To which F word am I referring?
No, not THE F word.
No, not that F word either.
Though I suppose now would be as good a time as any to address my flat-out failure as a blogger. Sí, I am referring to the fact that I set a new personal record by abandoning blogland for 10 días. Lo siento.
(If it wins me any bonus points, I ate my way through approximately half the bag of Newman’s Alphabet Cookies to dig out the letters in the picture above. FML?)
The F word I’m addressing in this post is actually the reason behind my impromptu hiatus.
FAMILIA.
Of the many Fs in my life—food, fitness, fashion, Fage—family is numero uno. So when some unexpected family matters arose—and were followed by longer-than-usual visits from la hermana y los abuelos—foodie biz took a backseat.
However, this does not mean that food was not had. In fact, when mi familia is involved, there is an influx in both quality and quantity of food consumed. This would be one of the primary reasons they are numero uno in my book.
During my diez-día hiatus, I managed to photograph nearly all of the fabulous food with which my face became acquainted. This has left me with 367 fotos. Let’s do some math. 367 pictures bestowed upon 1 failure of a food blogger who just took a 10-day vacation=OVERLOAD.
Instead of trying to fit 10 days of eating—and I should emphasize that these were 10 days of my eating…on ‘roids—into one post, I will share the DOS best food y familia-filled meals that were had during my absence.
The first is, of course, Thanksgiving!
Better tarde than never…
Tofurkey Day kicked off, as it usually does, with mucho traffic.
More than average mucho traffic + thirsty hermanas + approx. 293829228438433 “Are we there yet?”s from la boca de Dora=very necessary Thanksgiving day pre-game at…
Large sweet teas and small french fries were a great idea because (a) la hermana, Dora y yo were all in much better moods post-fueling and (b) this detour prompted the GPS to re-route us on some obscure non-trafficky highway. Success!
After too much tiempo on the road, we finally arrived to our familia’s Thanksgiving destination, Aunt Lauren’s.
Within five minutes of stepping foot in la casa, I had a glass of vino in hand and was ready to multitask.
TG multitasking=simultaneously schmoozing and cheese and cracker consuming.
I am well-versed in the way of this sort of multitasking. And I was all about that apricot cheese. AMAZING.
By the time I was through schmoozing and snacking, the cheese stood alone.
With some remnants of Kashi crackers…
In true Thanksgiving style, the pre-meal vino y queso left me full before dinner was served.
Not too full for pumpkin sopa.
Increible.
Gigi had a less enthusiastic response.
I believe her words were, “why does it taste like this?”
Onto the main event:
Traditional comida like turkey.
And traditional-comida-if-you’re-Jewish (or Chewish), like brisket.
Mashed taters.
Cranberry.
Y cranberry relish.
And wild rice with dried cranberries and raisins and some other magical ingredients that made this TG-newbie one of my favorites.
On the veggie front, roasted butternut squash, peppers and onions.
Roasted zucchini.
Roasted shrooms.
And now for the tres Thanksgiving staples that I look forward to all year:
Sweet potato casserole.
This year la fam made it with chunks of pineapple—which took it to a new level of deliciousness.
String bean casserole.
And CORNBREAD.
Cornbread is among my top five favorite foods. Addiction.
Mi plato.
I cannot tell a lie. I was so full from wining, cheesing and souping that I had to stop after eating 1/4 of the way into this plate.
Fear not. I took a half-hour power nap and, in true foodie fashion, awoke with a renewed appetite. I cleaned the plate and then some. (The then some came mostly in the form of the cranberry wild rice because it was ridiculo!)
After another power nap, I got my third wind and began to ponder my dessert strategy.
The following piqued my interest.
Banana creme pudding, apple pie, chocolate cream cheese pudding pie and strawberry cupcakes.
I decided on a pudding duo.
Chocolate cream cheese pudding pie con whipped cream.
And banana creme pudding.
A new Nilla wafer-infused Thanksgiving favorite courtesy of my newest aunt, Jenn.
And with that banana creme wonder—there may have been un pequeño second helping—Thanksgiving concluded.
I know I said I was only going to share dos meals—but here’s a quickie that exemplifies why la hermana is my E.P.I.C.
On the morning after Thanksgiving, despite unfaltering fullness, la hermana y yo would be in the mood for Chinese food.
Yet another reason why familia comes first.
The next familia meal I’ve deemed noteworthy was Nanny’s 75th birthday dinner!
We went to my absolute favorite neighborhood restaurant, The Pearl Room.
The Pearl Room is an incredible Brooklyn seafood restaurant, and it has a special place in my heart because I hated seafood prior to my first Pearl Room dining experience.
