Five Senses Friday

This edition spans a few weeks of sensory goodness

See:

A woman with an expensive baby carriage start to walk over a bridge while a group of men who have a camp under the bridge talked below- this juxtapostion has haunted me all week

fuschia flowers on my Christmas cactus

our new prelit Christmas tree ready for action in the living room

300 people gathered to celebrate the grand opening of A Better World Cafe, where I am the chef/manager

Media coverage of the cafe from The Star-Ledger and ABC Eyewitness News

beautiful mixture of greens- oakleaf lettuce, red russian kale, green lettuces, beet greens

colorful salad of beet, pumpkin, green bean, red onion, feta and walnut salad

sun streaming into the kitchen during morning prep

The process of Sweets designing our holiday cards

my mother's Fiestaware collection

Bruno

Food Inc.

The Golden Compass

Merlin, the white cat from the neighborhood, lounging in our garden

Smell:

roasting carrots

rosemary, oregano, sage and thyme

ground ginger

pumpkin gone bad (not a good smell. eew)

Taste:

Vegetarian shepherds pie- lentil base topped with sweet potato crust

cranberry orange relish the way Grams used to make it

pasta with white beans, chicken, roasted acorn squash, scallions and herbs

almond croissant made by our culinary students

really good wonton soup

pumpkin whoopie pies

sweet potato-pumpkin pie topped with pecans

horseradish pickles from Picklicious

Yancey's Fancy habanero & jalepeno  cheddar

amazing bread

Hear:

The Big Pink

falling rain

sad news that a friend's mother has passed

happy news that a friend and his wife are expecting their first child

an invitation to dinner

compliments about the cafe's food

family voices on long distance calls 

convection oven's blower

pages tearing from a magazine

Feel:

vintage table linens

heavy piles of magazines for recycling

christmas tree branches

wedges of brie

loaves of homemade bread

wool sweaters and chenille socks

Comments

[susanna]

Aside from the sad news about your friend's mother passing away, you have a really good list here. Sounds like you've had relaxing holiday weekend. Pumpkin woopie pies?! YUM! Where'd you find those? The tradition of putting of Christmas trees and holiday decorations on Thanksgiving is an American tradition that I'm fond of. And congratulations on the successful opening at the restaurant! The butternut squash soup was yummy! I'll certainly be visiting there again.

I hope your December is just as wonderful as November, Rachel. :)

[Andie Freeman]

Thank you for sharing your list. What a nice way for me to start my morning so I can be more aware of the senses I use today!

[jessica]

all those ups and owns. sigh. but congratulations on the opening!