enough for me. I love, love, love eggnog!

feminist kitchen boycotts

I am headed to Oceanside tonight for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to the break from school, the chance to spend time with the family, and some good Thanksgiving food. I have been craving stuffing and pumpkin pie for quite some time now. I know that I can make "thanksgiving food" anytime of the year, but I am convinced that I lack the ability to make good holiday food. I tried my hand at stuffing last year, and it just wasn't very good. I think it's because I was appalled by the amount of the butter that the recipe called for, and so I just omitted it. Apparently, butter is what makes the stuffing good.

This might come as a surprise to people, but I don't cook for the holidays. I made a pumpkin pie once, but I don't know how to make a turkey or stuffing. Friends have asked if I'm cooking for Thanksgiving, and they seem surprised that I'm not. The thing is, I've been boycotting the kitchen during the holidays since I've been old enough to be asked to help out. See, the feminist in me just doesn't think it's fair that the women slave over holiday meals while the men just get to carve the turkey. I don't believe in perpetuating the sexual division of labor and the gendered production of holiday meals. However, I think my attempts to make a feminist statement are futile. I'm not sure that my relatives realize that my boycott is feminist motivated and that I'm challenging gender norms; instead, they probably think that I'm just being lazy.

So how do women learn to choreograph big holiday meals? This seriously amazes me. Am I missing out on important holiday meal lessons by boycotting the kitchen? And while we're on the subject of turkeys, I don't understand this whole presidential turkey pardon. It seems strange to spare the life of one turkey while so many others suffer a different fate. What's the point?

Okay, I'm done now. Have a good Thanksgiving!

Happy (belated) Easter!

Happy Easter! I spent the weekend in Oceanside. We had an Easter morning brunch, and then I spent the afternoon sunbathing at the beach. It was fantastic, and I was able to appreciate the beautiful weather more so after having heard that there was snow in Minnesota.

My TA duties are officially over for the winter quarter. Today we met with MW to go over final grades and submit them to the registrar. I will miss TAing for MW- he was the first professor that I TAed for and he showed me the ropes. It seems that no two professors are alike with respect to their expectations of their TAs. Some are more high maintenance and others are pretty laid back. MW is definitely a hands off professor. Even though he prepares weekly discussion questions for us, we have the latitude to tweak his questions and tailor the sections to the needs of our students. MW checks in with us to make sure things are going okay, but he doesn't micromanage us.

This week is our spring break. I'm trying to rest up and get ready for another quarter. Okay, I must go out and enjoy another beautiful day!

Happy Holidays!

I spent Christmas in Oceanside this year. How could I resist the sunny weather? Of course, Christmas in California would not be complete without a trip to the beach.

(Mallory and me)

I am nearly finished with the second week of my winter break, and time is flying by fast! To finish out the quarter, I frantically finished a very skeletal draft of the lit review portion of my qualifying paper. Besides this, I finished up TA duties by grading exams and calculating final grades. The end of the quarter was jam packed with social events and cookie/candy making. We had a department party to end the quarter, I went to a Christmas party, and I hosted a couple dinner parties. After a day of recovery, I headed down to Oceanside for Christmas.

Happy Pumpkin Pie Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! I spent the day in Irvine, since the Oceanside crew had Thanksgiving plans with their other sides of the family. My friends got together and we had a great dinner. Sho, a visiting fellow from Japan, celebrated his first Thanksgiving with us. He seemed to have a great time taking in this very American tradition. It was a dinner of firsts for him- first tastes of turkey and first tastes of pumpkin pie. Of course, we have photos to commemorate the event:

I have been spending the day after Thanksgiving hard at work on data sets and lit reviews. Progress is slow but sure, and my impatient self can't wait to be done. We have 3 weeks left of the quarter, and it is hard to believe that I'll soon be in the blustery cold of Minnesota.

In other news, it was simultaneously a happy day in California and a sad day in Minnesota: Torii Hunter is trading his Twins uniform for an Angels uniform. It has been strange to see such a familiar face covered in the LA Times these past couple days. It will be even stranger to see him in Center field, wearing red, next spring.