scenes from Thanksgiving 2008

In early September I hung a fall wreath outside my front door.

On Wednesday afternoon, I changed the slipcovers on the living room couches, exchanging the white canvas of summer for the brown velvet of winter.

Wednesday night Mike arrived from Tucson. Chris and A came over, the guys hung out, keeping me company, and I began cooking, starting with Cranberries with Grand Marnier.





























Thursday morning I got up and started the creamed onions, which require a lot of preparation time if you're working with fresh onions (and I was)


Mid-morning I took the time to make a perfect cup of cappuccino...















I clean as I cook, and the kitchen looked pretty OK with the new chairs...


We took the time to shoot some pics, and the X-man was pretty proud to be the tallest in the group in this shot.























Note he's wearing an outfit he picked out himself, consisting of khakis, t-shirt, tie and vest...
















In the meantime, the turkey was in the oven cooking...all 16 pounds of it...and as I basted the bird, I reminisced about times when I didn't have all the fancy batterie de cuisine with which my kitchen is now equipped, such as this beautiful turkey roasting pan. In the early days of my marriage, I remember roasting turkeys in disposable foil pans. I have to say, this beautiful pan gives better results.
















Eventually, everything was ready, including the sweet potatoes and the gravy...


















The X-man set the table, and it was time to sit down to our bountiful feast, consisting of turkey, traditional dressing, sweet potatoes with rum, ginger and walnuts, creamed onions, cranberries with Grand Marnier, French salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, and for dessert, courtesy of A, a pumpkin pie, an apple pie, and a pecan tart.



















The X-man was happy with his long-awaited drumstick and tall glass of milk...