i bumped into my upstairs neighbors while bringing in the trash bins. they were packing up to leave to spend thanksgiving in portland, meaning i had the house to myself for the next couple of days. after picking up my prescriptions, i went to market basket to get a few last minute grocery items (scallions, oranges, peeled chestnuts). it seems like i'm always here the wednesday before thanksgiving, the last place i want to be because it's ground zero to supermarket madness. it was busy, but not that different than a typical MB day (still early apparently), except the traffic in the parking lot was intense with congested cars. i came via bicycle so it wasn't a big deal for me.

afterwards i biked to the cafe to drop off the groceries. i had a bit of lunch before continuing to the allston trader joe's on the other side of the charles river to get some cheap wine for making sangria. along with 2 bottles of pinot noir ($3.99/bottle), i also had to get puffy pastry sheets for my sister ($3.99/box, 2 boxes) and some salami ($4.99) and gruyere cheese ($3.30). as i was equidistant to my house, i decided to go home first, pick up some beer from the local liquor store, strapped the flan onto my bike, then return to the cafe. i left with a leftover container of chicken broth my parents made over the weekend using chinese medicinal spices plus a few more of my pyrex ramekins (blue glass).

when i got home i coiled the garden hoses and put them in the basement. a few of the segments were stiff from the cold and prone to kinking. i ended up just storing the hoses haphazardly, hoping that a few days in the warmer basement will soften them up so they'd be easier to coil for storage.

i reheated the leftover chicken broth for dinner combined with some rice noodles. i like chinese medicinal spices in moderation, but this had too much and gave everything a strange sweet flavor that i didn't like. it wasn't enough, so later in the evening i ate some canned corn.