Almost exactly two years ago, on the night before I left for my five-month stay in Spain, my dad took me to The Pearl Room in an attempt to “diversify my eating portfolio.” Both mi padre y yo were concerned that I was about to live—and eat—with a Spanish chorizo-loving familia when I—at the time—only ate chicken on occasion. In attempt to convert my “I only eat chicken”-card to an “I eat chicken and fish”-card, padre took me to The Pearl Room and we ordered several different pescado dishes to see if there was something seafood-esque that I liked.
I can’t even remember what we ordered, but I remember that we finished all of the dishes—our bites broken up by a whole lot of “This is SOOOO GOOD!” exclamation—and I set off to Spain a seafood-lovin’ señorita.
So gracias a The Pearl Room for changing my close-minded, chicken-only ways.
Anyway, back to Nanny’s cumpleaños.
The Pearl Room serves the best bread basket. I’m usually one of those bread-before-dinner skippers because bread y butter really does nada for me.
But at The Pearl Room, incredible olive rolls take the place of bread.
And a mysterious, I-don’t-know-what’s-in-it-but-it-must-be-crack-infused dipping sauce takes the place of butter.
I never know how to describe the flavor of this sauce–I, uh, talk about it a lot–but I’m always tempted to compare it to vodka sauce. I think this is mostly because it looks like vodka sauce; its taste is incomparable. I’ve been doing a lot of Pearl Room-ing recently, so, during my next visit, I’m going to grill the manager for the ingredients. Or at least some hints.
Immediately after I took those dos photos, Gigi queried, “Ummm, why are you taking pictures of your food?”
All the cool kids are doing it, Dora.
Before ordering, hermana and I snagged a picture with the birthday chica.
Triplets? Ok, not so much.
Then the Shiraz came, and Sexy Shirl (a.k.a. Nanny) went to work.
Gigi—a little tipsy off her Shirley Temple—did a lot of jumping on Poppy.
Wherein Poppy taught her a new word: encroach.
As in, “Gigi, you can’t encroach on Poppy while he’s eating.”
So Gigi began encroaching on me.
I pretended to mind.
But ultimately showed some amor.
And even participated in a “who has a longer tongue?” contest.
Silliness concluded as soon as cena was served.
Both Nanny and I were enticed by, but couldn’t decide between, the two fish specials—so we decided to share.
Nanny went with the hummus salmon atop grilled veggies and lentils.
AMAZING. The salmon was seared and then coated with hummus and broiled—so it had a perfect crisp layer topped with a creamy hummus layer. And the LENTILS… perfection.
I went with the sea bass, infused with wild herbs and lemon and served in a white wine sauce.
It was served as a whole fish and filleted at the table.
So simple and FRESH and increible.
On the side, I had grilled asparagus and shrimp risotto.
SOOOOOO GOOD.
We had some very interesante, Shiraz-induced conversation.
For example, we discussed the importance of being adventurous eaters and all agreed that it’s a shame when people stick to standard, it’s-been-done-before items when there are unchartered, creative flavor combos to be had.
At which point Poppy drew the following comparison: “It’s like sticking to missionary.”
Luckily, this flew over Gigi’s head because my little chica only had one thing on her mind. 
Nanny’s birthday cake!
(We may have forgotten the 7 candle, so Nanny was 5 for the night…)
Can you guess who finished first?
Dora, la ganadora!
Speaking of ganadoras (winners), I suppose I should announce the winner of my Nutridel giveaway.
Random.org generated #40. So la ganadora es…
Sophia from Burp and Slurp!
Congrats, chica! E-mail me at thefoodiediaries@gmail.com with your address so I can get you tus galletas!
Bueno, I hope you all enjoyed as food y familia-filled a holiday weekend as I. And, as much as I enjoyed my downtime con la familia, I am muy feliz to be back!
48 Comments
December 1, 2009 at 10:33 am
So much catching up to do! It sounds like a great 10 days though and every single piece of that food looks amazing. That’s funny you had to try fish before you went to Spain- I’m here now and can definitely not imagine being a picky eater when it comes to some of the food my host mom feeds me… Let’s just say I’m happy to be heading back to the states this month where I can pick and choose what I eat! Where in Spain were you? Did you keep any kind of blog while you were studying??
December 1, 2009 at 10:38 am
Wowza, what a feast!
December 1, 2009 at 10:47 am
I’m so glad you’re back! Do you have the recipe for the chocolate cream pie? It looks awesome!
December 1, 2009 at 10:52 am
Family definitely should come first, and it’s great to see you guys are so close. That salmon and lentil dish–wow!
December 1, 2009 at 10:57 am
Youre not a bad blogger.. you have a life and a family!! Your Thankgiving looks awesome.. loving all those veggies. And despite how full you may be on the actual day itself, there is always room for CHINESE!
