A few years ago, Mr. Man and I started a “Thanksgiving for Two” tradition. I was so busy working so much that it was a special treat to spend some time at home cooking. I would make all the traditional sides: green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, yams with marshmallows on top, dressing, either pumpkin or apple pie (or both) and then we would get just the turkey breast to roast. We would have Pillsbury crescent rolls and that delicious cranberry relish from Trader Joes and a nice bottle of wine. I would set the table with our wedding china and crystal…it was a whole thing.
Now that I’ve been home a lot more and cooking more regularly, spending two days doing all those things lost some of its appeal.
This year, we spent Thanksgiving with our very dear family friends. They are my second family and it is always fun to get to hang out with them. Between the cooking and the eating, the catching up and the “remember when”s it was a full evening.
These friends have a lovely hillside house with fantastic views of Los Angeles and Orange County. It was a beautiful sunset and I spent some time on the deck watching the almost-full moon rising through the trees.
Once the moon was out, the coyotes got to work. There were a few different packs down the hill a ways braying and howling. Hopefully all of the neighbors had brought their kitties and little dogs inside. At one point during the evening, Buddy, their big dog got out. It certainly wouldn’t be a family get-together without some sort of drama now, would it? I don’t know if he went out there to run the coyotes off, but it quieted down outside, and he came home before too long.
Dinner was lovely. The turkey was tender, there were yummy potatoes, two kinds of dressing, brussels sprouts, King’s Hawaiian rolls and of course plenty of good wine. I made my “famous” spaghetti squash salad. It turned out yummy again which was a relief!
In addition to the usual suspects, a new friend joined us, and it was a treat to get to meet her. She loves to bake (a good quality to look for in new friends) and brought the pie. Not just pumpkin pie, it was pumpkin/sweet potato pie. And it was divine. She mentioned that in addition to all the meticulous effort she puts into preparing the pumpkin/sweet potato puree, she uses coconut cream instead of dairy cream for the custard. Ah ha! Remember when I told you that I thought that my coconut cream came out silkier than regular pastry cream? It wasn’t just a fluke; other people do the same thing on purpose. I love spontaneous positive reinforcement!
How was your Thanksgiving? Did you host? What was your favorite dish? Was there anything that you didn’t make that you wish you had?
Our Thanksgiving was lovely. We had 9 friends from the yacht club join us for turkey and all the trimmings. Everyone brought their favorite dish and I did the turkey and stuffing (stuffing being My favorite dish). I am hosting a party for the botanical garden on the 9th. Will have the halls fully decked by then. Love the Holidays.
I do like stuffing (I only have ever made box stuffing though, I think it’s delicious).
We’re probably not decking the halls this year, the kittens are too kitten-ish. Will just make due with the pretty lights that Mr. Man put up outside for me.