Our Thanksgiving Day
We had a great Thanksgiving Day. We slept in until almost 9:00! We lounged around the house until noon in pajamas and robes. And even though it had rained hard with high winds during the night, and was still raining the next morning, we went about our business of cooking a big breakfast. We usually have small breakfasts, but today we had poached eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice, and coffee. It was great.
After that, Kent wanted to write, and I decided to try to finish off the new movie I bought, Van Helsing. For some reason, it’s taken me three days to get through it. I keep getting interrupted. I managed to finish it off this time.
I got around to showering around 12:30pm, and did a bit of writing myself. We had plans to go out for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I usually cook, but there is just the two of us this year, and with no invitations to go anywhere else, we opted not to cook this year. We went to The Inn at Mystic Seaport and at the Flood Tide Restaurant in the mansion.
The dinner was absolutely wonderful! And, as a bonus, the Inn lost power a quarter of the way through dinner, so everyone in the restaurant was eating by candle light. Not to worry though; the kitchen was using gas for cooking along with a large oven, heated by wood. It was very romantic. It was how I imagine the inn would have operated a hundred years ago.
This is what we had for dinner:
Cocktails
Grey Goose vodka martini with olives (Bill)
Appetizer
Foie gras with truffle maple syrup (Bill)
Quail with white beans (Kent)
They were both so good, that half way through, we actually switched plates! Are you suppose to do that in a nice restaurant?! Doesn’t matter, we did because they were both wonderful!
Soup
Pumpkin bisque finished with maple cream
This was a somewhat sweet warm soup, with a strong hint of nutmeg.
Wine
Louis Latour, Puligny Montrachet, 2002
This wine was unbelievable. Very “buttery” finish to it and was a perfect accompaniment to the entire dinner.
Salad
Sliced pear with goat cheese, frissee, and finished with balsamic drizzle
Entree
Turkey, sausage dressing, whipped potatoes, braised root vegetables
I have never had sausage dressing, but I have to say, the next time I make dressing, I’m putting sausage in mine! It made the dressing!
Dessert
Pumpkin crumb pie (Kent)
Warm apple and cranberry crisp with vanilla bean ice cream (Bill)
We arrived at 4:00 and were finished at 6:30. We got home an hour later and did absolutely nothing. I got undressed and watched TV in bed until I fell asleep an hour later.
It was a good day. As I was eating my wonderful dinner, I spotted another family who were having dinner just a few tables away from us. The son with them was in a sailor uniform. It made me think of our guys on the battlefield in Iraq and how I was hoping for their safety. There are so many different levels of existence on this planet. Here I am having this wonderful meal in this beautiful restaurant overlooking Mystic Harbor, and they are in Iraq, fighting on a dusty, hot, battlefield with so many around them trying to kill them. It’s unimaginable to me. I wish they knew that we are at least thinking about them. I guess that’s all we can do.
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In am glad you both had a nice day. We dont have thanks giving here but it sounds fun. It does strike me as sad that you have such bad relationships with your families. I know that a gay friend of mine was so upset when his partner was hurt in a car crash and nither family could care less. I have 4 children myself and cannot imagine turning my back on them. Like you said my gay friends have formed thier own families and I am so proud and honored to be amonst them. My mother was brought up in a strick catholic family and was homophobic. We soon changed that !! I introduced her to my friends and like me she couldnt help but see and love them for the wonderful people they are. Now my mother is a defender of gay rights and is not affraid to defend and support gay people to her friends and for a 68 year old that takes some guts. If my mum can overcome her homophobia maybe your familes can too. Never give up remember good overcomes evil in the end.
It sounds like you had a good time Jeff.
I usually don't like Thanksgiving because it reminds me how NOT close I am to my family. We all actually hate each other, in a bad way.
Over the years, I've made my own family of friends, which to me is totally legitimate because to me, a family is a collection of people who actually care for and have love for each other.
This year, we were alone, but it was actually good. It gave Kent and I time to ourselves, and to quote Martha Stewart, "That's a Good Thing". :-)
My wife is a Jehovah Witness, and therefore does not celebrate Thanksgiving. However, my parents live just a few blocks away, and so I go to their house as I have done all my life.
Usually Thanksgiving dinner guests at my parent’s house includes my aunt and cousins and their families, and maybe even my brother and sister if they are in town, but this year it was just my parents and myself.
It was a very pleasant afternoon. Both my parents cook, and so they prepared the dinner together. Afterwards we sat and chatted for a while, and then I went back home.
My wife and a few of her relatives were making enchiladas and potato salad. They were also sipping on a rather large bottle of wine, and so it made for a pretty festive atmosphere even though there was no official celebration.
I went upstairs and watched television for a bit, and nodded off shortly thereafter.
All in all, a very nice day.
Glad to hear you and Kent had a nice time too, Bill.