Stick a Fork in Me...

I'm DONE!  Our first hosted Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Tons of work, but WELL worth it!  I can't even begin to tell you how much food we had.  The big achievement of the day was, of course, the turkey! Mr. LaPoo, who didn't even want a turkey in the first place (he's not American), grilled our gobble gobble on the BBQ. He brined it first and followed the instructions from the new Joy of Cooking, and a little help from my brother-in-law Jason, and it came out golden, moist and delicious!  And not a moment too soon, as in typical London fashion, it started pouring 20 minutes later.  

My pear, carrot and parsnip soup was also a big hit, especially with the babies, as was Mr. LaPoo's wild mushroom tart.  Everything was absolutely amazing and we even played two rounds of my family's favorite holiday game, Name in the Hat Game!  Check out some highlight pictures on this post and do note the artfully folded napkins thanks to yours LaPooly.  Had to fight to get those on the table, as someone else wanted to use disposables.  Nothing like a little turkey time tanty to get the table looking just so.  As we like to say in our house, it's supposed to be a HAPPY HOLIDAY! And it was!

Totally NUTS!

Can't talk, I'm on a roll.  Nuts are done. Chocolate tart in the oven.  Veggies peeled for the soup.  Just wanted to keep you abreast.  Like a TURKEY!  Yikes. Gotta go.

That Didn't Take Long...

Well, as predicted there have already been a couple HICCUPS.  Usually when I'm baking, I have my mother on speed dial, because most of the recipes I make are hers, and she's like a GENIUS in the kitchen.  She actually knows WHY you're supposed to do things, like what beating the egg whites separately actually does for whatever you're concocting.  Me? I just follow the instructions and hope for the best.  That is, when the instructions are explicitly laid out.  You can probably see where this is going.  As I was mixing together my ingredients for the pumpkin bread, I came across an indication to add nutmeg.  BUT, nowhere on my list of ingredients and AMOUNTS, was nutmeg mentioned.  Obviously, in a panic, I called my mom at my brother's house in Chicago. No answer. TYPICAL!  Next, I tried her cell phone.  Mobile, whatever.  NO ANSWER. Even more typical since she doesn't know how to use the damn thing.  Finally, I saw her on gchat and typed out a frantic plea for help. NADA.  I had to make an executive decision.  All the other spices seemed to be going in in teaspoons, so a teaspoon it was!  Now, hours later,  my loaves are done and resting dreamily on their cooling rack and I just received an email from my mom saying I can call now. I replied, "too late, happy thanksgiving to ya".  To which she replied, "That is way, way too much nutmeg."  Did you catch the extra WAY in there because I know I did!  Well, I spoke to her and it turns out it should be okay according to the Joy of Cooking - had to bring in the big guns.  The truth is we won't really know till the first bite is taken on Saturday, most likely by Mr. LaPoo.  Until then I am HOPING FOR THE FREAKING BEST!

LaTurkey Day

Happy Turkey Time!  Doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving today, especially since we're celebrating it on Saturday this year, but it's my favorite holiday EVER so must give it some air time. I mean what could be better than a holiday solely dedicated to food?! Nothin, that's what!  The cooking will commence this afternoon, as soon am I'm done with lunch. Going to start off with my mom's pumpkin bread recipe and cayenne pecans.  Tomorrow I'm going to make Eleanor Gubins' pear, parsnip and carrot soup and a chocolate tart!  There are sure to be some disasters so stayed tuned for whimsical anecdotes, pictures and all around good holiday cheer.  Oh, just finished my lunch.  Yay pilgrims!

My New Tayyabs

 Went for Indian food last night to New Tayyabs with Mr. LaPoo and our friends Dan and Liz!  Ate so much had to loosen my belt. Twice.  The food was amazing and super cheap.  Especially loved the quail dish Mr. LaPoo ordered.  And even on a Tuesday night the line was out the door.  Definitely worth a return trip, although not too often, since it was soo far I actually said I felt like I was in another country after stepping out of the tube at White Chapel.  Then I realized how bad that sounded, so zipped it up!  Most eventful part of the evening, however, was on the tube ride home.  Mr. LaPoo and I found ourselves in between two guys trying to figure out how they knew each other.   See, it was difficult to place each other since one of them had been in jail for the last seven years for man slaughter.  Which he proudly explained was the lowered sentence.  Meaning, he basically murdered someone.  Turns out they knew each other from growing up right around where we live.  This led to a big discussion on the walk home about where to raise our kids and what schools they can go to without turning into murdering drug dealers.  Thanks manslaughter man.  Thanks a lot.

Kophie LaKoo?

Well I've finally hit rock bottom.  Cried like a baby at Keeping up with the Kardashians yesterday.  Khloe's rehearsal dinner.  Bruce Jenner's toast.  A grown man, an olympian nonetheless, crying over his promise to his wife's dying ex husband.  You know what I'm talking about.  I know the wedding isn't for reals or whatever, and I guess the whole show is scripted, but I just love that family. I want to be friends with them and hang out with them all the time.  If only my name started with a K!  Hey Kris! Hey Khlo. Hey Kourt.  Key Kim....HEY KOPHIE! It works!

FALL OVERS

Started off this morning with two LaPoo Flu shots!  Swine and regular. So far so good, but I feel a couple sore arms coming on.

The weekend was another festival of feasts.  We have a friend in town from the states, although he's an Aussie, so organized a big dinner for Saturday night at First Floor on Portobello road.  Had everyone over to our place first for drinks and snacks.  Mr. LaPoo made award worthy cockails called Fall Over (we're a very punny couple. Totally MTB.).  He infused vodka the night before with rosemary fresh from our urban garden and made his own almond syrup.  They were definitely true to their name as a lovely seasonal cocktail, and while I didn't actually fall over, I did drink just enough to ruin the entire next season of Grey's Anatomy for my friend Tanya.  NIGHTMARE.  Anyway, I made my famous walnut parmesan bruschetta and bought our fave Taleggio from Mr. Christians.  All went down a scream.  In a good way.

Dinner was super fun and full of lively conversation.  Food was fine, but not great. This is not the first time First Floor has been below par for us,  but it's such a fun atmosphere, we always seem to think it worthy of return.

Sunday lay low, while Mr. LaPoo ditched me to go for dim sum with the guys.  He made it up to me though with a Mario Batali wild mushroom ragu with tagliatelle for dinner.  And for dessert I made Bill Granger's gooey chocolate treats.  Just something I whipped up!