Robot Journal : TurkeyDay 2006: Hello LA

11/30/2006

The Word
Extraordinary.
That's the word I have decided to use to describe our Thanksgiving break in LA.

The Cheap
Let's say you wait until two weeks before TurkeyDay to buy plane tickets.
First: That's not a good idea.
Second: It will exasperate your spouse (Or Stu depending on who you are).

Here's how to get to LA for TurkeyDay in a somewhat cheap manner:
· JetBlue.
· Fly into Burbank instead of LAX (which is closer to where we were going than LAX in the first place).
· Leave Thursday morning early. Arrive in LA @ noon.
· Fly out Monday instead of Sunday.
God bless time zones, at least on the way out.

The Dinner
(oh what is this "The" thing I seem to of adopted?)

My good pal Kristy (and former college roommate) and her husband Matt (Works in the movies – his first camera job ever was a Tracy Lord's porn flick when he was 17) live in Silverlake.
I always want to call it Silverfish.
It's all funky and shit. By "funky and shit" I of course mean "lovely (and funky and shit)"
Their yard has lemon and lime trees. And basil trees.

Thanksgiving was fan-tab-ulous.
Kristy, even in college, was a great cook. She still is.
I won't list all the good stuff, but suffice to say it was all superb.

OK. I'll list a little:
· deviled eggs
· turkey (aprox. 40lbs I think)
· ham
· dressing with spicy sausage in it
· cranberry with something spicy in it
· homemade tortellini
· gravy gravy gravy
· multiple casserole/pies involving potatoes and/or green beans
· and like 20 other dishes
· awesome wine (The Sea Smoke Pinot Noir was wicked good)

The Dessert

After dinner I opened a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem that I had brought with me (I routinely travel with $200+ dollar bottles of wine (not really)).
I poured it, Mark set up his super-8 projector and screen in the backyard and we watched footage from Kristy & Matt's wedding.
Perfect end to the evening.

The Fun Wine Facts (or The Kids Guide to Sauternes)

d'Yquem (easy to pronounce – it sounds like "Dee Kim") is a wine from the commune Sauternes which is a little nook of pretty land in Bordeaux.
Here are the fun facts:

1. Due to climate conditions (lots of fog in the mornings) the little grapes get a fun rot on them near harvest time. This rot shrivels the grapes into nasty looking little raisin things that basically only contain drops of super saturated grape stuff - like sugar.
They pick the little shrively grapes one at a time by hand.

2. It is sweet, but crisp.

3. It will age for a hundred years and get better.

4. There's a whole classification system in Bordeaux (they set it up in the 1800's).
d'Yquem is at the very tippy-top and is the only one at that level.

5. It tastes a little like moldy/rotty grapes – but in a good way.

(note: disclosure here - i have a bit of a business relationship with this here wine - but still. c'mon.)

The Bloody Friday
The Friday after TurkeyDay, Matt & Kristy celebrate Bloody Friday.
The celebration consists of:

1. Bloody Marys
2. James Bond movies
3. Leftovers
4. Laziness

Brilliant. I think we should all do this.
That morning, we joined K+M for a morning hot-tub soak and then trotted over to Cafe Tropical for the perfect hit-the-spot egg/cheese sandwhiches and cafe con leche.

It was a good day.
Lots of bloody marys, leftover turkeyday food, and a lot of Dr. No on the slow-mo frame-by-frame mode when Ursula was on screen.

Later that night we snuck out and went to the little japanese neighborhood for kick-ass ramen. No, really. It was kick-ass ramen.

comments[8] | 11/30/2006 | perma-link

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