I saw the plum tree's leaves as red as fresh blood

[sovay]

And now it's raining, in a particularly thin, bitter, wintry way: as if to impress on all the Black Friday shoppers that there is absolutely nothing to be thankful for, especially the Christmas rush. The front of our house is plastered with winter moths, which it has been for the last three or four weeks; they flurry inside every time someone opens a door, after which they turn up in corners of the bathroom, stuck to the baseboards, patiently buffeting up against the white and blue and red LEDs of Orion. The lawn is still green, but the trees are leafless, blackly wet against the unraveling sky. The greyness of the clouds makes even the old fallen leaves look oddly dense with color, hammered down chestnut-colored over uneven turf; dry, day-lit, they will merely look leftover.

Below the cut are some photographs from yesterday, mostly of the mango pomegranate guacamole, which I decided to make after all. For those people within applicable geographic range, I can probably be induced to do so again.




The avocados for the guacamole, shortly after their sticky demise.



The mango and the pomegranate met similar fates.



Also the cilantro, the white onion, and the serrano chiles.



Their loss, art's gain.



And it tasted good with blue potato chips, too.



I have no idea what precisely was going on in this picture. It doesn't help that there's a perspective problem—some pot stacked on the raised end of the island is blocking the action. It was definitely something to do with the Zwiebelkuchen.



Across the island from me, Randi showed off her mad apple-peeling skills.



Somewhere in the world, there is a picture of me in which I do not have red-eye. My brother looks his usual photogenic self. My father appears dubious of multiple forks.



This is their first married Thanksgiving.









Pumpkin flan.



In which my brother demonstrates that our ancient cow-headed oven mitt is, in fact, kind of frightening.



I like this one of my mother. She does not think she looks particularly awake.



But she likes this one of me, and I think I look one neuron short of brain death, so there you go.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I *love* those pictures of your mom--and I love the pictures of the flan :D (Mothers before flans, I always say...)

Also, I very much like the one with you with the piece of cheesecloth in your hand.

And what was everyone's verdict on the guacamole, which I do still wish I could try (maybe you can share your recipe?)

[blubeagle.livejournal.com]

Beautiful picture of you and your mom. And that guac looks yummy.

[gwynnega]

The guacamole and the pumpkin flan look spectacular!

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Lovely pictures! I like the photo of you with your mother as well.

The guacamole sounds and looks brilliant, and are those home-made blue potato chips, or simply more interesting-looking ones than the commercial varieties I've had?

Hurrah for pumpkin flan!

a dish is worth a thousand thanks

[spatch]

Is there nothing more culinarily satisfying than mashing up an avocado? I ask you! I ask even though I don't need to because I already know the answer! The answer is "nothing!"

Looks like you had one heck of a spread there. Thanks for giving the rest of us an opportunity to jealously look on.

[4nt1g0n3.livejournal.com]

Looks wonderful! Nice work on the guacamole in particular :) Its nice to see everyone together, although it makes me wish I didn't live so far away.

[wakanomori.livejournal.com]

The greyness of the clouds makes even the old fallen leaves look oddly dense with color, hammered down chestnut-colored over uneven turf; dry, day-lit, they will merely look leftover.

*perfect* -- I love days like this.

And thanks for the beautiful pictures!

[eredien]

The mango-pomegranate guacamole looks amazing! Glad you had a good Thanksgiving.

I hung up the Christmas lights yesterday and loved being outside in the cold for 4h, but I'm occasionally sturdy like that, as if I'm some kind of shaggy pony.

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

What a gorgeous description of the wintry rain. I always love how colors are enhanced by those deep grey skies and the gloss of rain. I think it made all your pictures that much warmer, the colors, the food, and the smiles. Looks like a wonderful day!

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

What a lovely mother, gorgeous flan, and a guacamole that made me wish I could eat fresh mango without breaking out in bumps.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Zwiebelkuchen. G. commented that you seemed to have produced enough (delicious-sounding) side-dishes for at least two Thanksgiving dinners; I see that it is even more true than she realized.

[ericmvan.livejournal.com]

Could the large amount of moths be due to the death of 95% of the bat population in the Northeast, resulting in an extra 196 tons of (now uneaten) insects?

White nose disease, colony collapse disorder -- Mother Nature is trying to take back the "Death to Flying Things" nickname from 19th century infielder Bob Ferguson. (Except it's probably people mucking up the environment that is ultimately the cause.)