Escarole, Poached Egg and Siracha Soup

There was a blister on my finger from an hour of brunoise-ing vegetables with a dull knife for my mom’s dressing on Wednesday.  But Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast was a tasty reward for the hard work, complete with jalapeno cranberry sauce, sugary yams, juicy turkey, bitter greens and Prosecco.  By the end of the gorge-fest, I only had room for one “Dead Bone” (or “Bone of the Dead”), an Italian clove-spiced cookie that is virtually as hard as bone.  If you heard thunder that night, it was probably just the sound of a bunch of Sicilians in Long Island crunching on Dead Bones in unison.  By some miracle, I still have all my teeth.

Sweet Potato Family Recipe Throwdown

This week I’m reading Chrystia Freeland’s “Plutocrats” and Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh’s “Delivering Happiness".  The first is about the income inequalities between the 99 percent and the 1 percent, and the second is about the history of a multi-million dollar company written by a member of the 1 percent.  Thinking about the 1 percent for the past two weeks has made me temporarily forget to be thankful for the things I have.  

Shrimp with Garlic, Chilies and Mint over Pancetta Radicchio

This weekend, being strapped for cash and in saving mode for upcoming Christmas shopping, I tried to spend little to no money.  This means I was draped on the couch all day Saturday watching cooking shows and reading library books.  For lunch I made a sandwich with all the leftovers in the fridge; pan seared pork, wilted radicchio, candied yams, smoked gouda and arugula.  But what I thought might be a wildly inventive sandwich ended up tasting like something out of a dumpster.  

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

The end of October brought a fright-filled trifecta: the presidential debates, Halloween and Hurricane Sandy.  After the light drizzle that was Hurricane Irene, I was not too concerned about Sandy until the MTA shut down all public transportation.  I’ve never seen my city burdened by flooded subway stations, piles of upturned boats and cars, looting, gas shortages, week long power outages and whole blocks burned down and washed away.  My mom's neighborhood in Long Island is a mess of fallen trees, my Dad has been standing on hour-long lines everyday for gas to run his generator and my cousin unfortunately lost her house in the flooding but thankfully got out safely.  I heard one report of someone pulling a gun at a gas station in a fight for fuel and another report of Rockaways residents barricading their homes to protect themselves from looters.  I couldn’t help but think of the post-apocalyptic setting in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.  Hard hit areas including Red Hook, the Rockaways, Staten Island and parts of New Jersey are still in need of all the help and supplies they can get.  You can find information on donating and volunteering here.  I hope you can help bring some comfort to the victims of Sandy.