New Canadian Thanksgiving

Over the years we've celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a wide range of family and friends. At times we've squeezed upwards of thirty-five people in our small apartment. This year we had a slightly smaller guest list.


Grandma!

There was very little to do to prepare tonight's dinner but I'd say it may have been slightly more challenging preparing dinner for three with two hungry babies around than it has previously been to prepare dinner for thirty-five with no one around at all.



For dinner I didn't stray too far from Thanksgiving norms other than getting an extremely tiny turkey. I suspected it may actually have been a chicken. My butcher assured me that it was just a tiny baby turkey so I believe him. He's never steered me wrong before. Except for that time he took my checking account information because he said a Nigerian prince was going to give me a million dollars. But that was an honest mistake. How could he have known that was actually a clever and elaborate scam!


Things were a bit challenging for Jen as well, mainly because Elliott gave her a headbutt yesterday that knocked out her crown. This presented her with a difficult time of eating dinner as well as saying the word "fifty."


As I prepared dinner I enjoyed a seasonal Harvest Ale from Southern Tier Brewing Company. This was completely different than what I expected but extremely delicious. It had a very pronounced grapefruit juice flavor from the hops but not terribly hoppy. It was a very nice warm up for a celebration of the harvest.

The Canadian harvest.


With dinner we opened this Campomarzo Toscana Rosso. Italian wines are clearly the most appropriate beverage to serve with Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. It's what the early settlers used to enjoy on those long, cold Canadian nights.


For dessert Jen made this tart out of our millionaire apple-picking expedition. Jen made a great tart dough, topped it with apples, baked it, and glazed it with a mixture of sugar and fig jam.

Jen made this because she figured her mum would be sick of pumpkin pie after their Canadian Thanksgiving celebration last night. Sadly Jen's mum was disappointed because after eating pumpkin pie last night, this morning for breakfast, and this afternoon for lunch, she had been hoping to have some more for dinner.

So much for Jen's best intentions.

I fly out for California in the morning so we weren't actually going to do anything for Canadian Thanksgiving but, after a bit of work, it was certainly worth it to not let our traditions languish. It may not have been the giant extravaganza we've had in past years but it was a good way to introduce the boys to this tradition. They are, after all, Canadians.

What better way of celebrating the harvest than by having a dinner of breast milk and baby formula?

Lastoberfest

Yesterday marked the end of my stretch of Mr. Mom time and, sadly, I had to return to work. All three days were rainy but the last two days I managed to get out of the house to take the guys for a quick walk. Yesterday Martin was an angel who didn't cry at all except for when I took him into La Pain Quotidien.

Apparently he shares his father's level of enthusiasm for this particular chain.


After a quick walk I was able to shuffle them into the car and off to pick up another odd mid-week farm share pick up.

This week we got Siberian kale, Delicata squash, leeks, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, potatoes, pumpkin, parsley, eggplant, Jona Gold apples, Empire apples, and Seckle Pears.


After Jen got home from work we enjoyed the last in this year's Oktoberfest beer selection: this Dogtobergest from Flying Dog Brewery. We've only had a few Oktoberfest beers this year but each of them has been excellent. It's not always my favorite style but I think the Oktoberfest beers we've had this year may be turning me around on this subject. Like anything else I guess there are so many poor versions of this beer on the market that they obscure what is, on the surface, a very enjoyable type of beer.


To go along with the Oktoberfest theme I made this roasted pumpkin with sausage, sage, onion, garlic, and tossed in some fresh potato and cheese pierogies. Unfortunately I did not have time to try my new brilliant idea for an Oktoberfest-themed stuffed pumpkin. Unfortunately that will have to wait until next year. Cliffhanger!

Is it still a cliffhanger if no one actually cares?


Tonight Jen made a wonderful salad with apple, pear, feta, red onion, and walnuts. She also made a vinaigrette in a gigantic Ball jar which is one of her favorite things to do. I'm not sure exactly what was in the dressing but the whole thing was delicious.


For dinner we let Mario Batali cook for us. Well, we let his chefs at Tarry Lodge cook for us and had this prosciutto pizza with arugula and tagliatelle with bolognese sauce. It was so good and easy it makes me wonder why we don't have a celebrity chef's minions cook for us every night.