What a fun family din din. Happy Bday to your Nanny!
December 1, 2009 at 11:02 am
Hey girl! No worries, family is the best excuse for a bloggy absence
Your Thanksgiving looks amazing! Unfortunately my family is nowhere near that creative/talented in the kitchen. I need to get them reading blogs pronto.
Happy birthday to your Nanny! That’s what I call my grandmother too, haha. Also, the pics of you & Dora are so cute…you are so pretty!!
December 1, 2009 at 11:15 am
Wow! That’s some good looking food!
Glad you’re back
December 1, 2009 at 11:17 am
Well it was a great time to take a break since most everyone was in vacation mode too! All the food looks totally delish – welcome back!!
- Beth @ http://www.DiningAndDishing.com
December 1, 2009 at 11:33 am
Ha love Family Guy
Wow great catch up and so much delicious food. Glad you had a great time with all the F’s
December 1, 2009 at 11:53 am
missed your posts
looks like you had such a good time with the family..gigi is adorable & you are GORGEOUS! great eats girl- love the classic jewishf ood, i’m jewish haha
xoxo
shelley
http://findinghappinessandhealth.wordpress.com
December 1, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Reasons I know we’re soul mates:
1)”Cornbread is among my top 5 favorite foods.” I said almost word-for-word the exact same thing on my T.giving post.
2)Wine.
3)You call your grandmother Nanny. So do I. She’s 83!
4)Even though bread and butter ain’t yo thang, you pulled through with the olive roll. I need.
5)The tongue picture.
6)Poppy’s “It’s like sticking to missionary.” These words sound as if they’re straight from MamaJ. And maybe I’ve even said that…
7)(Because as mag journalists we both know that odd numbers on the cover sell better than even) Chocolate cake.
Love you, cannot wait for our date. XOXOXOX
December 1, 2009 at 12:33 pm
yay youre back! you were missed! hey girl, i might be coming up to hoboken this weekend to visit my friend! i’ve been talking to a few local bloggies.. wanna do a meetup?????????
December 1, 2009 at 12:41 pm
aww famiglia is definitely worth a blog hiatus but we missed you! glad you’re back and had a wonderful thanksgiving–those desserts and wild rice look so delish. and what a shiraz-induced dinner conversations are always the best
December 1, 2009 at 12:47 pm
familia es numero eno. esta final. me encantan todas sus comidas…el pastel, el pez, la comida del dia de gracias, dorita (aka “little dora”) y toda su familia. su email es el mejor pero…te amo!!!!!!!
December 1, 2009 at 1:15 pm
all of this is making me quite hungry. but what’s really doing it is hummus topped salmon. salmon topped with hummus?! i need that immediately.
December 1, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Family is always the most important! Glad you had lots of delicious food over Thanksgiving!
December 1, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Banana pudding is welcome at any holiday. Anything with custard, really.
That hummus salmon looks so good! Two of my favorites in one! I need to go to that restaurant, because that risotto looks amazing as well.
December 1, 2009 at 2:03 pm
LOVE your blog! You and other fab blog divas totally inspired me start my own. Happy December!
December 1, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Great photos
You seem to had a nice week and Thanksgiving. The risotto looked so creamy.
The dip for the bread look so yummy. What was in it? Shrimps? Tomatoes? It has the color of both.
December 1, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Hehe that book looks hilarious!
All that food looks amazing! What a spread.
Glad you got to spend some time with the familia!
December 1, 2009 at 3:00 pm
There’s nothing like a good, awkward comment from Grandpa to make it feel like a family dinner. All of the food pictures were worth waiting 10 whole days for – that rice looks amazing! I’ve recently fallen back in love with cornbread. Thank God for Whole Food’s vegan crack!
December 1, 2009 at 3:15 pm
OMG foodie overload! your thanksgiving looks amazing! I love that wild rice dish, so good!
hummus coated salmon-that gave me a great idea for a meal!!! gigi is SO ADORABLEEEE
December 1, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I’m glad you took some time off to enjoy your familia. Es muy importante! You had some wicked fantastic eats! I love brisket, especially when it’s made by a nice Jewish mother. You are so lucky that you got both turkey and brisket. BTW, does the Chinese side of your familia make turkey as well? I want to go to The Pearl Room with you! It looks like so much fun! Your family is hysterical! And I love the fact that you got Chinese food con tu hermana the day after TDay! Love it!
December 1, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Gigi might be the cutest thing I have ever seen?!?!!? I LOVE “why does it taste like this?”
December 1, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Yay that you’re back! I don’t even know what to say about all the delicious looking food?!
