How to Host Thanksgiving in NYC

1. Start off by inviting 12 people for the BIG day to your NOT SO BIG, studio apartmet.
2. Assign each of those people several side dishes so you are only left with making the main attractions (turkey, mashed poatoes, and pies).
3. Enlist the help of your culinary-graduate friend in preparing the totally intimidating turkey.
4. Sorta, semi-try to follow Alton Brown's turkey recipe (if you have access to normal grocery stores that carry the normal range of ingedients, you can follow the recipe exactly. If you live in NYC, you are just going to have to improvise).

Rinse the bird & remove those nasty, nasty "giblets" (or have your culinary friend do the dirty work if you are too grossed out...thank you, Natalie). Mix the brine (it helps if you mix it with a really enthusiastic expression on your face so your excitment, love, and energy get thrown in there with the other ingredients).
Poor the brine into a GIANT zip-loc bag inside your cooler (Natalie, I forgot to ask you, where did you ever find such a humongous bag?!).

Poor a bunch of ice in with that to keep your bird nice and cold. Throw the bird in and zip up the bag, close the cooler and leave it there over night (turning the bird over once about halfway through the brining process).

5. Sleep in and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with friends. Around the time that's wrapping up, throw the turkey in the oven.

6. During the National Dog Show, have your guests peel hundreds of potatoes (in my opinion, mashed potatoes are the best part of the whole meal).

Sidenote: posing with said potatoes helps them feel important, which most certainly adds to the flavor and overall taste of the finished product.

7. Have your guests make their favorite Thanksgiving dish to add to the feast (in this case, green beans with bacon seasoned to perfection with black pepper...mmm!)

8. Show off the perfectly browned, totally moist turkey you made (and this was my first time ever!)

9. Let your husband do the stereotypical man's job in Thanksgiving prep: carving the perfectly browned bird.

10. Sit down with your friends and family and feast away!!!

11. Once the feast has slowed down and settled slightly, feast again on the DELICIOUS pies your husband made FROM SCRATCH!

Strawberry Rhubarb

My favorite - Peach

And Juicy Blackberry

12. Take your visitors out on the town and show them the wonders of NYC. Make sure you get a shot of your husband and his younger brother.

13. Definitely show your brother and sister-in-law Times Square

14. If it happens to be one of your visitor's birthday, make sure they (or their wife) win tickets to see Wicked from the front row.
15. If your other visitors are big Rangers fans, make sure your employer gives you tickets to a game at their box suite at Madison Square Garden.

16. Don't forget to pose in at least one picture with your friend - if you're the only one taking pictures, you'll forget that you were even there!
17. And last but not least, throw in at least one celebrity sighting.

We spotted Tony Shalhoub (from Monk and Wings) shopping at H&M

And THAT'S how you host Thanksgiving in New York City.

Quick Visit With Brooke

Probably a month or so ago, my dear friend, Brooke came to NYC to rekindle some of her nanny-duties of the past for a couple weeks.

Brooke and I have a fabulous history. First of all, we met in the train station in Bucharest, Romania (or did we meet briefly at BYU before we took off for Romania?). We shared a horribly uncomfortable bed for a couple months in a terrible apartment in Brasov. And though that bed was a bit crowded, I'm glad she was there since for some reason the bed bugs (or whatever they were), were more attracted to Brooke's ankles than mine. We spent every waking (and non-waking) moment together during my first & second adventures to Romania and fell in love with all the same sweet kids. We've been shouted at by gypsies, swindled by cab drivers, and forced to perform in strange religious skits. We've gone showerless for days and have seen each other at our best and at our worst. What will always connect us, though we have and will spend years apart, is the fact that we share a deep passion and dedicated love for the orphaned and ailing children of Romania and just happen to be kindred spirits of some sort.

So, of course I was thrilled when she came up to NYC for a bit to help out the family for whom she used to nanny. She had a couple free hours in Manhattan, so I jumped at the chance to meet up with her and reminisce about our sweet children.

Spending time with Brooke reminded me of the things that really matter to me. It's scary how quickly one's priorities shift when surrounded by glittering materialism. This city is a gem in so many ways, but it certainly requires you to work hard to keep the proper perspective. My passion (or should I say compassion) was reawakened when I walked through the city with Brooke discussing which of our street kids I reconnected with on my most recent trip to Romania.

Hopefully our visit will kick-start my heart into some action more meaningful than the executive assisting of hedge fund managers. Thank goodness for the means by which our bills get paid, but maybe I can sacrifice a bit of my precious and rare spare time to a greater cause.

I always love seeing you, Brooke. Come back soon!!

So sorry...

...that you've had to look at the same boring post for an entire month! The last month has been a total blur with Thanksgiving and holiday parties and trying to get ready to take off early for Christmas. I have some posts a-brewin' so fear not, there will be updates soon with reports on our latest adventures. Just know that right now I am relaxing with my family in my homeland of Washington. And I am loving every minute of it!