Marathons, tattoos and carbonara!! Oh my!

Thanksgiving went smoothly this year, not too much work and pretty relaxing if you ask me. Lee and I made the majority of food for dinner, but family members brought things like pies and wine and salads which helped a ton. We made two turkeys, seared duck, spanish scalloped potatoes, kale with bacon, mushroom and sausage stuffing and mushroom soup. Everything was so good--aside from the fact that I'm not a big fan of turkey unless it comes on a sandwich, so I didn't eat much of that. I did, however, eat my weight in pumpkin pie, caramel apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, creamy jello yumminess that doesn't have a name and pecan pie. Then, I snacked on those things and more carbs before the Seattle Half Marathon, you know to do the carbo load thing. Which gave me the energy to finish the half marathon, Yay! I did it in under 4 hours and that included waiting in line 20 minutes for the porta potty. Horrible. Yuck. I am proud of myself and for me, it was harder than the triathalon I did a few years ago. The constant pounding on the pavement with no stopping or stretching and going as fast as you can was pretty rough on me. Apparently the banana and protein bars I ate weren't enough because later that day (after a tasty Guinness) I nearly passed out from low blood sugar and thank goodness Lee was there to take care of me for the rest of the day. I was pretty much out of it for a good 24 hours. Live and learn, I guess. So I'd like to say the half marathon was successful, but I wish I hadn't gotten sick.

Lee got his second tattoo from Josh at Slave to the Needle, best tattoo shop in Seattle! It's the Douglas crest and it looks so good-- Josh is a great artist. And I've finally figured out what I want for my next one as well-took me a while. Don't ask--you'll see pics when I get it done.

We've been making some really good pasta dishes lately. Katie came over and made us spaghetti with a traditional meat sauce. I never ate spaghetti or red sauces growing up-my Mom didn't really like them and so I never knew how good they could be--now I crave red sauce all the time. I also made the best carbonara I've ever had, better than any restaurant and even what I had in Italy. I took some spaghetti we got at the Ballard market, imported from Italy, and added fresh local eggs, parmesan, cream, pepper, Gabe's guanciale cut into lardons, criminis sauteed in white wine and peas. Now I know traditionally it doesn't have peas or mushrooms, but that's how I like it. And fresh eggs and pancetta or guanciale make all the difference. It's a hearty meal, but I can't stand ordering it when we go out because it's always got that awful, pasty, heavy, no taste cream sauce and old eggs and oscar meyer bacon. I pretty much stay away from cream sauces in restaurants--they don't do a very good job at making it.