vroom vroom turkey

finding a brining container for a turkey is a bitch. i hit up three places before finding a stockpot big enough. i had an easier time doing this in china. i was hoping to find a version of the old school granite ware pot my dad uses, but apparently modern peoples who shop at target don't cook anything bigger than a chicken. i finally ended up driving to this weird restaurant supply office-slash-store-slash-warehouse and buying an industrial stockpot from this soft-spoken, dumbo-eared salesman. he's the type that acts polite to your face then probably makes really nasty female jokes behind your back. creepy.

i made the cornbread and pie crusts yesterday, and bought all the herbs and shit the day before at this joint called vitamin cottage natural grocers. wtf?! why does everything here have to have some sort of folksy reference in order to exist? that shit wasn't no cottage - it was a damn store. get over it.

anyway. i found nice chestnuts at the korean superstore (KOREAN CHESTNUTS on the sign in big letters. i guess they're better?) and they're roasted and ready to be peeled. drat. this sort of stuff is much more fun with my sister and my grandma at the breakfast table. here i have trevor cramming for finals, singing 'she's crafty' at the top of his lungs.

this afternoon i'll slide our 11-pound birdie into a vat of chez panisse brine and call it a day. TURKEY DAY!!!!!!!! the best holiday ever. i miss being at home, but since i haven't been home for 2 years on thanksgiving and my sister and cousin are in asia on vacay, i guess having a football-playing, kegger-craving bf who enjoys my food a lot but can't cook or chop to save his life is an ok replacement. he's a good cheerleader and is willing to accept that i don't want to attend a thanksgiving day kegger with some of his peripheral friends. the description of the meal as it was pitched to me went like this: "you should go to john's house for thanksgiving. they're getting a keg and a ton of red wine." no mention of food, and so i mentally vetoed our attendance right then and there. thanksgiving is a huge ordeal (in a good way) as i was raised, and it's all about the food. as a concession, we are going over afterwards with a pumpkin pecan pie to placate trev's beer cravings. i bet he just wants to do a keg stand or a beer bong.

i also don't like eating early. this other dinner will be at 4 pm, which i find bizarre. we always eat thanksgiving, christmas, and easter dinners at dinnertime, when it's dark outside and you're extra hungry. it's weird chowing down on piles of meat and grease-soaked carbs when the sun is still out. call me crazy, but that's my take.

anyway, off to peel these $)#%&^ chestnuts. at least they smell good.