I hadn't intended on writing a blog entry tonight. When I don't plan on blogging I usually pick myself up a nice, large beer that I have had before. Tonight's selection was this Anchor Steam Beer which I blogged about over a year ago during my Classic Beer Weekend. It's just as good as I remember it and I will be visiting the brewery on a work-related trip next week so I am greatly looking forward to having it fresh out of the tap with whatever other beers they have to offer.

If only the Wombats were joining me.


After dinner things somehow degenerated into an impromptu photoshoot. We took pictures of the guys in some of the outfits they've gotten as gifts as well as on top of many of the blankets and quilts that have been crafted for them.


Unfortunately we have pushed laundry off far too long and we were scraping the bottom of the barrel with finding pajamas to dress them in. These were the last two sleep outfits they had left in their drawers. After all it must have been upwards of four days since I've washed every article of clothing that they own. I don't know what I was thinking by pushing things that far.

Enough talk. Time to do laundry.

It's Raining Wombats

Last night after posting the blog entry and having plans for a relaxing evening of putting the babies to bed and catching up on some television. Instead Martin and Elliott launched into a fuss that would rattle the very foundation of our lives. It only lasted a couple of hours but we finally got to sleep around 1:00 AM, bewildered and exhausted.

This was surprising since the previous night they'd had a record-setting seven hour sleep! Even last night, after the fuss, they slept for a solid six hours.


Today they took quite a few unexpectedly long naps. While this was good for my productivity it is a little scary because I wonder if they will just spend all night awake.


After naps I forced them into some tummy time. Elliott used to hate tummy time until he learned that you can treat tummy time as 'lie on your tummy and don't move at all time.' Since discovering this he has had a marked increase in his enjoyment of this morning activity.

While the Wombats enjoyed their afternoon nap I got to work on dinner.


I started with this salad of roasted farm beets and onions, St. Nuage cheese, and toasted pistachios. I drizzled a little olive oil and honey over the top with salt and pepper.


For the main course I took this "Jersey Arm" cut of beef short rib and seared it in a pan with onion, garlic, celery, potato, and chunks of pumpkin. I added some Captain Lawrence Pumpkin Ale, and chicken stock before covering it and throwing it in the oven to braise for two or three hours.



I took advantage of the braising time to bathe both the boys and get them ready for bed. They've really embraced bath time and only fuss a little at the very beginning if I put them down in their bath and they get cold water on them. In all fairness I would probably make a bigger deal than them of this if someone ever put my bare back against some cold water. In fact I'd probably punch someone in the face about it.

Luckily the Wombats lack the kind of coordinated muscle control that would land me a knuckle sandwich.


After bath time we enjoyed the short ribs which came out quite nicely. Of course it ended up being a little warm and humid today as opposed to yesterday's temperatures in the fifties. Braised short ribs weren't quite as appropriate as they may have been yesterday but we usually force the seasons based on our desire to eat seasonal dishes and my desire to use my seasonal beers in an appropriate way.

Sometimes it's more the latter than the former.


As an accompaniment I poured this Fat Jack Double Pumpkin Ale from Samuel Adams. In the scheme of pumpkin beers we've had so far this year this was at the top of the list. It was a rich, malty beer with far less obnoxious spice notes than some tend to have. I've enjoyed all of the Sam Adams Limited Release Beers so far this year and this one was no different.

Here are the current pumpkin beer standings as I see them so far.

2012 Pumpkin Beer Standings:

1. Samuel Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin Ale
   
2. Captain Lawrence Brewing Company Pumpkin Ale
   
3. Fire Island Beer Company Pumpkin Barrel Ale
   

And at that day number two of Mr. Mom has gone off without a hitch. We've tried not putting the TV on at all in an attempt to have a slightly less fuss-filled evening that last night. With a little bit of luck we will enjoy another seven hours of sleep and not have a three hour run of fuss leading to it.

Only time will tell how wrong I am.

