pebble soup

rainy monday night. i wanted to make something simple for dinner, so i could devote a chunk of time to reading the new food and wine, last week's new yorker and of course, peruse some blogs. i decided on a tomato based soup with some onions, carrots, garlic and a cup of lentils, added chicken stock, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers and a bay leaf. foolproof? not so fast, the lentils must have been put in my cupboard before christ. it simmered and simmered, i blended some, added more chicken stock, put in slices of spicy italian chicken sausage. i made some delicious garlicky croutons to float on top. cooked a bit of pasta to add to bowl. and cooked and cooked. i'm still cooking. i'm still hungry. threw out rest of lentils. may they soften in hell. ps. it's tuesday night, the soup was ready to eat after 4 hours of cooking.. delicious with a teeny bite. i ate and felt a little happier. today at work my coworker, betty, made some sweet little trees in tea cups and a brandy snifter. they are made from, princess pine and two types of juniper. it's begining to smell a lot like christmas! now, i 'm very happy.

the best of the last

the friday after thanksgiving is one of my favorite food days. my coworkers and i bring leftovers to work . this year we sampled each others' food as we sat on the 12th floor of a huge law firm, overlooking the terrace that overlooked the washington monument, the old post office pavillion and a beautiful, constantly changing sky. their turkey is always saltier and spicier than mine, they had green beans and butternut squash. i had anne's brussel sprouts and nele's red cabbage. we ate and ate. then around 3:00, we had lattes and gwen's ( my constant reader) delicious cranberry bread. if she would send me the recipe ( for the 50th time) i will post it here. you want to make this. last night i finished up the turkey in a pot pie topped with biscuits. tini feels we should just serve this on thanksgiving, it was that good. i give thanks the turkey is gone.

november, ha!

my garden, she laughs at november. she'll bloom when she wants to.

sleep, soon

saturday night, home from work. feeling slightly greenish about those who have a 4 day holiday weekend. florists keep working. i think of thanksgiving as an unpaid workday. do other people's holiday dinners last till 12:45 am? rushed from dirty dishes at home to work on friday , compared cuts and burns on hands with workmates, then tore off with a crew of 5 to begin a two day decorating job at a BIG law firm. think i walked off my mashed potatoes yesterday. today, maybe a piece of apple pie. i'm going to post a few pics from dinner, then let the weekend eating commence!

morning

it's thanksgiving morning, quiet and foggy. as ever, only the cat and i are up. she's drinking rain water from the plants outside, i'm admiring the turkey quietly marinating , and digesting our traditional ,night before thanksgiving, dinner. wish german girl and the lab would wake up so we can start cooking.

wednesday night and counting

home at last. flower arrangements finished, last minute stop at whole foods, now a bath and then the turkey! this is where we rinse off the brine, cut out the backbone and marinate the two halves. love cooking the bird this way, it cooks faster, the breast stays moist and the skin browns beautifully. here are a few photos of some centerpieces from today. some like 'em blue, some like 'em orange, some like a fusion of contemporary/ traditional (?!?) . me, i like them done!

gratitude

i'm new to the world of blogging, so i have a question. do florists blog over holidays? after 10 hours on my feet, concocting table arrangements to suit everyone's budgets, candles, linens, even wall papers i'm a little tired. but i do find that thinking through my day helps to process it. my eyes are blurred after looking at all the shades of fall in berries, leaves, gourds, acorns, artichokes, lady apples, roses, hydrangea, i can barely see to type. but, german girl is home early and preparing a dinner of stir fry shrimp with snow peas (or broccoli as the case may be). then, we'll make the simple but, OH so necessary brine for the turkey. i'm going in early tomorrow, so perhaps i can take a few pics of some of today's work, before it goes off in delivery vans. seemed to me, every time i lifted my head up from an arrangement today, i was looking at a work of art another designer was creating. i'm grateful for my job, and my co-designers talents and that my beautiful partner is such a good cook.