Somehow I allowed this year's release of the beaujolais nouveau to pass unremarked, I'm not sure why. But I had my first taste of Georges Duboeuf's 2001 Nouveau last night and it was taste-T! Light and fruity, almost fizzy on the tongue, full of flavor and verve, I loved it. I'm looking forward to drinking several more bottles before the stock is depleted. I think it may be my favorite wine of all, simply because it's so drinkable and in limited supply. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, perhaps you should check out this 10 Fascinating Facts Every Wine Lover Should Know.

In an attempt to avoid doing all my Thanksgiving work on Thursday, I've created a schedule for getting prep done in advance. Crescent roll dough is now rising in my kitchen. In a little while, I'll go make my cranberry chutney and blanch my green beans. Tomorrow is the bigger day: brine the turkey, prepare pies (apple and pumpkin), and roast butternut squash. By Thursday, I'll hardly have anything to do at all, so I'll be able to hang around with all my wonderful friends and enjoy the day.

Speaking of prep work: the word on the street is that brining is the way to go.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, Sauté Wednesday has some great links related to the holiday, including information on how to brine and how to carve your bird.

I'm going to be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 on Thursday (hopefully I'll document it for my cooking section if I can get Jason to take some pictures). Since the day is fast approaching, I called some local markets to enquire about turkey prices. Last year I settled on a Willie Bird, a free range turkey from Sonoma, and it turned out quite well. This year though, I wanted something better, something that would really demonstrate to my guests how much they mean to me. The choice was clear: A Branigan. The woman on the phone explaned to me that this bird is considered the "Cadillac" of turkeys. Nothing says "I love you" more than a Cadillac, right? Alas the price was prohibitively high, and I reserved instead a Diestel. Why does that sound so much like Edsel to me?

The Leonid meteor showers last night were totally cool, except that the fog flirted with our viewing area and finally rolled in for good around 2:30 am. I didn't notice of course, because by that point I was fast asleep. I just can't stay up late anymore, no matter how hard I try. But what I saw was amazing.

The meteors were big (at least to my eye), zipping across the sky with plumes that I swear were colored. Though other observers didn't concur, I thought I saw touches of red and green in the tails. At first the stars were really bright, and I wished I knew more constellations. Then the meteors began, zipping here and there, bright flashes in the sky. And then that stupid fog. And that cold damp air. And that sleepy sleepy feeling, even though I strove to keep my eyes open. Then our sky succumbed to the clouds and we decided to leave. But from the back seat of the car, I spotted one more glorious meteor, bursting across to the east above an open field as I drifted off in the warm cozy car, headed towards home.

I've been thinking a lot about how the last four to five years (the dot-com era) prided itself on zany and out of the box thinking, recalling that breaking the rules was the norm. But zaniness was simply a cover for immaturity, and what was labelled out of the box thinking was merely a lack of business acumen. True paradigm-shifting, revolutionary thinking is rare and hard to come by, and most folks just aren't that smart. Instead, people did whatever they wanted, whatever felt good, and labelled it a new way of doing business. And everyone else agreed.

The Exploratorium (here in SF) is running an old Charles and Ray Eames exhibit called Mathematica:
A World of Numbers and Beyond through May 2002. The purpose is make abstract mathematical concepts more real through demonstrations including, "light bulbs and plastic balls that express complex concepts in math." Sounds fun, and if you've ever seen the Eames' film Powers of Ten, you know they can take the word "obscure" out of mathematical concepts.

We took our first pilgrimage to the new Krispy Kreme last night. It was a mob scene, with security guards directing traffic and a line for the Drive-Thru that looked like the start of the Indy 500. Inside, a snaking line led customers past the Konveyor belt (I don't know if they spell it that way but they should) where we watched mounds of dough get formed into rings, ride up and down as they flowed through a heated rising unit, stared as the now-plump dough dropped into vats of oil and floated down stream, flipped, and finally passed beneath the sugar waterfall. Coated, plumped, and warm, they finished their journey down the final stretch of the conveyor belt, into a box, then into our tummies. They simply melted in our mouths.

And breaking news!!! Next door to the Krispy Kreme, under construction? You guessed it, another one of California's favorite spots to pack on the pounds and clog the arteries: an In-an-Out Burger. Daly City, you're my hero!

OH!!! How did I forget to tell you this? There's a new Krispy Kreme in Daly City. Just opened! I saw it last night from the freeway. From the KK site:

Daly City, CA! The HOT Light Is Now On!

Daly City, CA – Now serving HOT doughnuts in Daly City. We are located at 1575 Sullivan Avenue (off Hwy 280 at Washington & Sullivan). Call us if you need directions 650-985-5612.

Store hours:
Sun – Thurs 5:30 am to Midnight
Fri – Sat 5:30 am to 1:00 am
Drive-thru is open 24 hours a day

A quick maps.yahoo.com lookup confirms my joy: 6.6 miles from my house. Approximate travel time: 16 minutes. Anyone for some donuts?

Can this be the source of my troubles? I just noticed this Business 2.0 Web Guide has me listed as "Megan." Though it's from an old interview, perhaps people are still finding it? Suggested new tag line for Biz 2.0: "Our fact-checking is short on facts."

Several people have written to commiserate about the name thing. Seems there's a lot of us out there that like to be called by the names or nicknames we chose for ourselves. Makes sense.

Home. Sweet. Home. After being away so long, it seems strange here. Sticky and humid. Soft, in a no-hard-winter, no-leaves-to-rake, no-crisp-autumnal-air way. And worst of all? My kitty doesn't even seem to remember me. 🙁