Friday, November 27, 2009

I'm thankful for another Thanksgiving Day spent with our darling family: Big Greg, my Greg, Nancy, Isaac, Elizabeth, Mark, Wren, and Jon. Diane and George were here in spirit; George came over earlier with two Frisch's pumpkin pies, Reddi Whip, and a dozen baked-on-the-grill sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, he could not stay and returned home to be with Diane who was home with a virus. Hopefully, they can visit us on Sunday, which is Diane's birthday.

We celebrated with the consummate 16-pounder fresh turkey from Humbert's, thanks to Nancy. Isaac and Elizabeth brought their delish homemade whole-berry cranberry sauce; Wren and Mark brought Macy, their one-year-old Labrador/Doberman rescue puppy with the meltingly sweet brown eyes; Jon brought stories to tell everyone.

The menu starred Greg's Turkey (Rachael Ray's recipe), Mashed Potato Casserole (Cooks' Illustrated recipe), Green Bean Casserole, EV's Cranberry Sauce, Stovetop Stuffing (Yay!), Graeter's Butter Bits (thanks to Isaac), Baked Sweet Potatoes, Greg's Awesome Gravy, Frisch's Pumpkin Pie, Betty Crocker's Apple Crisp, and Chocolate Chip Cookies with semi-sweet chips and white chocolate chips. Also, we enjoyed Henke Vidal Blanc (white), Fetzer Pinot Grigio, and Red Guitar Navarra (red) wine.

On Thanksgiving Day (yesterday), Isaac & Elizabeth were able to come over briefly to share Rosemary Flatbread, Pecheline olives, goat cheese, Pesto Palmiers and Henke Seyval wine. They were not able to stay for dinner, though. But Wren, Mark, Jon, Big Greg, my Greg and I enjoyed Honey Baked Ham, Cheesy Potato Casserole, and Sauteed Zucchini with Yellow Squash for dinner and Key Lime Pie for dessert.

Pearls Before Swine is one of Jon's favorite comics and it was nice to read them together on the Internet. Another fun activity was a trip to the Gap Outlet Store in Hebron, KY. We found alot of great bargains.

I'm very impressed with the wines from Henke Winery. It's a local winery that we recently discovered. The restaurant/winery is located in Cheviot and their wines are very smooth and drinkable. Tabor Hill is becoming a distant memory.

Following a friend's blog and reading about her toddler's battle with cancer is sobering this week. They are bravely writing about their son's final days and I am in awe of their dignity and grace during this difficult time.

The December calendar squares have a few entries. Greg & I are looking forward to the annual Malson Christmas Party, an Open House with Dan & Diane Aseere, 3dB Labs' Company Dinner at Vincenzo's, the Schulte Drive Christmas Party, and Tamara Trimbach's wedding in Indianapolis.

Tomorrow we're driving to Waynesville to pickup a grass-fed side of beef processed at Davidson's Meats. An Amish farmer we met at Findlay Market sells grass-fed beef and we bought it from him.