I made Christmas Dinner

and no one got sick.

The Menu:
Turkey (which was free range from the Greenmarket and brined),
Apple-sage-sausage stuffing that Mr. made (totally incredible),
Potatoe Gratin
Carrot Vichy, Greenbeans, Cranberry sauce
(all the above were cooking improvisations)

Thank goodness our neighbor lent us her table and chairs. I also loved being able to cook for someone other than Mr. and using all our beautiful serving pieces from our wedding china! I made a homemade chicken soup on Christmas eve day, a few breakfasts and we had dessert and coffee almost every evening....
Isn't my dad cute!?!
Mr. got us a gigantic plasma screen TV and I got him lots of socks and underwear.
He also got me a big mama Kitchen-aid stand mixer!!! I have always wanted one, but we don't really have any counterspace for it. We still don't but who cares? It is awesome!

Mom and Dad hit the town

I told them that this would be a relatively relaxed trip- that they had seen quite a few things that are only necessary once (Empire State Building) in previous trips. It was nice to not feel the pressure to rush out of the house and not come back for 10 hours. They do take the Staten Island Ferry every time they visit- it is my dad's favorite thing. We stayed in our neighborhood a lot and ordered pizza delivery.
Ignore the fact that Mom's eyes are closed- this is a great photo.
Mr. getting all artistic on us.
Mom and Dad had to take photos of the traveling duck...at the Brooklyn Bridge...
On the Staten Island Ferry..

Phew

So I jut sent off my last paper! Hooray! My parents are en route, the tree is up and I can now concentrate fully on crafts and cooking....here is our wee little tree of peace and love. Many more entries to come, which will recap the last month.

Fall foliage

So in the spring I went crazy taking pics of every flower I saw. But during the summer and spring, I was too busy and not entirely inspired by the plants. But autumn has truly arrived and it has been really lovely. Despite the weather see-sawing between warm/balmy and biting chill, fall has been lovely. Here are some pics of Thanksgiving morning in Central Park.

The reservoir

Fall is finally here

This is the view out of our windows...you can see the "playground" of the school across the way. They have no equipment, just the tennis court which has no net and I think some basketball hoops. No wonder they just chase each other and scream their little heads off.
Here is the other view I always have...Mr. and Sparks' butt as they are walking in front of me.

How it turned out

School is still going well and I am busy, but now I have a little handle on it all. The class in the Bronx is really interesting- a little challenging. Mr. has grown a beard.

Here is how the garden turned out. The marigolds were sucky and the evergreen balls mysteriously died. Now we have the entire planter to deal with. The lower planter is really kind of pathetic and never grows well. Next year I am going to put in something like ivy for ground cover and begonias- cause they are the only thing that works...

Ooo, my cute baby!!! He is doing what he does best. Stealing socks for attention and then sitting on the bed to be petted.

Applesauce

So, no, I don't have a lot of free time. But this is really easy! And honestly, I usually don't care about applesauce. BUT, homemade applesauce is sooo good. You can only know how good it is after you make it and taste it.

So get a bag of local apples. Cut them and core them. I don't skin them....
Sprinkle with cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Pour about a cup of water in the bottom. Roast for an hour at 375...
Then I use my handblender and mush them to desired amount of smoothness......yumyumyum....