Food and Festivity

Hi! Now that we have digested our big dinners,

Doug the Pug

I'll check in to say Hi and describe the holiday menu. I  mentioned I didn't host the Thanksgiving meal, my friends who are the wonderful chefs did the party instead.

Their decor is always magazine-perfect.

I love the serenity of their soft greys, with the focus on the food and guests. [I know I get carried away with my tchotchkas sometimes, oops].

The food! So delicious.

I made the stuffing: cornbread with dried apricots, dried cranberries, chestnuts, sausage and bacon. Lots of fresh sage, fennel seeds. And creamed onions with lemon pepper and nutmeg.

Menu

Starters :  charcuterie platter and wines/ beer.

goat cheese with cranberries, horseradish white cheddar, hummus, prosciutto, spinach yogurt dip, savory lemon cheese cake. 

Interesting tiny crackers from TJ's.

***

Main course

Turkey with my Gravy

Cornbread stuffing

purple mashed sweet potatoes

roasted Delicata squash with cinnamon

Roasted brussels sprouts with diced pancetta

creamed onions

Stuffed mushrooms

red or rose wines/ artisan beer

***

dessert

Vegan pumpkin pie with coconut milk ice cream

Dense chocolate raspberry torte

Mixed berry tart with whipped cream

coffee tea

All so good!

Mo was well-behaved! He sat quietly, alertly watching from his big bed.

Then approaching during turkey time. Just. In. Case.... a tidbit might fall.

After dinner we played cards and sipped wine and laughed, enjoying the relaxed day. NO one glued to the football games, hooray.

The day was nice but extremely cold. 19*. Mo had insisted on sitting out anyway, he loves the sun.

Our pre-dinner walk through the beach lane was brisk; sadly the extreme cold and wind has killed off all the late blooming flowers; once again the view is quiet and dull. Too soon, much too soon.

I hope your Holiday was fun too!

On a Blogger note: I have fixed the comment notification [yet again] and can now respond to comments in a polite and timely way. Sorry for anyone who was overlooked, it got a a bit messy for a couple weeks.


PS When I stopped by my friends' house on Friday, not a trace of autumn or Thanksgiving remained. All was glittery white beach Christmas, just so beautiful and magical. Hahaha, it will take me weeks to accomplish the switch.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Happy Thanksgiving

"..enjoy your turkey."

[a poem, of sorts]

 "I have a bratty sister.If she got lost I never would have missed her.

On the rim of the Grand Canyon, I hope,
She will slip on a piece of soap.
Though I'd be near
Her calls I will not hear.
Then I’d turn
And see her hurtling towards the ground.
I’m too late
To save her from her horrid fate.
Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your turkey.''  [edited to reflect my family's version.]

                                                          anonymous 

Few Thanksgiving dinners passed in my childhood without my brother gleefully reciting this poem here, scroll down  , a poem we attributed to Ogden Nash, but perhaps that is incorrect. On the other hand how many 7 year old boys read and memorize The New Yorker? The recitation was much applauded and I often felt like crying, as I so idolized my big brother. And didn't want to  die on Thanksgiving.

Looking back of course it is hilarious. We weren't a Norman Rockwell sort of family.

(And he wonders why I won't visit him out West,lol.)

...enjoy your turkey!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

Thanksgiving ~ Looking Back

Hi! I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year. My cherished turkey plates will remain unloved in their dark cupboard awaiting ''someday''; instead I will be a guest at a wonderful feast with friends. So let's look back to earlier blog years, and enjoy memories of good times long gone but remembered fondly.....

2010 Second year of blogging:

A foggy and gloomy Thanksgiving has finally given way to a rosy sunset on Black Friday...and I managed a crisp, brisk walk before the very early darkness closes in.

I didn't even think about hitting the mall! (Did you?)

Spent most of the day putting away the party dishes...

I know the "in thing" this year was for natural browns and blues for Thanksgiving...but I was sort of already committed to traditional colors with a touch of glitter and gold.

I think it looks pretty....and festive.

My Staffordshire in the autumn colors is my inspiration....

