Tasty Thursday to Fasting Friday

Halloween always begins the indulging season for me as all the left over candy is brought into the news room. The sugar rush somehow speeds up the 24 days until the next big binge of the year, Thanksgiving. Doesn't it feel like Halloween was last weekend?

Every year I hear people say they are not going to overeat at Thanksgiving. But by the time they take just a little of Aunt Carolyn's stuffing, a spoonfull of Grandma's green beans, Sara's sweet-potatoes, and Fran's fruit cocktail, then add desert and all the drinks, there is no going back. Except for seconds and thirds.

However, here is a calculator that just might make you take smaller spoon-fulls. Using it, I found I'd have to walk 19-miles to burn off the calories of my projected meal. And I was underestimating what I'd eat. Bon-walk!

What's Cookin'

You didn't think I'd go to Texas for a week and not come back with a recipe? It seems what's hot on Thanksgiving in Texas isn't fried bird anymore, it is cranberry salsa. I'll share the recipe the way I'm going to make it at the end of this blog, as well as links to different ways to spice up the sauce.

First, the area of Dallas that I would show you is uptown and downtown. This area is home of some of the best upscale steak and mexican restaurants in the country. You can also find versions of some of New York City's finest restaurants, like  Bice. Who knew Dallas could also serve good Italian? Dallas was also where I ate my first sushi. I still haven't found a better "Devil roll."

You can also drive 20 miles to Plano, and experience that area's "restaurant row" which includes more than a hundred upscale and chain places to eat at, one after another.

And then you have your fast food. I wouldn't bring this up except being back in Dallas and watching the news you see commercials. The first one that made me scream with laughter, but also think, "Hmmm, a healthy version isn't a bad idea," was the Dairy Queen Jalitos Ranch Hungr Buster. It's a hamburger. But with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno ranch dressing and fried jalapeno strips. I thought it also had sliced jalapenos, that must have been a different burger commercial.

The next is an insane version of a Frito Pie. Several people in Connecticut and New York have told me they've never heard of this delicacy. But if you've ever been to a Texas high school football game, you go wanting one like you crave a dog at a stadium in New York.

You take an individual size bag of Frito corn chips, hold it lengthwise and cut off the top. Plop a scoop of meat-chili inside and sprinkle with shredded cheese; onion if you like. Hmm, did we add jalapenos? Probably.

So one of the new fast food creations is taking this Frito Pie creation and rolling it up in a wrap. Add tater tots and, well, you better not eat the rest of the day. It just so happened that after seeing the commercial I went for a walk outside the trendy Dallas confines to see where the artists are living as well as the up and coming "it" spots. Here I show proof of the Frito Pie Wrap.

No Frito Pies at the Stars game at the American Airlines Center. It was my first time at the 420-million-dollar arena that opened in 2001. It was also a first to cheer against the Stars at one of their games. I had to root for the Islanders. Several former Bridgeport Sound Tigers were on the ice. But back to food. Choices at the arena, at least on the first two floors, include bar-b-q sandwiches, quesadillas, some kind of pulled pork dish, and, of course, foot long dogs and fries. I went for the jalapeno coleslaw. It had little slivers of cheese in it.

So having to start a diet this Thanksgiving, I'm making cranberry salsa. Just take a bag of cranberries, a jalapeno or two, maybe a clove of garlic and a few slices of onion and chop in a processor or blender. Add a little lime and orange juice and some cilantro and process a few more seconds. Some recipes say you need honey or a little sugar. We'll see.

Here is a recipe similar to mine.

This one has you boil down the berries.

Ten Years

Ten years ago I graduated from college and began my paid journalistic career. Part-time as a writer for the noon and five newscasts at the NBC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth paid less than Taco Bell; at least according to the "$8.50 train to start" sign I had to pass everyday on I-30. 

The position soon became full-time then I was promoted to overnight assignment manager. Basically I listened to the scanners all night, helped producers plan the morning shows and dispatched reporters and photographers to breaking news locations. I even had a few of my own news pieces air. Since I only worked overnights Monday through Fridays, I filled my Saturday and Sunday overnights as a producer and morning anchor for USA Radio Network News. During the days I freelanced as a reporter for a local cable station.

Since then I've at worked at stations across New York State and the past four here in Connecticut. I hadn't been back to Dallas often over the past ten years, but I knew to expect growth and change upon arriving for my 10-year-reunion.

When I was at school at SMU, public transportation wasn't a convenient option. However, as I was leaving Dallas in 1998, the area's answer to a subway system was under construction. Now students can access the DART Light Rail (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) from across the street from school and take it into Downtown and surrounding areas. People in the suburbs can ride it to the American Airlines Center to catch a Stars or Mavericks game.

Dallas is still an area where people value their cars. My drive from downtown Dallas everyday (where I had my renovated loft apartment) to Fort Worth (where the main station is) was the same distance from New York City to Stamford. And there was no option of anything like Metro North. Still isn't. If you drive a Lexus, you get free valet parking at the Ballpark at Arlington where the Texas Rangers Play. Oh, correction. Two years ago the name changed to "Ameriquest Field."

Expecting change, I was still amazed at how much the campus at SMU had grown. A new stadium, at least three new academic buildings, a parking garage and new museum. Back in my college days, it seemed like there was no room for expansion being in the middle of a large city near an interstate. Plus the area between SMU and downtown is full of cranes spouting boutique hotels and condos.

Me at the new Hotel Palomar's pool.

At the reunion, people looked basically the same as they did back in college. Though I couldn't remember some names and a few I had to ask, "Where did I know you from?" Oh, that fraternity, or that class.

For the most part, I found my favorite hang-outs still there unchanged. I drank my share of salsa this past week at Sol's taco lounge. And I did the most reminiscing at the Cosmic Cafe. I used to run to this place for Chai and spiritual healing whenever "news" would get to me. Okay, every other day. It was on the patio surrounded by brightly painted everything that I sat one Christmas day after working overnight at the station. Every third scanner call had been "suicide" or "attempted suicide." I also earned a psychology degree and knew the holidays could be very disappointing to many. However as I sat in the 65-degree sunshine that day sipping Chai, I wondered how anyone could be so upset on a day like that.

After ten years I sat talking with a friend from Dallas I knew back when. I was spouting how I loved the new light rail and lofts in the area just East of SMU, but I wouldn't want to live there because people were paying New York City rates to be next to Starbucks, Ann Taylor, Victoria's Secret and all the other chains that surround the much less expensive suburbs. I was explaining my same situation in New York City. I'm now walking distance to all those chains yet have to take a subway to the unique mom and pop places that got pushed north. He looked at me and said, "You are the same girl you were 10-years ago."