I am a little delayed in getting the weekend update to you because I spent Sunday and Monday in a flurry of house projects. The good news is that I made major progress and I finally have a “house tour” type post to share with you featuring my kitchen renovations.
I kicked off the weekend early with a girl’s night on Thursday where enjoyed a random but delicious spread of Italian soup with chicken sausage, roasted brussels sprouts, cheese and spinach and artichoke dip.
On Friday I hit up Whole Foods to get the Thanksgiving Turkey. I am cooking my first bird this year and I’m equal parts terrified and excited. My dad and I have been in ongoing conversation about it. A brine is a must and I’m currently trying to decide between wet or dry brine. Any tips? Send them my way!
My Saturday was completely devoted to teaching yoga. I taught my regular 7:45 and 9:30 a.m. classes and then my “Sweaty Turkey” master class that afternoon. The class was incredible and we were totally sold out with 46 yogis. I can’t even explain to you what an amazing experience it was between the energy in the room and teaching alongside my teacher for the first time ever.
After teaching two hot classes and the master class, I was done and done for the day.
I arrived home to find my kitchen in this state. I had a tile backsplash installed this weekend that meant that they had to demo down to the framing to install backer board. It was a massive undertaking.
So I spent Saturday night at Home Depot shopping for tile and grout and then had dinner at my neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant for dinner since my kitchen was out of commission.
Spring rolls with jimica, chinese sausages, dry shrimp, green onions, green leaf lettuce, basil and peanut sauce and steamed pork dumplings to start.
And tofu and veggie pho for dinner. This gigantic bowl of pho was only $8 and fed me lunch the next day as well. It’s going to be a staple for me this winter. So comforting and warm.
It was cold and rainy on Sunday. I taught hot yoga in the morning and spent the rest of the day parked in front of the computer knocking out work. I met up with a friend for dinner at Brixx where we enjoyed half-priced bottles of wine and pizza. I can’t picture a better way to end the weekend.
Good luck with your turkey. I’m sure it will be a huge success. I’ve never done one by myself either, so I’m no help here. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
That pho looks great. I never had good pho until I moved to Seattle. I think pho is part of Seattle culture. Definitely going to be a winter staple for me, too!
I just cooked my first turkey Saturday night. It was a lot easier than I thought and went well! A meat thermometer is super helpful to tell when the bird is done. I think that was the hardest part. Good Luck!
Renovations are always a mess and I know I get tired of living in a construction zone and eating out every meal. Hopefully yours is done soon!
Good luck with the turkey, I’m sure it will turn out great! (I would do a wet brine, always works well for me!)
That definitely looks like an awesome weekend!! So much tasty food!
Good luck on the turkey! It’s much easier than it seems, no worries.
Pioneer woman has a great brine with Orange peels, apple cider, etc
We had a backsplash installed earlier this year. It was done in a day and wasn’t as complicated as your job. But it was still a pain to stay out of the kitchen!
The Vietnamese food looks delicious! I tried pho for the first time last year and I loved it.
Looking forward to reading your kitchen tour post! Until then, good luck with the turkey and Happy Thanksgiving!
I can’t wait to see your tile – have never heard of having to take down the drywall and install backer board in order to do a backsplash! Looking forward to the reveal! 🙂
Good luck with the turkey! I dream one day of hosting Thanksgiving, but I know that I will be most intimidated by the turkey…although I’m sure your dad is definitely giving you some very helpful tips.
PS – please tell me that puppy on Instagram is soon to be yours? I’ve been curious about it since I saw it! 😉
I am totally craving dumplings right now (vegetable but still lol). I thought I was in the mood for Chinese food before and now looking at the dumplings in the picture, omg I need them!
I have no turkey tips, haha, but I wish I was home and could cook ALL the food 🙁 I’m stuck down here at college this year. My dad is coming down to see me, so we MIGHT try cooking something in the hall kitchen, but probably will try to find somewhere nice to eat out!
Good luck with the turkey! For some reason, our turkey always takes WAY longer than we plan, so maybe plan a little extra wiggle room for that 🙂
Your kitchen is going to look amazing! Thanks for keeping us posted!! also, what’s the Vietnamese restaurant that you like? Spring rolls and dumplings are my fave and those look great.