Then I added gold-leafed and glittered pumpkins

...and a wonderfully faded mercury glass beaded table thing---placemat?--- from Target,

with mercury glass votives....

My wedding china is maybe out of style, who knew? But I think it looks so pretty, with my greatgrandmother's trousseau linen tablecloth, family treasure wine glasses, and silverware...plus the flea market linen napkins and a little chocolate turkey for everyone...

The turkey was good...the Martha Stewart chocolate pumpkin cheesecake was excellent. The wines were great....except the dessert wine, an ice wine that tasted like Robitussin! eeeeew.

But for some reason all that turkey and fixin's makes me long for a pot of spaghetti Bolognese! Yes! Red meat sauce, made with sausage and mushrooms and the leftover wine. Lots of fragrant parmesan! Yum, right?

a pretty dolly to greet my friends

My mother always said the day after Thanksgiving she longed for a Big Mac! (And we'd get takeout at Wendy's, have a Thanksgiving aftermath picnic at Fort Hill overlooking Nauset Beach and the lighthouse, on the Cape.)

I know just how she felt!

homemade cinnamon potpourri to make my entry hall fragrant

love

lizzy  

gone to the beach....

PS I also thought this ''early years'' post, which got almost no page views, was still amusing and true to my life here   [except this year, the current Jeep has 3! immediate action needed recalls. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving ~ Home and Away

Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends!

This year we are invited to our friends' home for Thanksgiving! I am very excited, if a bit sad my beloved Turkey plates will not be used this year.
[Do they notice? Or do they slumber on, uncaring?].
Last month someone asked me if I keep my bright orange, yellow, and cheddar quilts out all Fall, til Christmas, and the answer is a resounding No. Much as I love those colors I don't like to live with them too long. November 1st, the jackolanterns are put away, as are the brilliant orange quilts and the bright cobalt pitchers.

This year I kept my blue and white color scheme and added grey linen throw pillows; and quilts in faded tones of rose and brown and beige.

I keep my mercury glass pumpkins in the silver only,

and I add mercury glass Mason jars,

 and  a turkey here and there.

Crocks are filled with the last of summer's hydrangeas, now dried to rose, tan, and olive, no longer brilliant sky blue.

Things look a bit spare maybe. Knowing I would not be entertaining for the Big Day, I kept my decorating to a minimum, going for November colors, serene blue, grey, brown.

Just a few pops of autumn leaves peek out,

and a beloved English pitcher filled with bittersweet.

I love bittersweet and hate to discard it when December arrives.

The other pitchers are mostly white ironstone or soft autumn shades, many stained tobacco brown.

Wasting time a bit, I painted my tiny pumpkins with chalk paint. Harder than it sounded--and not at all chalky!?. I am hoping they might be sealed by the paint and last til next year! We'll see.

Mo watches, and waits...poor Mo, no turkey this year

....
My friend and I have been planning the meal. I dug out tablecloths to audition, lent vintage water goblets and my mom's silver gravy ladle. We had fun grocery shopping. Look at these weird Brussels sprouts.

And cute curly butternut squash.

My assignment--my contribution to the dinner Thursday --will be homemade Cape Cod / orange cranberry sauce.

Oh my this is delicious. So sweet. My taste buds swooned, I realized how rarely we eat anything made with real cane sugar. Yum.

And I made creamed onions today; tomorrow I'll make the stuffing. We all prefer our turkey unstuffed, so I bake the stuffing in a big pan: cornbread cubes, seasoning, chestnuts, bacon, apple diced, onion diced, sauteed, cranberries. Fresh sage and thyme. All held together with broth and butter. My house will smell like Thanksgiving even if the day is not celebrated here.

Maybe I'll have pictures to share, we'll see.

Remember my mom's words of wisdom."Put the turkey in the oven, and have a couple beers!" She meant relax and enjoy! So I wish that for each of you and your families too,

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

PS If you're out and about: garden center, grocery store...now is the last time to stock up on paperwhite narcissus bulbs for January blooms. I had to order mine on Amazon.