thanks(for)giving!

i am so thrilled to be hosting thanksgiving for the third year in a row!
(with the help of joey and his big purple barn of course!)
peter's family will all be heading to portland in 2 weeks...
so far it's a list of 17!
as i have mentioned, and most of you know-entertaining is my hobby.
i thrive on cooking and especially for a group of friends.
i love it all-
planning the menu
grocery shopping
cleaning
using all my beautiful cooking utensils and serving dishes
i love presentation
and of course trying all the yummyiness!

my menu thus far:

APPETIZERS
pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
bacon wrapped shrimp
veggies with feta dip

DINNER
turkey (duh)
steak (because peter hates turkey)
twice baked potatoes
garlic bacon green beans
yams or sweet potatoes of some sort (hopefully the ones pictured)
cheesy biscuits
fruit salad
stuffing (joey's request)

DESSERT
rasberry tiramusu
apple lattice pie
pumpkin cheesecake

DRINKS
champagne with cranberry syrup

i will say that several of these recipes are compliments of hope jensen.
man do i miss her cooking 'class'.
i cannot wait!

i would like to hear what you all are having...
your favorite dishes...
and any suggestions...

i need some reading material...

anyone have any suggestions...

so far this year i have read:

jon krakauer; into the wild
DEFINATLY IN MY TOP 10 BOOKS EVER!

this book was the first full book i had read in 2 years. i was burnt out on anything academic and could not bring myself to read without wandering off into la la land within the first few paragraphs. this book triggered in me what was once a love for literature and transformed reading from a distance to taking the journey with the character.
this book i recommend to everyone who is anyone.
especially to those who are in the 'in-between' stages of life.

shane claiborne; irresistible revolution
because i went to a christian university i have read more christian literature then i care to read in such a short amount of time.
to this day, it is really really hard for me to pick up a christian book and get into it.
only because i must have written over 100 papers on over 100 books, articles, sermons, and exerts. i have heard a lot of different views on christianity...
but everything i have been thinking about christianity and the church is touched on in this book. the good, the bad, and the ugly.
i do recommend this to all who may be looking for an apology from us jerk christians.

augusten burroughs; magical thinking, possible side effects, and dry.
i love him.
i love that he is open with all his issues. i love that he can step outside himself and find out where his problem lies and where it stemmed from.
and in the end the issue always seems a little more less of an issue...
of that makes any sense?
i do not recommend him to people unless they are in for an extremely explicit ride through dysfunction.

james frey; my friend leonard, million little pieces
and yes i know he is a 'fraud'.
and yes i know that he is so 'out'. and has been on everyone's bookshelf for at least 2 years already.
but if you know me-i love anything involving mafia and the mob. and the fact that an old time gangster 'adopted' james frey as a son was enough to make me crack open the book.
i don't care that he lied to oprah...hell i don't even care about oprah.
i think it was well written and abundantly honest.
i do recommend these books to people who are okay with drug usage.

jonathan safer foer; extremely loud and incredibly close
AMAZING.
REFRESHING.
best book i read all year.
from a boys point of view that preserves an innocence that we can so easily forget.
recommend this to everyone.

chuck palahnuik; fugitives and refugees, choke, diary, rant, and parts of lullaby.
we all know who he is:
disturbing
inovative
clever
and always the shock factor.
over the years i have now read almost all his books he has written and but the book that i am most impressed by i read a few years ago; invisible monsters.
out of all the shock and horror, i still think of brandy alexander's story as if she was someone i knew at one point.

chuck klosterman; killing yourself to live and sex, drugs and cocoa puffs
i read killing yourself first.
i thought it was funny and reminded me of steven.
loved the music refrences and loved all the girl 'friends'.
i did not like the sex drugs...
but part of the reason is because i could not identify with it...
and i don't like sports...and it has a lot of it.
recommend it to all who love music and pop culture.

don miller; blue like jazz
yep-i gave in to everyone.
i went into the book trying to hate it (because everyone else loved it).
but it has lots of good points and i liked what he had to say on spirituality.
highly recommended to those who want to read a book on something other then the church.

bret easton ellis, less then zero
being as he is one of palahnuik's inspirations i had to know what he had written.
and if you believe it, it's even more disturbing then everything i had read previous to this point.
only because its about a group of teenagers in los angeles and
captures the greed and selfishness that so many people share.
so the reality of these circumstances is what horrified me.
great author; not recommending it to anyone based on it's extremely graphic tellings of drug use and sexual abuse and dysfunction.

i am sure i forgot some

that was way longer then i intended it to be. for anyone who is still reading, i would love some suggestions...

i forgot to add...

(read last blog first)
i was going to indulge you all in who i voted for...
just because i am an honest person.
it was obama.

i know this will offend all of a 3 people who read my blog.
other then that...most people i have talked to made that same decision.

cheers.

efforts

man alive.
this was my first time voting, and boy i had no idea the extent of what i signed up for.
(although i am very VERY thankful for opportunity to engage).
i try and stay away from all media around election time as to not sway my opinions.
so this morning when i was reading the voters pamphlet was the first time i heard of any of these proposed bills and such.
it took me three hours to educate myself on such matters.
i don't know if there was a faster way to do this, but i didn't get the memo.
all in all, i am pleased with each decision...except...
the presidential vote.
but, alas, i made a choice.
for better or worse- i shall stand for my vote.
come four years down the road, i will be the first to say if i made a bad decision or not.
but all i could do was make a choice on the smorgasbord of information i have consumed.
debates, articles, blogs, opinions, and morals all played their role in my choice.
we shall see...