Of Thanks and Thankfullness-

I am late, of course, but I'm still going to talk about November.

Or, more specifically, the wonderful feast that was Thanksgiving.

Dave & I went up to Richmond, joined the whole family for a spectacularly joyous meal. Folks, kids, extended family, cats and even a dog bustled and rustled and laughed around.

Business got down around noon. As people arrived at my sister-in-law's (Paige's) house, the turkey had been cooking for sometime: all the guests brought a little something.

I took an Italian cheese terrine. My friend Sue served this appetizer at a holiday a couple of years ago... the pretty colours and festive flavours seemed a perfect fit.
The terrine is pretty simple to make, but extraordinarily beautiful... and quite rich and tasty, to boot. I pressed a pansy and some basil into the bottom, but any sort of herbage or flowers would be just as pretty.

Once cut, it reveals its layers of pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and glorious cheeses.

This wasn't the only sun-dried tomato conglomeration on the block. Paige had also stepped up with a sun-dried tomato dip that was bursting with addictively delicious flavours.



Of course, there was indeed wine in plenty.

We started with champagne, then some more champagne, then moved on to Dave's Fife.

It was, natch, Fife'n good. :)


Along with great food & wine, there were plenty of great folk... mostly human, but there were also feline and canine representatives roaming about.
Who can resist such sweetness? There was much petting and patting going 'round.

Soon, the bird was cooked to golden perfection, oozing glistening, turkey-juice soaked stuffing.
It was time to eat.


We sat down... family far-flung and close, elbow to elbow. It was 70+degrees outside.

We laughed, ate well, drank well, and had a smashing great feast.









One would think that this would be enough.

But, hey- it's the holidays, right?

There was triple chocolate cheesecake. Folk moaned, swooned, then resolutely (and joyously) dug in. Seriously, how can you resist an endorsement like this?
I thought not. We were in such a state that I completely forgot to photograph my own dessert contributions... a thick, luxurious burned orange ice cream, buttressed by equally rich, bittersweet chocolate cookies. It was gorgeous, and together, incendiary.

The night ended colder than it began, and with such bursting full bellies, we quickly nodded out. It was a fabulous holiday.

RECIPES:

Italian-Cheese Terrine
Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake (forthcoming)
Burnt Orange Ice Cream
Bittersweet Decadence Cookies