Cleaning up after Thanksgiving

That's one of the worst jobs after Thanksgiving. Storing leftovers is the other hard one. Finding the right containers to store, then finding them in the refrigerator the next time, ... it turns out to be endless during the couple days after Thanksgiving. I've had enough of the pies and icecreams already. I can't wait to start back normal cooking.

The weather here is so drab!

I certainly got spoiled. Until a couple days ago the weather was so warm in the 70s. Today it's grey and dark.

Enjoying an easy Thanskgiving day. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you - my dearest friends and family.

Love this vegetarian variety

I have been following these recipes for several weeks now. A great mix of soup, salad, stew, quiche, dessert and more.

What do you feed people right before the Thanksgiving dinner?

That's the question I always need to plan ahead for. We all pig out during the Thanksgiving meal but it's not that we don't eat prior. Breakfast, lunch - what do you do when you have a crowd that comes the day before or the morning of.

I generally make a dish or two that would serve as a good lunch on Thanksgiving day. Last year I remember ordering sandwiches from DeFabio's. Except for myself and a couple others who were pure vegetarians, the rest enjoyed this sandwich variety tray.

This year is different. We are a minimal crowd in a different city. Feels quite weird. However, we are all set with the usual frills,bells and whistles for the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Gosh, I miss my extended family and all my friends.

A new recipe for your Thanksgiving left overs

Recipe of the week - a vegetarian spicy flavor for your Thanksgiving left overs.

Favazza, an Italian restaurant at the Hill in St. Louis

It was one fanatastic evening at the Lavazza at the Hill in St. Louis. Authentic Italian food for extremely reasonable prices. We were given beautiful patio seating but we chose to be in the warm dining area inside near the fireplace.

The Hill is a unique area in St. Louis where the Italian immigrants settled when they came to this part of the country around 1830. Most of them worked at the clay mines, lived here and created a 'Little Italy' for themselves. It attracted other Italians and is now a close-knit Italian community.

The Hill was originally a part of Charles Gratiot's League Square, granted to him by the Spanish territorial government in 1798. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the League Square had been subdivided into large tracts. Several of the Hill restaurants were started years ago and still continue to thrive because of their fantastic food.

There are several other restaurants in this area and I plan to try them all out one every month if possible.

Where are those specialy shops?

For a person who enjoys cooking and can't find the special ingredients of mediterranean or chinese cooking, or those gourmet cheeses necessary for some recipes, it can be quite frustrating.

I am still looking and hope to find them this weekend. The only problem with weekends is they disappear as fast as they appear. Somehow got to fit this in.

Your body will not budge no matter how rigorous your exercise routine is

What does one say to that? The latest that I read about exercise and its effects say the following.

No matter how systematically and rigorously some people exercise their bodies just will not respond. Apparently this is the conclusion reached after a Finnish study that says that's just the way some people are genetically composed.

Yey. A good excuse to not exercise at all and just take to the couch. I know a few people I can show this to that'll make them happy.

Check out this week's recipe - Indian style rice pudding

Check out this week's recipe - Delicious Rice pudding with milk and sugar.

Sweet potatoes baked in maple syrup

I always baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.

Here's another recipe. Wash, peel and cut 2 pounds sweet potatoes into cubes. Add 1/2cup maple syrup, 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp. lime juice, a touch of salt, 1/2tsp. cinnamon powder if you'd like. Bake together until done. You may stir a couple times in between. When almost done remove cover and bake until top turns slightly brown.f