I did say I'd probably be on hiatus until Monday, but with most everyone still out of town at the moment and a full day's worth (well, I woke up around 1:30 this afternoon, your definition of full days may vary) of TCB behind me, I'll just take a moment here for a brief review of my Thanksgiving yesterday. Thankfully my roommate Jay did not have to work but also couldn't really make it back home to Boston with only one day off, so we left our decrepit hovel for a delicious dinner at Amuse on West 18th. Very stylish and swank all around, someone to remove your coat and take it downstairs to the coatcheck for you, a matre d' who hustled over when my companion went to the restroom to pick his napkin up from the chair, refold it, and place it back next to his plate, you get the idea. It looks like they usually have more of a small plate tasting menu sort of thing going on here (and we did get a nice little plate of three amuse bouches to start things off) but the $55 prix fixe Thanksgiving menu was plenty hearty and filling. They had a variety of options for the main course, but Jay and I both went for the traditional one, which was amazingly traditional and very good: plentiful piles of succulent turkey both white and dark, rich and buttery mashed potatoes, perfect green beans (well, for those of you who know me well, it wasn't green bean casserole, so I'll should say almost perfect), big bowl of cranberry relish, and two kinds of stuffing, one of which was exACTly like my dad's family-famous version from back in Iowa - the secret is the sausage, plus maybe making your own bread crumbs. Bookending that bounty of holiday favorites I went with a few less traditional first and third courses, starting with a plate of thinkly sliced smoked salmon topped with lemons, tiny cucumbers cubes, and devilled quail eggs and served with some crunchy slices of salty pumpernickel, and finishing things up with a creme brulee tasting, the three flavors being vanilla, caramel, and best of all pumpkin, which brought it all back home again. Putting a nice and friendly end to the whole experience, the chef came over to wish us a happy Thanksgiving after we had finished our desserts. The only downside was that the place was way too jam-packed with well-heeled diners to keel over and take a long nap afterwards, but the upside was that by the time we made it all the way back home thorugh the 31 degree wind chill I had perked up enough to realize that The Apprentice was just starting. Which I'll try to get to before the end of the holiday, but right now I've gone and made myself hungry again.