Harvest Feast

Thanksgiving is always a very weird time for me.  Being a School Teacher for years I have gotten increasingly more despondent over the American teaching of Columbus, the Native Americans and what Thanksgiving is all about.  Some schools have been worse than others throughout the years.  Some schools completely omit the story, which I feel sometimes is more truthful than what we did growing up.  

I remember growing up making "Indian" and "Pilgrim" costumes out of paper bags and wearing them to school for a big Thanksgiving feast.  Later, when I was enlightened by the more honest story of our Nation's beginnings, I was so distraught that my Teachers participated and had us participate in such nonsense.  In fact, I was downright hurt that these Teachers who I trusted so much would just flat out LIE to us. 

That being said, Thanksgiving is a hard time for me and I have gone back and forth as to whether I would celebrate it at all in fact...but it is hard not to take some time to eat good food and spend time with family, friends and loved ones.  

I like to see Thanksgiving as more of a celebration of the Harvest.  So my sister, her husband and our friends Marek and Kristyna did just that!  We used local, in season vegetables, and cheated with a Tofurky and made a yummy feast to enjoy with one another.   

My sister and her husband found out that their gas was out at their complex, and so we had to get a little bit inventive with the preparation of the feast!  

Honza roasting beets and celery root

highly sophisticated methods of checking food

Malomar happy to be off leash and running around.

Marek wearing his "traditional Czech winter hat" and me in the woods. 

We went on a walk before we finished making dinner and spend some time wandering through an Old Cemetery.  As depressing as this is, in Rye there was a separate African Cemetery away from the dead white folk, in a way off unkept area.  It was sort of humbling to see this and reminded me of how much a Nation can change.  (Not to say that we don't still have a lot of work to do in regards to equality).   

We also took a nice walk in the woods as the sun set.  

check out those dates!  

It is so nice to make an entire meal from scratch (okay okay, except for that processed Tofurky that we have all grown to love).  Here are some photos of our Vegan Harvest Feast! (PS...not to brag, but of course I will...my Brother-in-Law even brewed his own Pumpkin Ale for the occasion! He rules)

curried pumpkin soup with pumpkin seeds

sweet potato mash

roasted beets

tofurky with cherries made by yours truly

My beautiful harvest plate,  I love filling my plate with a variety of colors!

Fused Glass that my sister is currently working on.  She is so talented! 

vegan pumpkin ice cream

whole wheat apple pie and pumpkin ice cream. yum!

Hope you had a wonderful time with friends and family as well!

xoh!

d

What I've Been Up To: Summer, Travels: Part Two

Wow!  I took so many photos during this summer it took days and days to upload the photos, organize them into folders and then go through those photos and only put some up here...you know, to spare you from my absolutely obsessive overwhelming snap happy personality.  

Take a look at this mess!

One good thing for me, is that I never edit photos.  Really...never.  I do not use photoshop to fix any colors/balance or exposure....I do not crop or adjust anything.  This is a personal preference, and I can get into the reasons for it in another post, but during this process of looking through my summer photos, I was SO happy with the fact that I did not have to spend even one more second to edit the photos I uploaded. 
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Here is a more in depth look at my trip to Missouri this summer.  The trip started out with a drive to Pennsylvania, that I took with my puppy.  My mother took care of Malomar while I was away.  

{Pennsylvania}

Tomatoes ripening on the windowsill at my Father's house.

Mom and a neighborhood kitty.

A neighborhood church that we used to skateboard at. We called it Metal Church Berkerser.

Airplane reading.

I don't know about you, but I have been flying for a long time, yet every time the plane climbs through the air and I look out over the clouds, I am completely amazed...as if it has never happened before...as if I am experiencing some miracle, something special. 

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{Missouri}

Dad.

Something that I really can't get enough of in any museum, especially history museums is dioramas.  I remember as a kid thinking that each thing in the diorama was real, like a play was happening on repeat right in front of me.  My love has not subsided, I think they are so cool!

Okay, a quick disclaimer before we get into these.  Yes these are dead animals, yes they are stuffed...Yes I somehow think taxidermy is awesome even though I don't eat meat. 

When I was a student at RISD, I worked at the Nature Lab; which, if you are unfamiliar click on the link, it is pretty much the coolest thing ever to have at an Art + Design School.  There are such fabulous resources there, and I spent hours and hours on end cataloging and organizing the picture files.  I also spent hours and years on end around taxidermy animals, (even some rogue taxidermy pieces, which despite the controversy I think are so great), specimens in jars, and human and animal bones.  This has left a lasting impression on me and so I pet (yes I know) every single one of the animals at Bass Pro Shop that I could reach...and photographed them because I think they are so so awesome.

Sorry that this photo is blurry, I didn't take it, but I like it anyway so I included it! This bear was so great!

These raccoons are so adorable that I ran to each and every one super giddy and pet their soft little heads.  I like to imagine that they died from natural causes.  Sometimes it helps to tell yourself fairy tales while in a hunting shop.

There were also live animals there.  Which I also pet (despite the signs advising me not to).  You can't take me anywhere.

Saddest ever.  My Dad and I went swimming and tried to rescue this little guy from the chlorine pool.  Unfortunately, we were not successful.  This is a photo of him in his last minute of life. We put him in the grass in the shade as his final resting place. 

My Grandpa's garlic.

Explaining the fig tree.

My grandmother.

Family.

I also had a chance, while in Missouri to check out Elsie Larson's beautiful shop, Red Velvet.  Not only did I pick up some of my favorite new dresses, but I got to meet Elsie and her sister Emma and they were just as sweet as you imagine they would be.  A real treat! 

Next up, I will share some summer travels to New England in Summer Travels: Part Three.  Have a great Wednesday!

xoh!

d