Friday, November 16, 2012

お久しぶり!!

Ohisashiburi means "long time no see" in Japanese.  And oh my goodness gracious, it's been a while.

Summer has long since come and gone, with a string of several days with temperatures in the mid 50's of late.  In between the sweaty-sticky of summer and chilly-brisk of late fall, there were some gorgeous days, enjoyed mostly on my bike ride to and from school, but also during a few hikes I was lucky enough to squeeze in.



Like the change in weather, the change in my daily routine from perhaps one of the nicest summers of my life to a very busy semester has been pretty dramatic.  Only a semester and a little bit to go!  The "little bit" is a mere 2.5 weeks left of classes, chock full of presentations and papers.  I am trying my best to power through, and I am very much looking forward to winter break!

Given the workload of the new few weeks, now doesn't exactly seem like the most opportune time to start blogging again.  However,
  1. I've missed it; especially as I struggle to design and populate my own website in Dreamweaver for a class project
  2. November is 2BB's anniversary month--2 years!!
  3. I can't let this year's 100-Mile Thanksgiving go by with out a post
So without further ado...

Last Saturday, two classmates and I drove out to Heartland Harvest Farm to pick up the turkeys for this Thursday's dinner.  The farmer was extraordinarily friendly, and drove us around a small portion of his 500 acres in his minivan to show us the sights.  He also talked us into buying a half bushel of potatoes for dinner, which is a lot of potatoes (more on them below)!



Our turkeys conveniently came frozen in cardboard boxes.

On Wednesday evening, I cooked up a storm and made two seasonal, mostly local dishes.  My original plan was to make BH&G's Roasted Acorn Squash and Beet Salad, so I painstakingly peeled the squash and let the beets roast with the potatoes in the oven while I whisked together the dressing.



I hadn't planned on making potatoes, but thought I should do my part to make a dent in the half bushel.  I brought home about a dozen, and after doing a quick internet search decided to make vegan, rosemary & garlic twice-baked potatoes.  Almond milk is hardly local, but being sustainable is part of the philosophy behind the 100 Mile Thanksgiving.  I am willing to venture that almonds have a smaller carbon footprint than cows, and by using what I had on hand, I saved a trip to the store.


Thursday evening finally came, and I joined my classmates, faculty, local farmers and friends at a local church for a delicious feast.   Allison, our fearless organizer said a few words and we got in line at the buffet.



I filled up my plate with all sorts of tasty dishes, went back for some dessert and again when the deep fried turkey made its somewhat tardy, but oh-so-yummy appearance.


The meal was a great success, and I am so thankful to have found a graduate program tailored to my interests both in and outside of the classroom.

One year ago: Last year's 100 Mile (which has a much better description of what it's all about!)
Two years ago: Just getting started

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