The Beginning of Mr. Mom

Today was Jen's first day back at work. So begun my first of a three-day Mr. Mom experience. It was pretty much exactly like the movie except with less Van Camp's Chili product placement and no foxy divorcees flirting with me.

At least that's the story I'm going with.

Unfortunately it rained all day so the Wombats didn't get to enjoy a walk. Instead I spent much of the afternoon educating them on the music of Deep Purple. We started off with a documentary on Machine Head, rounded out the morning with Concerto for Group and Orchestra, then spent the later afternoon listening to The Butterfly Ball, The Wizard's Convention, and watching The California Jam.


Unfortunately Jen had to walk home from the train in the rain but luckily she was so elated to see the boys after a long day at work that it didn't seem to really bother her that she was completely soaked.


After drying off I put out this St. Nuage cheese from Herve Mons with some sliced pears from the farm.


I focused on easy things to make tonight in case I needed to run back to tend to screaming Wombats. Luckily, for me, that didn't really happen. I just halved the butternut squash from the farm, seasoned it with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roasted it. When it came out of the oven I filled it with a mixture of ricotta cheese, olive oil, honey, lemon, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme from the farm.


I also pan roasted a swordfish steak and served it with butter and fresh thyme.


To celebrate the season of pumpkin beers we had one of approximately four thousand gimmicky pumpkin beers that were released this season starting in mid July. This was the Pumpkin Barrel Ale from Fire Island Beer Company. I haven't had anything from this brewery before so it would not be fair to judge them based solely on their pumpkin offering. That being said this was not my favorite pumpkin beer. This was the most cinnamony beer I've ever had and it made almost a burning feeling like cayenne in the back of the throat. It also reminded me of those fireball candies that you have when you are a child then disappear from your life never to be seen again.

I've had more enjoyable beers but I look forward to trying one of their non-pumpkin offerings in the future.


Jen baked an apple cake with a tiny percentage of the apples we have from our extremely expensive apple adventure. This was dense and delicious and went great with a screening of Mr. Mom. Yes, that's right: a screening!

If that weren't enough we then rolled right into Gung Ho. What's better than one movie about struggling American auto workers in the early 80s? Two movies about struggling American auto workers in the early 80s.

Cousins and First Grade Teachers

This past Saturday began with another blitz of weekend visitors.


Martin was very excited to meet his cousin Marilou and do a FaceTime chat with his other cousin Anne-Marie. Martin is now well ahead of me in FaceTime hours logged. Martin's father is two iPhone models behind the curve now. Perhaps if I can talk to Martin and Elliott about reducing their diaper usage and formula consumption I will be able to upgrade to the iPhone 5 soon.

If they love their father they will do this for me.


After a visit from our Canadian cousins it was time for Grandpa Butch and Nana STIM to come visit the Wombats.


Martin doesn't want his image being sold to News of the World.


As a special surprise my parents also brought my first grade teacher over! The boys took to her very well. Are you wondering why my parents would bring my first grade teacher over to visit?

Well too bad. I'm not going to tell you why.


Each year there are exponentially more pumpkin beers on the market. This year I have already stocked up my cabinets with at least ten or fifteen different varieties being careful not to duplicate any of last year's selections. Before dinner we all enjoyed this Pumpkin Ale from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company. This is a beer local to the area, brewed a mere eleven miles from here. It was a good way to ring in the obnoxiously long pumpkin beer season.


My mother brought two giant pumpkins stuffed with cornread, sausage, and kale. This was her version of my take on her classic stuffed pumpkin recipe.


With dinner we had this nice cabernet franc from Herricks Lane on Long Island.


After our guests bid us farewell we headed back to Longford's for a chilly fall ice cream run and celebrated our pumpkin-themed day with their pumpkin pie ice cream. I've had some shabby pumpkin ice creams in my day but this was was excellent, tasting exactly like pumpkin pie in an ice cream cone.

After our busy day we settled down for a relaxing evening with the Wombats and started to wish that our building would turn the heat on soon. I suppose the chilly weather in our apartment gives us a good reason to have extra snuggles with the babies but it would be very nice if our snuggles were more elective based on our love of family and not so much on a need to survive the harsh New York fall.

In New York parenting is a game of survival.