Yet it was delicious

My father drove me out to Falls City, Oregon to a place called The Bread Board. It's a small-town bakery that cooks all of its goodies in a huge fire-brick-oven-thing.

He and I don't do things together a whole lot; it was good for us to make conversation. Or attempt to. We have very different views on about everything, and yet we don't want to drive the other person away...this results in me saying "mmmm yeah?" a lot and him saying "huh, well..." as he goes into a different topic.

I ate this gallette-thing with mushrooms, walnuts, pesto, and some type of cheese. Now, I don't often get sick from eating something with cheese in it, but I almost always notice a mood-swing. One reason I try to stay vegan is that dairy depresses me. Really. I eat it, I get depressed. Sigh. Not fun.

I'm home now, listening to Sufjan Stevens, and wanting to be alone in a place with stars and a hot tub and snow and, I don't know, air. I'm sad that my family didn't get together with anyone for Thanksgiving. I miss my grandparents and my cousins and my sibling and the Thanksgivings we had when we were all younger, going up to some hot springs in Canada where we'd roll in the snow then get into the steamy water as quickly as we could.

My dad and I talked about what cousin would get married first. Ryan and I are the oldest, but all of us cousins are single and only one on my dad's side is still in high school--and he's graduating this year. Our poor parents. We probably unsettle and depress them at least a little.

The thing I'll always cheat for. Always.

My father's chai.

He learned to make it in Nepal. Black tea, sugar, milk, spices, all baked in the oven. Delicious. Really. Anyone who's tried it has liked it. No, that's not correct. They've LOVED it. It's amazing. And soy just doesn't compare. It's unlike any chai I've ever had anywhere; its spices are more subtle. The caffeine is not. As a rule, it's not served after 6 p.m. unless it's New Year's Eve or for some specific reason we all need to stay up past midnight. I love it.

I made some vegan chocolate-chip scones to atone for my cheating ways. First time I've ever made scones and the texture's not right, but still tasty. They go very well with father's chai.