An Alternative Thanksgiving

Homemade Braided Bread

College is always a weird time. It's a transition of some kind for everyone. For me it's all about the consequences of living 1300 miles away from any form of relation to myself. Sure I chose to move this far away and I really do enjoy the distance most of the time. So long story short, I knew this was coming. It was never a shock to anyone that I decided to spend this Thanksgiving in California.

The original plan was to stay so I could work a bit and to cook my own Thanksgiving with a few close friends. Of course as they say, best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray; as did these. Almost every bit of this plan fell apart, in fact. Close friends became not friends at all and the camp I planned to work was cancelled altogether.

Lucky for me, I have a truly gracious friend, Socho, with an even more gracious family. She needed a ride home so the two of us drove to her house and I shared Thanksgiving, for the first time, with someone else's family. I will be the first to admit that it might have been a tad awkward, even though they were so kind and accommodating in every way. I really didn't want to butt in on their family time. But honestly, it was a relief for me to leave Humboldt County, I'm sort of a "move about" type so three months anywhere is enough to give me the "rampin' sallies" as my family would call it.

My family is pretty standard when it come to Thanksgiving.
Cooking.Football.Eating.Football.Dessert.Football.Sleep, with football still on.

This is my account of Thanksgiving with the family that wasn't mine:

Two of the most important bits of information, Socho is vegan, her mother is a veggie, and her father is a carnivore. Strange combination? Yes. Also Socho's mother is English, so she feels no regret in not following tradition in this case.

Dinner was fairly standard, but it included Toferky sausage, which I admit I really enjoy eating and goes shockingly well with cranberry sauce. In fact, I almost liked it better than the Turkey her father made for him and I. After dinner we watched an array of TV shows from home improvement reality TV to dogs who ate things they shouldn't; which featured, as we should have expected, a multitude of pet vomit. Dessert was actually furnished my me. I went on a baking spree and made both a loaf of bread and Red Velvet Cake Truffles which were consumed for dessert. The only regret: No pie! Although I'm sure my arteries thank me.

On the whole it was not a bad experience, but it did make me realize that maybe the real tradition that should not be broken is spending time with your family no matter how odd or mundane they might be. Cliche, I know and I'm sorry, but I speak the truth.

The glorious and successful Red Velvet Cake Truffles 

Eric Corff Phenomenon

I don't know if any of you know about this Eric Corff bumper sticker phenomenon but apparently it's everywhere. Bumper stickers reading "Eric Corff...What a Douchebag" have been found plastered on street signs and bumpers from Boston to Good Ol' Humboldt County. Word has it they have even been spotted globally in Thailand and New Zealand. It seems to have quite the cult following.

Of course the first question anyone needs answered is: Who is this Eric fellow? And what did he do to gain such a bold title? And why does it deserve to be so widely advertised? Curiosity got me on this one initially but after a bit of research I found that Corff's title came from his time spent living in Telluride, CO. I have a particular interest, because my home town is only a few hours from there. 

After some research this is the story that emerged. Corff was originally from Oklahoma and lived in New York before moving to Telluride, Colorado. The story goes that while living there he began sleeping with another guy's girlfriend. The man confronted Corff and there was a fight that resulted in the man being arrested and spending a few nights in jail as well as Corff filing a restraining order. You should know that Telluride, while it is a very popular ski town, is infinitesimally small. 

The man was asked by a blogging co-worker if he was the one who made the stickers, since he clearly has reason to dislike Corff. But the answer was no, although he did say he thought it was pretty funny.No one as of yet, has come forward claiming to have made them. The mystery of the sticker maker has yet to be solved. 

After hearing the full story, as best as it can be explained by several different blogs, it sounds like a bit of an overreaction to me.  As funny as it might be there are men who sleep with women who are certainly not single all over the world. Not to say I condone it, I'm simply reminding everyone that Eric Corff would not be the first. However he might be the first to have a bumper sticker made and mass produced as a result. Unless there is another story behind it, I wouldn't step up as the sticker producer either. I must admit, from a marketing perspective, the scale is impressive, but possibly unnecessary given the story. 

Finishing Books

I finished a book tonight, for the first time in months. I concede Julie and Julia was not the best book I've ever read, but it kept me entertained. I learned a bit more about French cooking and I proved to myself that I am capable of finishing a book while still keeping up in my classes. It was an accomplishment for that reason alone since although I do enjoy reading; I am often impatient with books and lose interest within the first few chapters. 

The best part of finishing a book, for me, is choosing the next one; unless I've just read an earth-shatteringly great novel then it becomes rather difficult. But since there are only a handful of books I've read that I felt that strongly about, it's usually an extremely pleasant process. I allow myself time to stand in bookstore and just peruse until my vision gives out. 

Thanksgiving is coming up and I am not traveling, in fact, I'm attempting my first Thanksgiving on my own, so I will have plenty of time on my hands. Time I plan to spend reading, watching old movies, and baking my little heart out. Mer has also started me on knitting. I'm attempting to make a cowl, which is like a little mini neck scarf. I'm sure that will occupy some of my time. 

For now I get to wile away the hours, that I should spend doing homework, wandering through the fantastically chaotic shelves at the Tin Can Mail Man, our local used book store. I look forward with anticipation!