Thanksgiving 2012: Celebrating Movember with Mustache Sugar Cookies

When I went home for my mom's birthday

a couple weeks ago, 

I noticed my brother grew a mustache.

Since he's half Italian, he was able to grow a mustache at least,

but since he is half Chinese, it was a little thinner in some places.

It was also dark brown with some blond highlights.

I thought he wanted to look like my dad

for some reason.

My dad is famous for his glasses and mustache.

He has a dark blond mustache with gray highlights,

but that's the only similarity between their mustaches (being bicolored).

My brother mumbled something about Movember.

He didn't really explain it though.

So that weekend, I saw the Office episode that explained it!

That episode was funny.

If you're not going to watch the episode, here it is from the official site:

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo's, these men raise vital awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives.

I got mustache cookie cutters and stamps

for my birthday,

so I thought since our cheese appetizer failed,

it would be very timely to have Movember cookies

for Thanksgiving.

We'd used almost all our butter for our

supersilky smooth mashed potatoes,

so I had to make due with the stick we had left.

I only made these two trays,

but after the meal we just ate, 

it was definitely enough.

I used a quick recipe I found online since it automatically did the

proportions for me.

No one thought the recipe was that awesome

(the people's comments are a bit exaggerated on the website),

including me.

But it worked in a butter pinch. 

Mustache party!

My popo, ayee, and mom,

showing off their mustaches.

Such deliciously hairy women.

Oh, and it's hereditary.

Wee even sported a goatee with the freehand 'stache we made.

Thanksgiving 2012: The Juicy Turkey

My aunt Florence (Ayee) successfully replicated

her giant juicy turkey for Thanksgiving this year.

I'll reveal how big the turkey was at the end of this post,

but try to guess.

There were twelve of us:

four Hues and Chris

five Solazzos and Jon

and PoPo.

My cousin Samantha is giving us some perspective

by showing how big the turkey is compared to her mouth.

Good job, Sam!

I'm guessing you think that it looks a little burnt.

That just adds flavor, baby.

My aunt uses Alton Brown's turkey recipe.

She's Alton's #1 fan.

We used some of the extra leftover vegetable stock that she had 

made for the brine

for a Parmesan soup for a light dinner on Friday.

Turkey leg.

None of us ate it or took it home.

We left it for PoPo

to eventually make a delicious Chinese soup out of it.

Warm, juicy turkey.

You have no idea how good this is.

It's like what every turkey should taste like.

Sweet and intensely turkeyish and a little salty.

What's interesting is that last year my aunt

was a little worried about the kitchen not smelling

like delicious turkey.

You know why?

Because all the juices stayed inside the turkey

for flavor.

Damn good flavor too.

(Auntie Anne's burns a vanilla candle 

to whet your appetite.)

Cutting up the breast,

cutting up the breast,

cutting up the breast.

Mmm, mmm good.

Mmm, mmm good.

That reminds me of the 

Giblets (c) 2012 Christina and Lisa Solazzo 

song and dance

we made up.

Man, Thanksgiving was fun!

26.82 pounds!

It was a giant bird that didn't die in vain for this holiday.

Thank you for your life, Mr. Turkey.

Thanks for the great turkey, Ayee!

Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Balloons

The crowds were insane!

It was like standing in the front row at a sold out concert

with small, crushable children and strollers.

It was like standing in line for 30 minutes just to cross the street

and then realizing that it was a line to exit the balloon craziness

and feeling kind of sad and frustrated about the whole thing.

Luckily, I ended up on the right side 

of the street (the museum side) when I exited the subway.

I took the B to 81st and CPW,

and instead of exiting right up the stairs, I took the stairs on the left

since that was where the crowd was moving the fastest.

As soon as I exited I saw Papa Smurf and a whole street of balloons

most with their faces in the junk of the other balloons.

It was a spectacle that I don't think I need to do again--

just because the people who were there were ridiculous.

(You know the idiots who go see the tree lighting in Rock Center?

Those people were here too.)

I thought the balloons were blown up in the park and were easily viewable

without huge crowds except ones around the really popular balloons.

I was incredibly wrong.

What made it especially horrible was that 

the police were trying to do crowd control

on Columbus, 

while still allowing traffic come down Columbus.

What?!

That was a terrible idea.

(Just like it was the worst idea in history

to close down Sixth Avenue until 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

The parade ended at noon.

NOON.)

The worst part about the evening 

was that I was supposed to meet up with 

Dani and Veronika, 

but we couldn't even get on the same block.

I walked home since it was a nice evening.

But I was steaming with unthankfulness for the tourists and

people who thought bringing their sleeping children or

small children who could be easily crushed

was a GREAT idea.

Also really unthankful for the idiots driving around the city

not yielding to pedestrians.

Crowds make me incredibly grumpy.

If I do go another year,

it'll be really early to maybe avoid them.

The Incredible, Edible Kale

Blanche up some kale,

and I'm good to go.

Unfortunately,

I'm a very slow cook,

so the whole process of going through

an order of FreshDirect kale

takes a few hours.

First I clean the leaves from the stems.

Then I roll up the leaves as best as I can

to cut them into strips.

Then I try to wash as much as I can 

without it falling all over the sink

and floor.

I blanche the strips in salted water,

and fish it out to dump in ice water.

Finally, I balled it up from the ice water bath

to squeeze out the excess water.

I had a lot of kale.

It was the most delicious snack:

soft, chewy, green, and sweet.

It's better than spinach--its limpy, not as cool sister.

Lauren the Cat

I wish I could be a cat sometimes.

Warm with fur.

Just hanging out on my back on the carpet.

Soft and a little tubby.

People miffed about why I only want my belly rubbed

when I'm ready.

Meow.

Pftt . . . pfttttt!

Raccoon tail.

Slinks to bedroom under the comforter.

Wet food.

Dry food.

Water.

Cats in hats.

Cats/dogs.

Eh.

The only shit I want to deal with is my own.