Thanksgiving is such a wonderful food holiday. There is the obvious meal day of, but my favorite part is getting creative with the leftovers! I get started right away with breakfast the next morning.

     Everyone knows what comfort food is. Some comfort foods are universally agreed upon (mac and cheese, anyone?) and others are comforting on a much more personal level.

     Some of my favorite comfort foods are sunny side up eggs with buttered toast, pierogies fried in butter and sprinkled with sugar, and american grilled cheese on wheat bread. These foods aren't necessarily the healthiest, though they remind me of childhood in the best way! If we're gonna talk about comfort sweets, however...my number one is banana bread.

     My friends and I always get very excited this time of year. It's cooling down, so sweaters come out from hibernation, you can cook/bake without feeling like you're in a sauna, and all of our favorite fall ingredients become prominent again.

     Yesterday my friend Clare texted me to ask if I had any recipes for a sourdough starter. She was tending to her brother's starter and had some extra. So I did some digging and discovered a recipe for San Francisco-style sourdough in one of my many cookbooks! After baking, we (along with our friend Dana) knew we had to have a Sunday brunch with it.

     A couple weeks ago a few wonderful fellow home cooks that I recently met through Umi Kitchen and I decided to have a potluck brunch together that happened to fall on Valentine's Day weekend. I immediately got excited because, well, who the hell wouldn't?! 

     I knew straight away that I wanted egg cups to be my contribution. After all they are delicious, beautiful, and easy to transport. 

     Okay...so I know Thanksgiving is just a few days away. I should be posting something to be served on the big day, right? Well hear me out. For me, Thanksgiving is about tradition. I have the same menu every year and look forward to knowing exactly what to expect on the table (or in my case, on our spiral staircase that we use as a tiered serving table in my tiny Brooklyn apartment). I know tradition isn't for everyone, but when it comes to Thanksgiving it is for me!

     So my favorite part is before and after. Before for the Thanksgiving themed potlucks, work parties, etc when you aren't necessarily making a huge feast. After for, well, the LEFTOVERS! Before and after give me way more wiggle room for creativity. I love it.