December 1, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Apricot cheese? Olive rolls? Hummus salmon? Loooooove it.
Gigi is so adorb it hurts. Seriously.
December 1, 2009 at 7:06 pm
AHHHHHH cornbread, gourmet cheese, wine, DESSERTS, risotto, CHOCOLATE CAKE galoooreee!!!!!! I am soooo hungry as we speak and waiting for mah friends to get to the student center to dine and this made my mouth wata!
I love the missionary comment.
I love Nanny and lil GiGi!
I love it all!
I love chu!
December 1, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Missed you!! Glad you enjoyed lots of familia time!!
Dora is aDORAble. 
Can I please come to your family’s Thanksgiving next year?? OMG, all the food is making me drool…mmmmmmm!! 
December 1, 2009 at 9:29 pm
No sorry necessary! Time with family is SO SO important. Greatest eats= pumpkin soup and so many roasted veggies. YUMMMM! Hope you enjoyed it all
December 1, 2009 at 9:32 pm
LOVE this post! Your family knows how to eat well. Everything looks amazing—I was particularly eying the corn bread, sweet potato casserole, roasted zuch, and PUDDING PIES omg. AND that hummus salmon dish–i would absolutely order that!
you are so gorgeous…so is your family. little gigi, poppy, and nana are adorable as well. love ya girl.
December 1, 2009 at 10:18 pm
WOW GIRL!!
you are so gorgeous! you look like an exotic model!
that sounds like an awesome thanksgiving-love how tight and loving your family is! those pudding pies.. gah!!
December 1, 2009 at 10:18 pm
family definitely comes first! i totally understand. looks like you had a great 10 days off from blogging tho!
jenna
December 1, 2009 at 11:02 pm
So glad you have you back! I was getting worried – honestly, I thought about you during my breakfast.
Dora, er…Gigi is too adorably for words. And she’s my kind of girl – she should get a gold star for her quick work on that chocolate cake.
December 1, 2009 at 11:03 pm
aaah gigi is adorable! drooling over all that food. i bet adding pineapple to sweet potatoes is good.
December 1, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Um, can we talk about how amazing your Thanksgiving eats look? And that chocolate cake? Gahhh..! Hope you’re having a great night lady!
http://www.joelygolightly.wordpress.com
December 2, 2009 at 1:57 am
Ok I think that was possibly the longest post ever. Janetha’s had some longies,though LOL
Anyway girl,dont apologize for dropping out for 10 days. I wish I could/did/would. I need to!
The sweet table looks epic And anything with nilla wafers rocks.
And you are simply gorgeous. As always. But esp so in a few of those pics. Work it girl.
December 2, 2009 at 2:02 am
holy GOD GIRL can i eat with u for a week? and can we speak in spanglish when we are dining? i love inserting spanish phrases and words randomly all da time. its muy divertida. omg omg omg and p.s. i am in nyc dec 14-17th. me and snackie face are planning dinner, dranks, and dancing the 14th! come on out girlie!
December 2, 2009 at 2:05 am
APRICOT CHEESE?! I die.
And throwing a mini blogging hiatus for some good fam time is totally acceptable Sarah! Especially when olive rolls and chocolate cake are involved!
Why does your chinese food always have to look so damn gooood?! Now i’m craving it, yes….at 11 pm!
Loved hearing about your first outing to the Pearl Room with yo’ papa! Too precioso! PS you and your sista are GORG. For realz!! Love you girl! XOXO, lil’ j!
December 2, 2009 at 8:28 am
Wow!
All those meals looks scrumptious…That looks like a glorious week of eating with your lovely fam.
December 2, 2009 at 1:46 pm
you have such a beautiful family!!
haha I love that picture of gigi eating soup! what a gem!
i love roasted shrooms
December 2, 2009 at 3:30 pm
hahahaha.. cracked me up about the cookie hunt. such a cute familia you have! and those are some baller desserts i spy.
December 2, 2009 at 4:40 pm
your family is so beautiful! i feel the same way, family comes first!
Um i think i need that recipe for the chocolate cream cheese pie! seriously OMG it looks AWESOME!
http://saladdiva.wordpress.com
December 2, 2009 at 5:38 pm
[...] Contact The F Word [...]
December 2, 2009 at 6:27 pm
if there were ever a legit excuse for a blogging hiatus it’s la familia .. sounds like y’all had a FUN time with FANTASTc FOOD like that FRESH FISH and I hope it didn’t make you FART.. and..okay I’m done.
just kidding, i’m not.
you’re FABULOUS
k, now i’m done.
December 2, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Glad you got some good time in with the family!
OMG just LOOKING at that cornbread is making my mouth water–definitely one of my top faves as well!
December 7, 2009 at 5:16 pm
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