What's for (Thanksgiving) dinner?

Part of this post is to take a moment and reminisce about all my favorite Thanksgiving foods (aka starchy foods). Part of this post is to remind people that in between Halloween and Christmas there is a holiday that may not have all the glitzy songs or decorations, but has what I consider to be most important: kick ass food.

This week is Thanksgiving and I for one am most excited to pile a load of cheesy, sweet, deliciously comforting carbs on a plate and devour it. It's the one tradition of Thanksgiving that I've been able to keep. As a kid, we didn't have a ton of Thanksgiving traditions. In fact, the only tradition seemed to be that we got together, which looking at it now seems like a good tradition to keep.

The Wrye Family Thanksgiving included getting up and going to both sets of grandparents. Some times we went to my mom's family first. Sometimes, my dad's. It just depended on when my mom's set decided to do something. My dad's side, aka my Grandma Wrye, always had dinner ready about 4 p.m., complete with setting off the smoke detector. Thanksgiving wasn't really Thanksgiving unless one of my tall, male relatives was reaching up to take the 9-volt out of the detector at some point. Never for anything big. Usually just some forgotten rolls. In the end, it was the BEST.

My mom's side, on the other hand, makes dinner for other people 363 other days a year as they own a restaurant. So my grandpa would insist that my grandma not cook a big meal. Sometimes she listened and we ate pizza. Sometimes she didn't and we had all the fixins. Toward the later years, my grandpa made sure my grandma didn't cook and made reservations for us to eat together. That was also awesome and the best. Again, the theme being that we actually got to see each other.

But as I got older and my time off was saved for the "big" holidays and people became more scattered, sometimes the only "Thanksgiving meal" I would get would be from the potluck at work (which is actually the smartest way to do it. Our office would pay for a precooked turkey and everyone brought in everything else. For the price of one dish (or bag of rolls if you were really lazy), you could get a full Thanksgiving meal.)

Now I'm fighting to keep Thanksgiving. It's hardly worth it to go all out for a full dinner for just the two of us
when I know the leftovers will never get eaten. So, I've picked my favorite carb and his and we'll dine on them. It will be delicious, if turkey-free. Maybe I'll get a pumpkin pie too. I love me some pumpkin pie. Or better yet, some Pumpkin Delight from The Pub (pumpkin cheesecake + pumpkin pie=heaven.)

What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

IKEA, you almost got the best of me

I went to IKEA today. I have to block out the day to do it. IKEA is about 30 minutes away, not that far in the scheme of things, but still in Burbank. Plus it's IKEA. I always get sucked in for longer than I think I'll be.

Today was no exception. I was wavering on what to buy because Chef wasn't with me and I knew if I bought something he didn't like, I'd be heading back. So, I ended up getting some things we wanted to help make the place look like a home. Some shelves, some plants, some rugs, some glassware. All the little things that add the "someone really lives here" look to a place. I mean, I'm sure the clutter on our bar does that just fine, but it's nice to have a plant do some of the talking too.

But what I gained in finishing touches, I lost in precious time on earth. I mean, it's nice to get out of the house, but the IKEA experience is not designed for easy in and out trips. Damn you, Swedes, for your clever weaving designs so that I HAVE to walk down every square inch of your store before I leave. Damn you, for having not one but TWO places for me to get something to eat. One for lunch and one for dinner, apparently, because that's how long it takes to get through the store. Going to IKEA today was the only time in recent memory that I knew to pack snacks in advance. I knew that a baggie full of salt and vinegar almonds would curb the hunger and help me avoid the meatballs and ice cream.

So without Chef, I did not have enough manpower to load my car in one trip. I had to go across the street to the parking garage, drive around the block in two different directions to get into the already packed loading zone. Thankfully,because they think of everything, IKEA has a cart bitch. No, not someone to wrangle the empty carts, but someone whose sole job is to stand by your already paid for items while you go get your car. There's no excuse not to buy a shitload of Swedish designed, Chinese made stuff.

Other than IKEA, today has been noticing all the diet-related things that are going on. Oh, New Year's Resolution, you have become a multi-million dollar boost to the diet and fitness industry. Jennifer Hudson Weight Watcher ads everywhere (she does look fabulous though). A new Hungry Girl TV show premiering in January. A new Biggest Loser. Heavy on A & E. I Used to Be Fat on MTV. Stories in US about Mila Kunis being 95 lbs for Black Swan (which to me seems NUTS).

Even MTV has drank the Kool-Aid. They're replaying a "True Life: I Can't Stay Thin" on these two people that yo-yo diet. Like crazy diet--400 calories a day for months on end and then 4 burgers and 3 orders of fries in a binge. How can they even eat that much food without feeling full after a few bites or even two burgers?

Next up a new "True Life"-- "I'm addicted to food." Every time I start to think I'm addicted to food, I see something like this that makes me realize that while I've had a problem, it's nothing like it used to be. Now, it's about getting back on it.

I've lost about 4 lbs in the last two weeks. A good start, but I'm finding that if I haven't eaten close to my calories by the end of the day, I'm popping in some pumpkin pie. It's not putting me over the calorie count for the day, but I'm struggling with needing something sweet to end each day. If it starts getting me off track, I'm going to have to cut it out.

The family weight loss challenge starts on Saturday!!