Thanksgiving this year was full of friends and cooking at home. I’m going to NYC this weekend so I stayed home for Thanksgiving this year and invited friends to spend their Thanksgiving with me. Or at least stop by my house after they celebrated with their family. Angela and I cooked a bit on Wednesday night and then a little bit more on Thursday morning before she went to her family’s gathering and I took a nap before the big dinner.

I discovered a new-to-me cooking blog, The Pioneer Woman, and used a few of her recipes, including the turkey brine, turkey roast, and the butternut squash puree. I have to say, the turkey this year was one of my best turnouts. Here’s the proof:

The butternut squash puree was absolutely delicious and I think I’ll make it again at Christmas time for my family.

Of course we had dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy (Angela gets all the props on that one), salad, bread, desserts…and more! About 8 people actually ate dinner with me, and then a few others stopped by after their family gatherings. Overall it was a great dinner!

My weekend in Atlanta was a whirlwind of excitement and we had a great time. The audition went well, but I didn’t walk away with an answer, which usually means it’s time to move on. I’m really proud of what I presented to the judges and casting agents, so that’s all I can do! It was very valuable experience and I’m very glad I went through with it.

But now it’s time to get back to work!

My last post was about going white water rafting and, boy, was that fun! I took the front seat along with Kristin and we steered that raft like pros. I even “rode the bull” over two of the rapids, which means I straddled the front of the raft and held on for dear life as the rest of the crew maneuvered us down the river. The water was cold, the guide was a hoot, and the overall trip resulted in two new friends from Atlanta. Here’s a good shot:

And we get to see those friends this weekend cause Kristin, Tom, Angela and I are heading to Atlanta for my audition for FOX’s MasterChef Season 3. I’ve been hosting tasting dinners over the past few weeks and think I have my audition dish ready to whip up for the casting team. You can see pictures on my Kamikaze Chef site: http://www.thekamikazechef.com.  I’m extremely excited about this opportunity (I even have a “Jump the the front of the line” pass) and I can’t wait to get in there. This could be a life changing weekend for me. I’ve been so fortunate to have a great job for 8 years, but I can’t help but think I’ve missed out on a real passion of mine. If this could help turn that passion into a lifestyle, I would just be beside myself. Wish me luck!

I’m about to head out the door to Kristin’s house and then we are heading down to Chattanooga with a full car. Tomorrow we are going white water rafting, me for the very first time. I’m super excited.

Then Sunday I’m going on Brian’s new sailboat! It should be a blast.

Water weekend, here I come!

Well, I had quite the eventful holiday weekend! For having started the weekend with no solid plans, things really fell into place nicely. Let’s see….Friday night I met some girlfriends for dinner at The Tavern on Broadway (mid-town) which is a pretty cool place. It’s been a number of restaurants over the past few years; this one is distinctly different, so I like that. After, we headed to one of the nearby bars for some patio conversation over drinks. The night ended relatively early for a Friday night and I believe we were all in bed before midnight.

Saturday I accepted an invitation to go out on some friends’ boat and hang out at a popular cove in one of our large lakes. We got to the cove around 10:30am and had a great time. The water was warm enough, but felt very refreshing against the mid-day sun. I hitched a ride on a jetski around 3 so I could make it home in time to clean up to go to a dinner at 5. After dinner, I was pretty exhausted and I just went home to chill out. I knew another big day was ahead of me.

Sunday was pool day at one of my best friends’ condo complex. We sometimes grill out or bring finger foods. I was in the mood to cook in the morning so I wanted to come up with something fun to take with me. I have a bunch of phyllo dough leftover from one of my dinners (due to a misunderstanding of the instructions that said to get 10 sheets, not boxes…) and I decided to make two things, some pastry cups with ground chicken and queso (a healthy version) and then some mini “beouf on croute” bites. For the latter, I made the mushrooms and steak how you would normally prepare it, but I cut the steak into small pieces which eventually went into a triangle shaped rollup along with the mushrooms. The chicken bites turned out really good, but the steak ended up being overdone and under crispy. Oh well, they can’t all be winners.

So after a few hours at the pool, I headed home to, once again, clean up for a dinner. This time it was at 7pm and was one of those hibachi grills for a friend’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and I headed home afterwards. I just couldn’t bring myself to begin partying again!

Monday we went back out on the lake, but with some different folks and just hung out by a popular area to cliff jump. No, I did not jump, but we watched brave people who did. It was a very relaxing time and we stayed for about 4.5 hours. I got to ride behind a jetski on an innertube, which I am feeling today!

As if I hadn’t been in enough water for one weekend, my friend and I went straight to a pool party at a mutual friend’s house. I couldn’t stay too long and needed to get my body out of the sun, so I left a little after sundown. Having eaten very little on the lake and not much at the pool, I decided to meet up with another friend at a Mexican restaurant that was open on the holiday. I ended up getting my food to go and took it over to her house where we watched a horrible movie starring Matt Damon, and I can’t even remember the title. That’s how bad it was. We didn’t finish it and I was about to fall asleep so I ended my holiday weekend by going home and promptly going to bed.

Phew. I’m tired just typing all that and its probably even more tiring to read!

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend and I rented a pontoon boat with 15 of my friends. It was an amazing day. I planned for this party for months and couldn’t wait for the day to arrive. I cooked all weekend and woke up at 6:00am on Monday to start packing coolers and put the last touches on my dishes. The menu consisted of….

Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Chile/Coconut Salad
Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki Skewers
Curried Turkey Salad
Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Pasta Salad
Tzatziki Yogurt dip Dill and Cucumber, served with pita chips dusted with paprika, chili powder, cinnamon and sugar

My friends also came through and brought some awesome dishes, including some pineapple/teriyaki chicken wings, a black bean and corn salsa, fruit kabobs, fresh veggies, and a variety of chips, dips and other snacks.

We grilled on the boat, after finally securing the pontoon so it didn’t run into other boats. At first the grill wouldn’t light. We tried everything, but it seemed like the propane was out. I almost lost my sh*t but luckily someone realized there was a kink in the gas line. Once we un-kinked it, it lit up right away and all was right in the world. :)

I live for throwing these types of parties! People say I should do it for a living, but doesn’t that always result in losing passion for your hobby…if suddenly it becomes a “job”??? I just love that I have a job that pays the bills, challenges my mind, and yet allows me to host and enjoy these types of events. I can’t say I’d turn down an offer to organize a party for a fee, but I certainly don’t see myself going into it as a business and leaving my day job behind!