The Day After

I’ve been grateful for a lot of things lately, but I have to be honest. Today I am just thankful that this holiday is over! How crazy is it for a person who is trying to lose weight, celebrate a holiday that is centered on food? I remember back to my old weight watcher days. The leader would give helpful hints that would lead up to Thanksgiving.  “Just remember to concentrate on the love of family and friends, and not think so much about the food.”  Or, “Load up on a lot of raw vegetables and then just eat the white meat of the turkey.”  Right! Just pass on the cheese platter or the fresh homemade Italian bread that Uncle Chris brought?  We’ve been preparing food since Monday night. Was I really supposed to eat celery and be content to watch my size 0 sister in law eat Brie? The food seemed exceptionally good this year.  (Have I been depriving myself too much lately?) I followed a recipe for brining and roasting a turkey. The instructions were so explicit, it was hard to err. We ended up with a turkey that had dark crispy skin with moist delicious meat.  It produced perfect gravy with flavors of sage, thyme and rosemary. I wasn’t about to pass on the opportunity to put it on everything, especially the mashed potatoes! So, I ate yesterday. I ate with abandon! I am not going to bemoan a day of eating when I have really been so good. Today is a new day. I have plenty of leftovers for the family. I also have plenty of raw vegetables left over. Tonight I will eat raw vegetables and the white meat from the turkey. And I will concentrate on the love of my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to  all of my readers! I am so grateful that I always have something to eat on Patti's Plate. There are many in this world that are not as fortunate. Have a great day. And as a really good friend of mine told me,  "Remember to set the scale back 10 pounds tonight!"

Thanksgiving Eve

Tomorrow may be Thanksgiving, but as far as I am concerned , I could never be more grateful than I am tonight.

 

Dinner.....again

Sometimes I'm not very imaginative. I hate trying to think of different meals to make for dinner. It is especially hard when the fridge is still empty. I did go to the grocery on Monday, but only to pick up a few essentials for Thanksgiving. (i.e., the turkey for brining; more on that later) When I came home tonight, I was still in a quandary as to what to cook. Since I enjoyed my arugula salad so much the other night, I just copied it more or less. - a lot less. When Thanksgiving is over, I will try to get more creative in my cooking.

Kate Mantellini

For the record, I want to let it be known that I actually exaggerated a little bit last night. It felt like I was totally out of control and eating everything in sight. This morning I was able to rethink everything that I ate yesterday, and came to the conclusion that I was actually pretty good. First of all, let me just put this out there. I went to dinner with Mom again. My mother has always been the type of person who is a lot of fun, but who really takes her food and dining seriously. I obviously do too, but unlike me, my mother has always found fault in her restaurant experiences. Some of her favorite sayings are "I like my hot things hot!" "I work like a man, I should eat like a man." "Your serving is a) bigger, b) rarer, c) juicier, d) hotter, etc. etc. than mine." You get the picture? For starters, she was convinced that her Chivas Regal that we ordered her last night was definitely NOT Chivas. Also, as luck would have it, her glass was dirty. Once, we exchanged the drink that the waiter witnessed being poured out of the Chivas bottle, she was left with a glass with "mainly ice" and two small pieces of a lemon twist. She was quite surprised that they would be so "economical" with their lemons. My husband offered to get her a lemon wedge, but by the time the waiter came to the table, the drink was gone "it was all ice" and she decided to have a glass of Chardonnay. She went with the recommendation of the waiter, even though she had "never heard of that wine before."
So, now that the mood of the table has been presented, let's get to Patti's Plate. I actually refused the delicious hot bread that they normally serve, and ordered a steak and arugula salad with a reduced vinaigrette sauce. It was actually so good that I felt like I was overindulging, but in retrospect I was not. We also had an order of sweet potato fries that I should have passed on but I didn't. Another indulgence was my Beefeater gin martini. But, heck. I've always worked like a man. Why shouldn't I drink like one?

The Holidays

I need to learn to control my emotional eating in time for the holiday season. The index card didn't work tonight. I almost ate it too.

The King's Head

Tonight I had the pleasure of taking my Mother out for dinner. We went first to an art show and then tried to figure out what restaurant to go to for dinner. I did not want to spend another Saturday night eating Mexican food. We tried to find something different. We searched from downtown Los Angeles to the San Fernando valley. There were four people in the car, each with their own suggestions. Driving in rainy traffic discussing our options, the ride seemed to take much longer than it should have. We finally settled upon the old Pinot Bistro restaurant which is now an English Pub called the Kings Head. None of us had been there before so we gave it a try. It was warm and relaxing, quiet with white tablecloths. It was a very nice atmosphere even though Mom pointed out that the English are not really "known" for their food. The menu was quite extensive with items like fish and chips, steaks, burgers, salads, and curries. Thank goodness the restaurant was kind enough to substitute the peas that they normally serve with the pepper steak with onion rings for my mother. I gazed at the long menu, and fought the temptation to ease my nerves by ordering something warm and comforting. I took out my index card and read my reasons for wanting to be thin. I then ordered a green salad with strips of chicken. Mom's probably right. The English don't cook that well.