The Fog of Thanks

Slowly finding my way out of the fog of the holiday food coma is like coming to after a long night of drinking. I have vague memories of a general giddiness and bits and pieces of specific memories triggered by the photos below...

The plan

Everything went off without a hitch, on schedule.

Simultaneously, Mike made his his famous lasagna and tiramisu.

By 2pm, the house was cleaned. The table was set. Everyone had arrived on time with their assigned dishes intact (This Thanksgiving, we decided to go pot-luck.) . All was well. 

Dani, la donna of design, helped me to set the table 

I'd put out the appetitivi and amuse bouche, smoked rainbow and lake trout over creme fraiche and chives on chips.

I clearly remember putting out the butternut squash soup...

...but then it's all downhill from there...

I know that we ate in courses but each succession overwhelmed and erased all impressions of the last...

Jess and Dave brought out a beautiful radicchio salad with cranberries and walnut, perfect in color and texture and flavor for the day. 

Mom, enjoying said salad 

Then Michele upped the ante and knocked us all out, literally, when he put out his incredible lasagna. I remember perfectly al dente noodles and a creamy meat sauce and the wonderfully crisp texture of the slightly charred cheese on the top layer of the pasta. (No one had time, or the presence of mind to take of picture of it, unfortunately. The photo below is the best that I could do, and as you can see from the shaky quality and Michele's expression, we were all already high and disoriented from the food and the wine and the flavors and each other and the knowledge of all that was still yet to come.) 

This is literally the last clear impression I had before I was overcome by the wave of pure gluttony that we call Thanksgivng...

Papa Irv getting ready to go in on the turkey and ham. 

Ellen, Papa Irv, Ma, me, Mike, Ty, Eddie, Dani and Edna 

Dad

Eddie

My plate of rice and beans, mac and cheese, yams, collards, potato salad, kale salad and a dollop of ham atop turkey in the center of it all.

Even Sylvester was like, "Say what?!"

And the dream ended with red velvet...

...and sweet potato pie and tiramisu and banana pudding and cupcakes...

..and an earnest, "Good night!" from Ryan.

Election Night

Four years ago, I was watching a live feed of the election in the middle of Q-Tip's album release party   at Santos. The night was emotional, triumphant, sexy, fun and totally unforgettable.

A lot has changed this time around. I was not sipping champagne with celebrities. And I was not having a quiet night in with my man or any intellectual friends. The day started with the realization that our cable TV and internet service were out because of the storm. My sister had no problem letting me watch the election results at her apartment, but could I babysit Ryan? Ok, fair deal. I could handle two kids. No problem. I packed a bag full off groceries to make the patriotic meal that I'd planned days in advance, cheeseburgers and homemade fries, and headed down to her house.

In hindsight, boiling hot oil in the tiny kitchen of a studio apartment with two toddlers running around while trying to pay attention to the election results was probably not the smartest idea. My mother walked in at 7pm to ketchup-covered kids running back and forth on oil-splattered, slippery floors peppered with pieces of meat and half-chewed slider buns and what seemed like hundreds of tiny cars and crayons.

By the time we dealt with the piles of dishes and the oily floors and the sticky kids it was 9pm and I was only paying attention to the tube peripherally. I could only see that Barack was behind in electoral votes. By the time the kids went down under blankets in front of the TV at 10, it was clear that Barack had the edge. Mike walked in from the restaurant at 11 with a bottle of wine, God bless his soul, and he waited up with me until 1:30am for the president's speech. This was probably the best part of the day, an unexpected bit of time together like the old days.

Jada's First Trip to the Staten Island Zoo

Jada's most persistent refrain, "Mommy, I ride a horse?" is only seconded by, "Mommy, I go see animals?" She asks almost every day. 

Ty suggested that we take the kids to the local zoo and make a day out of it. We all had a blast! Being a Park Slope/ city snob, my expectations were really low for this small zoo but it was just as good as the Prospect Park Zoo or the Central Park Zoo and, in some respects, even better. The children were allowed greater interaction with a bigger variety of animals. The petting zoo at the end of the visit was a very special experience because the children are allowed to roam in a corral with goats and llamas and sheep. Jada also loved the pony rides and has been asking to go back to the zoo every day since. We will definitely make another trip soon!

Going to the Party

Ryan had his fourth birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this past August and Jada was immediately enamored with the venue and with the concept of birthday parties in particular, but of all parties in general. 

So now, every time Michele and I take her to Va Beh' she points past the Barclay's Center and asks sweetly, "Mommy, we go to the party?" Most days, we are too busy working to spare a moment to take her across the street to the Atlantic Center but this Saturday I found the time and let her roam free for two hours. She had a blast! She even went crazy for some of the more advanced games like skee-ball. This game is an old favorite for me, from family summers spent on the Jersey Shore, and I was so excited to see that she was in to the game. We stood there and played together, enthralled, for thirty minutes: Jada tossing the balls half-way up the lane indiscriminately and me picking them up and throwing them in earnest to try to get enough points for a cool prize. We walked out with with a Dora notepad and four Sponge Bob stickers. Jada was thrilled!   

Jada and Ryan...

...are loving living together. They are inseparable...

 at the beach with Pop-Pop

 styling and profiling 

 tucked in together at night 

 walking to school together in the mornings

 and most importantly...

 having a lot of fun! 

Home

I made a big clam bake for dinner tonight to celebrate moving in to my mother's house today and to show her my appreciation for letting us stay here as we wait to close on our new house a few blocks away. Old Bay, beer, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes, the works. She, my step-dad and I sat around the newspaper covered kitchen table and left piles of red shells and chewed up corn cobs until our fingers were raw.

Strange and comforting to be home with my parents. I never imagined that I'd ever live with them again, even for a short period. I never imagined that I'd call Staten Island home. It is a new life and a new lifestyle. Comforting to have their support during this transition. Showing me the ropes and taking me under their wings, the support of my parents never fails in any circumstance.

I'm looking forward to more time together and the greater intimacy that comes from sharing days and meals and space. My sister lives in the apartment downstairs, with my four year old nephew, and Jada is already relishing this new arrangement too.