The Thanksgiving holiday was very mellow — just Kin and I (and Poppy). But one can feel the energy/excitement/anxiety building for the holidays here in the city. So while we were as relaxed as possible, everyone else is increasingly getting into that frenetic mode that makes this time of year a little unbearable.
On Tuesday, I picked up a CSA from the neighborhood garden project — I bought two shares, donating one. Even with just one share, it was almost 100 pounds of vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, squash (butternut, honey nut, delicata, acorn), sweet potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, yellow onions, red onions, fresh sage, fresh thyme, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, arugula, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, beets. I've cooked and baked and steamed and frozen and barely made a dent in it. I complain a lot about the quality of the produce at the neighborhood grocery store, and I am definitely going to join this CSA in the spring. I can't believe the bounty. Thanksgiving indeed.
The cooking: I made a cheesy broccoli quinoa bake; beef pie with a cheddar cheese crust and on the side, a kale and Brussels sprouts salad (except no fresh Brussels at the grocery store) so it was all kale; a pumpkin pie (with the honey nut squash from the CSA); on Thursday, I roasted chicken with Helen Rosner's method for schmaltzy cabbage, which I served with dressing, mashed potatoes (Martha Stewart’s cream cheese version), gravy, — absolutely nailed the meal; collard greens and cornbread dumplings; crispy tofu and broccoli, with spicy cabbage and brown rice
We didn't dine out this week, with the exception of the usual Absolute Bagel run on Saturday morning.
The reading/listening/watching: podcasts — Barbell Medicine, Rethinking Wellness, Hidden Brain, and Nobody Asked Us. Books — Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, cont. I finished reading Candy and System Collapse and I started Verified — or I will start it today. I signed up for Stacey Sims' course on menopause and athletes. I don't love it — she hawks a lot of supplements — but I'm trying to be good about doing a little bit each day. Small doses are more tolerable. TV — we started latest season of Fargo. Kin watched Oppenheimer, but I didn’t pay attention — I don't love watching TV. I did, however, watch the documentary Your Fat Friend. Friday night, we went to the opera — a first for both of us — and saw X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. It was very moving — a blend of opera and jazz.
Sporting — I picked up the race bib for my final race of the year, the Ted Corbitt 15K. (God, I am really not physically prepared to race a 15K.) I'm working on extending my long bike ride each week — I made it one 1 hour (13 miles), with a pit stop to get the bike brakes done. I also rode to and from the gym on Wednesday and Friday. I have dramatically cut back on yoga, although I really notice when I don't do the mobility work. I'm still trying to get in the habit of doing plyometrics regularly. I managed to remember to do so a couple of times, at least. I swam, as per usual. I lifted — filming my squats and my deadlifts. It was actually quite interesting to see them — to compare how it feels with how it looks. Although I shared the videos on Instagram, I'm not going to do that regularly — too many randos commenting — but I am going to start filming myself more often, just so I can be a better coach to myself. And as for running, I'm trying to keep the mileage up, at least through Saturday's race — so I did 6 mi on Tuesday, 6 mi on Thursday, 5 miles on Saturday, and 10 miles on Sunday.
Second Breakfast — the usual publishing cycle: recipe, essay week-in-review, except in lieu of an essay, I sent out a survey. I also worked quite a bit over the weekend on the next episode of the podcast, which should go live on Thursday.
IKEA delivery — a chair/bed for the office (for Kaia, who's coming for the Xmas holidays) has yet to be assembled. But it's sitting in the office, taking up space. NYC apartments are definitely not conducive to house guests, but it's going to be great to have Kaia here. We have a lot planned, including some ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza.