Thanksgiving at the Racetrack

(photos by CJ and Sasha's friend)

This holiday was my second in New Orleans, although it was much different than last year's celebration. I was sad to spend the day away from my family but it was also pretty fun to have the day to eat and play with friends. I joined Diné and extended family for the lunchtime Thanksgiving dinner at her parent's house (Wade gave a special thanks/blessing to the DREAM act hunger strikers in TX - so great). We stuffed ourselves then shuttled off to the Fair Grounds for the big race day at the tracks.

Diné, Kira, Catherine, Stella, and I made wonderful hats at our NOLA version of Stitch n Bitch the night before so we were appropriately dressed for the occasion. Thanksgiving at the Fair Grounds is a popular destination for many faces in the neighborhood, in addition to the families and gamblers in attendance. I was so distracted that I didn't even get to make any bets. The only problem with wearing a super glamorous hat is having to stop and pose for pictures every few minutes. I could have bet and won thousands of dollars if I hadn't been everyone's Micky Mouse! Catherine and Diné, however, won $15 and $2, respectively. Not too bad!

After the last post we headed over to Catherine's for a few hours of drinks on her porch - it was a 83 degrees and humid into the night. Diné and I then went to her cousin Brooke's house to snuggle up and watch the Saints game before returning to the parents' house for several rounds of leftovers. The last stop was enough to turn our evening nap into bedtime.

It felt great to spend the holiday sipping on cocktails without a thought of finals on my mind.

Now back to studying!

Portraits from Friendsgiving

(via)

The Real FG

More pics from Friendsgiving!

(via)

Dinde Dunzo

- 23.57 lbs of fresh bird

- 15 hours soaking in buttermilk brine

- 3lbs of root vegetables, Chinese eggplant, and mushrooms from Hollygrove Market (stuffing)

- 7 hours in the oven at 350-500 degrees

- 1 grease fire (yikes!)

Mikecohen and I spent parts of Friday and much of Saturday roasting our first turkey. It was totally exhausting but it was the most delicious bird ever (no offense, mom)! The secret to the success: roasting the animal upside down.



Next time, a tur-lu-ken!

(photos via MarshMallow)

define:friendsgiving

FRIENDSGIVING rapidly approaches!

Dine, Michaelmartin, and I hatched the idea for a pre-Thanksgiving friend feast one night back in September (who could have coined such a tender term??). We have been so busy with school (me), work (Deedee), projects (MM), etc that we only sat down to talk about it last Sunday. I was pretty sure we had already worked out most of the details as I had been saving the "frenzzzzgiving" memo on my blackberry from the night of its inception. However, when I went to retrieve it, I found we had only gotten so far:

- firecrackers
- portraits
- buttered run (sp)/ginger tea
- crazyass dishes

Darn. Back to the drawing board!

We soon drew up a list of 25+ homies and crafted our plan to accommodate so many guests: a banquet table of three shotgun doors on top of saw horses (so neighborhood typical in so many ways). Michaelmartin and MichaelMarshMallow, hosts, will supply mulled wine, the house cocktail, and pumpkin curry. Dine and Emily are making savory dishes. Everyone else is bringing everything else - though let it be known that this is NOT a potluck. This is a coordinated effort. H8 potlucks. I, perhaps over ambitiously, in a homework and applications-induced moment of insanity, volunteered myself and Mikecohen to make zee turkey. I am kind of freaked out about roasting a 25 pound turkey but am up for the challenge so long as I can make it through the week (first final exam: tomorrow). I am also excited to buy the bird via EBT!

My first three months in the new city have been really wonderful. I couldn't have imagined a more seamless transition from the SFlovefest. Bongo dinners at Treat Ave were a defining and most treasured feature of my San Francisco life. I can't be more pleased to continue the tradition in my new home.

Thanksgiving = genocide

Friendsgiving = genophilia

See you there!

Venice, LA: Extreme Points

Mikecohen, Lu, and I took an adventure trip to the gulf last Tuesday to collect dirt and water samples for his next installation. We followed LA-23 south until its abrupt finish at THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT IN LOUISIANA in Port Eads - a very satisfying milestone!! The end of the earth felt rightfully ominous. We encountered no humans or other animals. The only allusion to life, between the sun-bleached litter and rusted shrimp boats, was the distant industrial noise of jobs/corporate plunder through the wind. Spooky!

We ate po' boys dressed "all the way" at the only restaurant in Venice and stopped in Port Sulphur for samples on the drive home. Here homeboy waded ankle deep in the Mississippi during a thunderstorm to dig up the good stuff. More soggy dirt sampling throughout the city followed, though less noteworthy on account of the monotony of the task.