Thankgivings

It's been some years since I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and I wasn't about to start up again this year. Instead, Cathy and I made the rounds, stopping in at friends' and family's houses, hopping from dinner table to dinner table.



We started out at Richard and Allison's place, where we had a glass of fortified and fizzy cranberry apple cider while watching them get the first steps of dinner preparation underway.



Then we drove out Hill Road to my brother John's place for dinner #1. He's perfected his brining method, and along with some pumpkin gnocchi, two kinds of stuffing, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, and the mandatory baker hat biscuits, this could have been his best holiday dinner yet.



At Sara's parents' house, we had some lovely wine from the Duoro valley as we stood around the kitchen island watching them go through the final prep for the meal, thickening gravy, carving the bird, filling glasses.



Then on to Chuck and Chris' place, where we spent our 5th Thanksgiving dinner with a dozen or so friends. Dueling turkeys were both fantastic, the gravy was divine, and the wine flowed freely. A great meal and a great time that lasted well into the night. So long, in fact, that Pong became a spectator sport.



Happy Thanksgiving.