Old Meets New Thanksgiving

Good evening everyone!

Hope this post finds you happily stuffed and tired as I am 🙂 Today began sooo bright and early with a 6 a.m. alarm to get me up for my Turkey Trot 5k. Just an FYI, this is not a race recap of glory! Quite the opposite, I was hurting from the start. Despite a 10 p.m. bedtime last night I was not feeling so hott when I woke up this morning; tummy troubles and a couple crazy weeks of grad school hit me hard. I couldn’t give up…something about a $20 entry fee and the thought of a pre-feast workout got me out the door.

When Eric and I hit the road today the thermometer read 22 degrees!! Not only that, but we were traveling North…meaning colder! I went back and forth on whether I should race the entire ride. Eric supported me either way so that was no help, the decision was in my hands. After meeting up with Jackie (my brother’s girlfriend) and her sister and friends, I knew I was in. I got in a last bathroom trip (2 minutes before the start!) and headed into the field to begin our Turkey Trot 5k Trail Run. The race started in the middle of a huge field (imagine people lined up as wide as a football field and 30-50 yards deep) and filtered into a carriage road that went through the woods. The crowd was tight and the trail was narrow; leaves covering rocks and roots did not help. After about a mile I told Eric to go on without me, I was dragging and he was clearly on a great run. About 5-10 minutes after he left me it happened: I hit a large tree root coming down a hill and fell, slamming my right quad onto the second half of the root. I was a dusty mess, facing backwards in the trail. A few kind people stopped to pick me up (yes I was lifted by on-lookers) and pat me on the back. I stepped off the trail for a moment to gather myself, choke down the tears, and regroup. I was totally cursing myself at this point for even getting out of bed but it was halfway through and I was NOT giving up. I alternated running and walking and finished out the rest of the race at a respectable 36+ minutes. It was about 5 minutes slower than my current PR and considering my injury and condition I’m not complaining! It left for a good story and an even better bruise tomorrow. And I am also so proud of Eric for a making up huge lost time (running with my slow butt and navigating around masses of people) to finish with a 30:30 time!!!

So after coming home and taking a long and hot shower I refocused my attention to the best part of the day: FOOD!

This Thanksgiving, being my first one as a pescatarian, I decided to up my culinary game and try a few new dishes. No good meal could start, however, without a little vino:

The Oak Leaf Merlot was great! I am usually not a merlot drinker (hence the Redwood Creek Pinot Noir nearby) but I really enjoyed this one, nice and smooth!

I titled this post Old Meets New because my parents always throw a traditional New England style Thanksgiving and I snapped a photo of their turkey to depict that:

It was a 22 lb. bird and from what I heard it was cooked perfectly. They stuffed it with my dad’s family’s traditional pork stuffing (really good and the part I of meat-eating I missed juuust a little bit).

Also included as a family staple was my grandmother’s traditional green bean casserole:

Just the way you remember it 😉

My sides were heavy on the green. First off, kale sauteed with EVOO, salt, pepper, and a bit of nutmeg:

I was really glad I made this because it was something really healthy and hearty to fill up on to make me forget about the usual sides that would have filled my plate. Next up for greens was my Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Apricots and Nutmeg:

The were such a hit! The apricots sweetened them up and the nutmeg (fresh ground) gave them a savory depth that was fantastic. Excited that there were some as leftovers for me!!

To make sure I didn’t miss the turkey I made my favorite fish, salmon, for my entree:

This was a great and simple recipe, perfect with all the wonderful sides. All I had to do was preheat the oven to 350, put fresh lemon juice, salt, and pepper on the salmon, and bake for 20 minutes. The tray set up, a baking rack over the cookie sheet, kept the salmon really firm and tender. Simple perfection.

My final plate also contained plain butternut squash and a sweet potato (steamed and mashed ) with a little cinnamon:

It was honestly such a great meal. I was grateful for my aunt who sat next to me, a former vegetarian, who has been really supportive of my transition (and understanding that I come from a hunting/meat eating family). Not included in my photo, but happily consumed, was my mom’s spiced cranberry sauce. Dessert was glorious and mine included pumpkin pie, pear cranberry pie with oatmeal strussel, and a few 0f my grandmother’s “forgotten cookies” aka meringues with chocolate chips and walnuts, SO GOOD!

Overall we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My new food choices did not hurt the day one bit. After the big crowd had left I got to spend some quality time with my mom, dad, brother, Eric, and Jackie. We had some laughs playing a dice game, LRC, during which I won 30 quarters!!! All that’s left right now is my mom (asleep on the couch), dad (also asleep on the couch) and myself…half watching A Mircale on 34th Street.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone and welcome to the Christmas Season!!!!

lots of love,

Em