T-Day Has Transpired

Who knew these things actually exist?! I certainly didn't. Our neighbor Caty brought them home from the flower market (she's a floral designer and gets special access to the special stuff), and they went bad pretty quickly. These shots were taken right before their ultimate demise. It was a little nerve-wracking to have them around, they're so poisonous... but so cool!



My Thanksgiving dinner was composed of leftovers (at least yummy homemade ones): a delicious pear, olive medley, gorgeous nuts and dried cherries, various cheeses, quinoa salad, a green salad with roasted fennel, and sparkling cider that I didn't realize was non-alcoholic until after it was home.. at least I had some Prosecco to shake things up (all by myself).....


And here is Carmen, the neighbor's kitty, at the kitty spa in our bedroom. Domesticated animals really don't know how well they have it.. I tried to make her watch Planet Earth so she could appreciate her regular meals and generally doting (spoiled) existence, but she was too busy attacking my feet because I wasn't focusing my full attention on her.


Fast forward to Saturday morning... I finally got up the nerve to attempt biking to the Alemany Market. It's cheap and full of great stuff, but in a hard-to-reach part of town -- you either bike through heavy, confusing traffic or a hilly, confusing neighborhood. By some miracle, I found my way there without bombing down a hill and losing my brakes (though I was cursing my bike, still set up for Chicago topography with a high gear ratio and a single brake). I had to heave my return load up a long hill, which was embarrassing and not so fun. Actually, that's the third time in the last two weeks I've had to do that. More on that later, though.

I got some great market finds! I somehow crammed all of this into a single pannier!


A HUGE, beautiful bunch of Swiss chard...


... perfect beets with intact greens, and a giant stalk of brussels sprouts...


... and this GIANT loaf of sourdough bread. Usually there are people lined up three or four vendors down to get bread from this place, so I decided to take advantage of the decreased holiday weekend traffic to see what all the excitement is about. Haven't tried it yet, but I did get a cinnamon twist for breakfast and it was pretty good. A little dry, but I think it would've been better accompanied with a beverage.


I caught it!


I will smite thee!