"This is the best Indian curry I’ve ever made," Chopper announced after devouring several bites in rapid succession. "Of course my specialty is Thai curry, but still…"

"Om nom nom," I said.

"Yes," Chopper agreed, "Om nom nom."

We weren’t certain if we were ever going to make it back. After all, a year is an eternity in Internet Time, and during that year, Belly Timber just sat, gathering dust, taunting us with rapidly aging posts.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, it vanished completely. Internal Server Error, our home page announced. I thought: crap. I need to do something about this, pronto… and proceeded to get excessively busy on six other projects. What finally got the ball rolling was Chopper’s incessant chomping at the bit every time anyone would bring up the name "Paper Chef."

"It’s this weekend," I told him. "The ingredients are turkey, Anaheim peppers, winter squash, and lentils."

Within three nanoseconds he was making a shopping list and planning recipes.

And me? I was battling the dreaded Internal Server Error.

Which kinda sorta explains why this entry is so excessively late. (And why you might be reading this on a generic WordPress Template.)

What follows (now that we’ve finally got this blog working again) are three of Chopper’s creations inspired by this month’s set of four ingredients: Meatloaf, Turkey Galantine, and Indian curry. A galantine is a French dish that’s typically made of boned meat wrapped around forcemeat. It is poached, coated in aspic, and served cold. Surprisingly (for us) we skipped the aspic.

The best part about joining in this month: three of these ingredients are large quantity ingredients by default, so we’ve got delicious leftovers for days!

(more…)

Port, aka Portimus Minimus, gives you her SERIOUS face. Also, as seen from the foliage, this was taken during the summer when kitties could have carefree days in the garden. That Port, she looks so carefree, doesn’t she?

Oh, I get it. She’s channeling Angry Cat.

Somewhere around these parts, I have photos of Ahri lolling about in the sun. Now there’s a cat who appreciates seasons. (In fact, I believe he’s located the one remaining sunny window spot in the house. Soak it up while you can, orange guy.

(Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted this week by Amar and Luna over at CatSynth’s…. what? Their FEMA TRAILER? Where are those evil hackerz? Let me sick my kitties on ‘em!)

Turkey Day, 2008:

First of all, I prepare for the relatives.

Then Chopper starts… HEY! What the…?

That’s right. He’s leaving for work. No rest for the wicked as they say. Also, no rest for workers in the hospitality industry. On the bright side, he’s earning time and a half.

Meanwhile, I decide to entertain myself by digging up Thanksgiving photos from years’ past. Here’s our bird from 2006:

Mmmmmm… bacon.

We do have one thing to be quite thankful for today: Chopper gets done with work at 7pm. Since we figure most folks aren’t packing everything in till nine, that gives us two whole hours to house hop from one relative to the next and pig out on leftovers!

Best of all, we won’t have a pile of dirty dishes at home.

Er, that is, except for all those dishes we left out on the counter last night.