A Thanksgiving menu for all posterity!

This Thursday I'm hosting a bunch of "homeless" (not literally) friends from around the area for a spectacular feast.  Quite a few people are pitching in and I am super excited about the menu, which is somewhat traditional and yet not really:

Dishes to Make:
12-lb. Turkey (Wendy)
Stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes (Grace)
Steamed fish (Vince)
Cranberry sauce (me)
Homemade garlic aoili + stuff to dip (me)
Butternut squash risotto (Candace)
Sweet potato souffle (Genevieve + Scott)
Vegetable tian (Genevieve + Scott)
Rosemary focaccia + pumpkin chutney (Bhumi)
Sweet potato fries (Bhumi)
Some kind of pie (Wendy)
Some other kind of dessert
Homemade (Lactaid) eggnog (me)
Small batch of mulled wine (Gilbert)
Some kind of tasty dish (Michael + Steve)

Things to Buy:
La Brea Bakery bread (Costco)
Drinks + ice (Trader Joe's?)

Halloween Costume: A Study on Frida

In case you haven't heard (difficult, considering I feel like I've been telling everyone), I am going to dress up as Frida Kahlo this Halloween.  The idea just struck exactly the right chord in me, somewhere between hilarious (unibrow), meaningful (amazing woman I admire), and disgustingly highbrow (generally recognized by the cultured/educated among us). Plus it's incredibly high-impact for relatively low effort (I decided to save Penelope for another year, when I have the time to make my own clothes).

To craft the perfect Frida look, I went trolling the internets for pictures of the iconic artist.  I was really stumped for a while on how, exactly, to achieve that braided hairdo she is so famous for.  Was it like a dutch crown ?  or was it like one long braid circled around?  and then I found this incredible old photo of Frida (yes, topless--I hope I don't get reprimanded for posting "porno") braiding her own hair.  Looks like she ties two very high pigtails, braids, then pins at the nape of her neck.

Anyway, love her style or hate it, she was unabashedly herself, always.

Foodie Tuesday Postponed - Let's talk Halloween.

In my attempt to come up with a good Halloween costume, I did some brainstorming tonight.  I scoured my brain for all the coolest characters I could think of--from film, books, and history.  Some I've seen done before... none, I think, is truly original (meaning, someone, somewhere, has done it before), but I don't think that really takes away from the coolness factor.

1. Lola, from Run Lola Run (yes, that is Natalie Portman)
2. Jem
3. Penny Lane from Almost Famous
4. Princess Leia (nighttime)
5. Rogue from the X-Men - more common but harder to execute
6. Aeon Flux
7. Anastasia Krupnik
8. Anne of Green Gables
9. Arwen
10. Chun Li
11. Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
12. Cleopatra (a classic)
13. Dagger from Cloak & Dagger - a good couples' costume
14. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (another classic)
15. Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady - I got to hand it to this chick, what an inventive outfit!
16. Frida Kahlo
17. Juno
18. The Bride from Kill Bill (a bit overdone)
19. Zelda - such high quality execution!
20. A headless Marie Antoinette - very original and creepy!
21. Penelope
22. Princess Leia (daytime)
23. Princess Mononoke
24. Psylocke from the X-Men - I dressed up as her my senior year of college.  Got great reactions.
25. Rainbow Brite
26. Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas (I really wanted to do this last year!)
27. Maria from The Sound of Music
28. Yvaine from Stardust
29. Tootsie!
30. Vicki from Small Wonder
31. Wonder Woman