Turkey Day 2012

Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays and this year was no exception! Our favorite way to celebrate is just the two (three?) of us, a quiet day at home, and lots and lots of yummy food. And so we did.

A little digital art I made.

I began the preparation a couple days ahead of time: a nice loaf of sourdough bread with some extremely happy wild yeast!

And a "flower" arrangement. There aren't too many flowers around just now, so I improvised.

Close up.

Leaves in the vase.

The night before I also prepared for Turkey Claus (and his star-nosed moles), who you may remember from last year. He requires snacks, which we leave on the white board in our kitchen. This year he got BBQ flavored potato chips (the kettle kind), root beer, and a frozen bean and cheese burrito. The message says "For Turkey Claus: Happy Thanksgiving! Love, The Chestnuts."

I was so excited to go to sleep that night because I knew he would have left us a message for the morning! And he did.

Close up shots:

The stork (in green) flew with Turkey Claus this year so he'll know the way. 

You may recall I was pretty sick last year.

A surprise party!!

The turkey was ready for the oven around 11:30, surrounded by yams, onions, and prunes. We did our traditional garlic/herb/lemon rub – it was delicious as always.

We enjoyed our customary hot apple cider while we cooked.

The turkey was rested and ready by 6pm, just in time for dinner!

Along with it we had:

Made-from-scratch GF corn bread.

From the top: GF corn bread, salad with persimmons, yam/onion/prune side, made-from-scratch garlic mashed potatoes, GF gravy, turkey (duh), homemade applesauce, and cranberry sauce.

And for dessert! Made-from-almost-scratch GF pumpkin pie.

Here's a look at our festive table:

It was a really fantastic evening!

The next morning I woke to find that Turkey Claus had visited again – seems he forgot his hat...

Close ups:

I might have commented that the stork looked like a duck...!

Welcome little Miss Chestnut! 

And to make the long weekend even more perfect? On Friday we had our first snow of the season!!

It was some pretty strange weather because on Thanksgiving day we had a high of 62º, then a big drop over Friday night, and snow by Friday afternoon. We woke up to a thicker coating this morning too!

I love the snow! It's like magic.

Happy Thanksgiving!