Autumn wrap-up

I love fall, and post-Thanksgiving always feels a bit melancholy because it mark a very distinct end to autumn and the simultaneous full-fledged launch into winter and Christmas. Just when I finally got some real harvest-oriented decorations up, too!

Truthfully, with all the business deadlines and stress around over the past few months, I had forgotten how much fun it is to entertain. But somehow, despite our usual low-key style of celebrating most holidays, we actually managed to gather together some friends to join us for a celebration!


No turkey here: roast lamb, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed radishes with watercress (my new favorite side dish), delicata squash (the ones on the right), with cranberries and a few more traditional items. And then an amazing selection of artisinal cheeses, cranberry-almond pie (with a polenta crust--who knew one of our guests was a professional cook!?!), and pumpkin cheesecake! I love celebrations with a non-traditional twist, especially when that twist is so tasty (and I didn't have to bake)!


I was amused to discover that all our guests have websites: here, here, here, and here. What a talented bunch, yes? You must watch the Food Commander make chocolate mousse; since mousse au chocolat has been all the talk since Tsia and her dad returned from Paris, we were thrilled to try it at home, and it's really delicious. Tsia has been watching the Commander make mousse on Youtube, endlessly. Future chef, or simply an obsessed mousse-eater? We're not sure, be we know she loves his crazy hair at the intro.

On Friday Tsia and I vowed to uphold our traditional celebration of Buy Nothing Day but were forced to acquiesce when we completely ran out of laundry detergent, dishsoap, and diapers late in the afternoon. Can't do without those items, can we? Drat.


Now we're back to our usual routines, save a few special outings. In fact, today we managed a run to Tinsel Trading for a bit of Christmas magic (no one does it better: hurrah for real glass glitter, bottle brush trees, and gold buillion tassels!), sushi at an old favorite lunchtime haunt, and an extended viewing of the holiday train display at Grand Central. Wow, that kid loves trains! We'll be going back soon; I promised, just so we could go home at last!