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Turkey Day cometh' and leave-th'

The day started out as usual on a Thanksgiving morning in Shadow Hills...





With my trusty Sous Chef at my side, we wrangled the bird into submission.



After much orange juice, sage, rosemary and vermouth I present to you, Thanksgiving Turkey 2011...



By mid-morning all the pies were baked, turkeys roasted and carved and we were on our fourth Mimosa!




We ended up having two grease fires (thanks to the Brit in my life, of whom I love dearly) but no injury's this year which was a feat in itself! Everyone arrived with their own culinary offerings...



...and something new this year to the Shadow Hills Thanksgiving, The Cheese Ball Turkey!  Yep... made entirely out of cheese.  Congratulations to Becca on pulling that one off!



There won't be any recipes in this blog entry today... honestly, I'm exhausted... just took down all of the Fall/ Halloween/ Thanksgiving "feel" in the house now, it's that 7 or 8 days of "lull" between then and the full on Christmas extravaganza!!!  Of course, to add to the flavor of the season, my Father will be arriving on a yet to be determined date to spend the holidays with my Brother and I for the first time in, well, God only only knows when... I think it was actually 1984.  Sigh.  Parents getting old... that will be a different entry but I wanted to touch on it now since it's very much a "now" thing in our lives.

So, back to the FOOD!  Everyone brought something fabulous!  Final head count was 33.



Dinner was topped off with pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, ginger caramel cheesecake, the silky chocolate pie with hazelnut/pecan crust, coffee and more wine.  We have survived Thanksgiving here in the United States once again.  Pretty much awesome really.  Now, Christmas is hot on it's heels.  

All ready confirmed with the husband, "Lights go up next weekend"... Christmas baking starts on Dec. 10th, as it does, and has for every year of my life since I can remember.  Shortbreads, figgy pudding, sugar cookies, jam thumbprints, mocha stars, and the list goes on and on and... well, you get the picture.


...more deliciousness to follow... soon.





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