A Different Thanksgiving Weekend

I can't remember the last time it was just me and Lloyd for Thanksgiving.
No kids. No family. No friends. Everyone had places to be this year.
I love him madly, but there's only so much two people can eat of a 20 pound free turkey. We made the best of it, though. Here I am toasting the rather damp and gray day with the first of several glasses of Chateau Ste Michelle Brut, an affordable and delicious Washington State wine.

And here is the bird, rubbed with Maple Herb butter under the skin, bursting with New England Sausage, Apple, Cranberry and Leek stuffing. Those recipes from the 1994 Bon Appetit Thanksgiving issue have become my standards.

The usual suspects for side dishes: garlic mashed potatotes, brown sugar and spiced sweet potatoes with marshmallow and almonds, freshly made cranberry sauce, green beans with walnuts, brussels sprouts, and, much to Lloyd's dismay, roasted beets with horseradish cream topped with parsley and garlic. I had beets. They were calling to me...

Needless to say, the leftovers were many, so we invited our ski buddies to a pot luck leftovers dinner after Sunday's excursion to Tea Cup. Skip and Jan, Lloyd and I, Jan and Jo were joined by Elliot (who had to make an early run to PDX) after our first loop around. The trails were well worn after obvious heavy use over the weekend. It was a beautiful day. At one point we went by some frosted trees. The sparkling snow and ice on the trees were so pretty, I had to take off my sunglasses to get the full rush. And take out my camera, so you can see something other than the post card of us with blue sky and Mt. Hood behind us.

Apres ski, Elliot picked up Yolanda, Jan got Fred (who hurt his back sweeping out his gutters), Jo got Jim (who is having a long recovery from H1N1), and Lisa and Randy came over. Everyone brought wine, appetizers and pies, and there was a green bean casserole and a sweet potato casserole to fill out my small sides. I had several beets fans present, so that dish was demolished. The event was such a hit, we just might make it a new tradition.