It starts tomorrow!

I'll be winging my way to SF tomorrow for the first annual FoodBuzz Blogger Festival! I'm nervous (I don't know anyone else who is attending) but I'm excited! I'm signed up for an olive oil tasting and a seminar about California's sparkling wine. There's the prospect of a big cup of Blue Bottle Coffee's Giant Steps in my future. That alone is enough to have me stepping out into the great unknown. I'll let you know what I find!

"One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do"

The first half of this list comes from the New York Times. Here are a few of my favorites:

2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.

5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.

8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.

12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.

17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.

The next 50 will be published next week. What do you think will be on it?

I've got Thanksgiving on the brain.

I can't be the only one, can I?

Growing up, I really didn't like Thanksgiving. If Thanksgiving was at our home, it meant days of careful housecleaning, not touching the "special" soaps and hand towels in the bathroom, and feeling the stress radiating off my mother (sorry, Mom! I was always too sensitive.) If it was at another relative's home, it meant hanging out in a Laura Ashley dress with white tights and a pair of Sam and Libby's for hours. My brother and I were much younger than the rest of our cousins, who weren't too interested in interacting with us during the hours of football and dinner prep.

The meal that was eventually served was very different from the fairly simple and healthy fare we usually ate. The mashed yams with baby marshmallows on top seemed too sweet, the green beans mixed with cream of mushroom soup and topped with fried onions was strange and salty, and I didn't know how to pick a tasty morsel of turkey from the mound of carved slices. I didn't like pie or Cool Whip, so dessert didn't do much for me. Sorry, folks. It just didn't do it for me.

The long day felt long and uncomfortable and a little lonely and I didn't understand, even in college, why people had an almost fanatical love for the holiday.

When Patrick and I got married, we decided (at the urging of our priest) to make Thanksgiving "our" holiday. We'd watched lots of our married friends engaging in UN-level negotiations around the holiday seasons-- Thanksgiving this year is at his grandmother's house because it is a leap year but next year we'll have to be at my mother's the day of Thanksgiving and the day before to make up for it but I don't know if his mom will be okay with that and... It's much simpler and a lot more fun to just say, Thanksgiving's at our house. Come one, come all.

Taking ownership of this holiday has finally taught me to like it, and I'm starting to even get to the point where I kind of love Thanksgiving. Kind of. It's still a lot of work!

What about you? What's on deck? Are you looking forward to it or dreading it or a little bit of both?

A new house, a new dog, a new (insane) work schedule... I'm sorry, most favorite of blogs. I miss you. I miss writing about food and using the blog as an excuse to try new things.

In the meantime, you can glance at my new project-- One Million Steps. Why in the world would I take on a challenge like this in the middle of one of the most stressful periods of my life? I don't really know, but maybe I'm just learning that I need to take care of myself especially when it's most inconvenient.

CocaCola Cupcakes!

These cupcakes are really easy (cake mix easy), tender and flavorful. By reducing the CocaCola a bit over low heat, you concentrate those weird-but-delicious Coke flavors. You'll use most of it in the cake itself but a little in the frosting really boosts these up. You can decorate them any way you like, but I feel a sour cherry candy on the top is just right.

If you can, get your hands on some CocaCola from Mexico-- it's made with really sugar and comes in the green bottle! They sell it in flats at Costco. You can also through Amazon but it's pricey. I think BevMo might carry them as well. Seek them out-- they taste like the Coke your remember from your childhood.

For the Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 package (18.25 ounces) chocolate cake mix (not devil’s food—the less intense the chocolate flavor, the more you’ll taste the Coke)
1 12-ounce CocaCola
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup peanut oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

How To
Pour the CocaCola into a sauce pan and set over low heat. Slowly reduce the Coke until has reduced down to one cup. It’s okay if it reduces a little more than that. Let cool.

Preheat your over to 350 degrees and ready your cupcake pans. Place the cake mix, 3/4 of a cup of the reduced CocaCola, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend well, scraping often. Pour the batter into your waiting cupcake liners.

Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (15 to 20 minutes). Let cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting
Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
remaining CocaCola
1 stick of butter at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

How To
Place the sugar, butter, CocaCola and vanilla in the bowl of your electric mixer. Whip with the whisk attachment until light and fluffy.

Our new kitchen floor cleaner!

Meet Ginger, the newest member of our kitchen cleaning crew!

Well, that's just depressing.

My favorite food magazine, Gourmet, will stop publication in November. I am so bummed! I have about 3 years of back issues and tons of their books (still in storage) but that's not going to keep me salivating while waiting for flights or shaping my Thanksgiving offerings or making me want to get out there and eat. Sigh.