Menu

  * 23 lb turkey (the **smallest** of the 21 turkeys my mom raised this summer)(taking forever to cook, of course)

  * [Saveur's Multicultural Stuffing](http://www.saveur.com/food/classic-recipes/multicultural-stuffing--50245.html)

  * Mashed potatoes with lots of warm cream and butter (Kate's on starch duty this year; making both of the above)

  * Kale from my mom's garden (olive oil and garlic)
  * Green beans (steamed -- possibly the only dish on the table with no butter)
  * Braised fennel
  * Delicata squash, also from my mom's garden
  * a 2001 Riesling Auslese, and a bottle of NZ Pinot Noir


  * Apple pie, baked last night
  * Pumpkin pie (made from fresh pumpkins, not canned) (to be baked while the turkey rests)
  * Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, etc
  * Coffee made in a brand new french press

  * Chai (made the chai milk last night)

I’m thankful for my wife, my family both distant and close, the bounty that New York provides, and for having a few days where I’m neither stressed nor procrastinating about writing assignments. (Both reactions still all too common, I’m afraid.)

Oh, and there’ll be six of us: me, Kate, my mom and Gil, a friend from the J-school and her visiting mother. Unless my friend doesn’t show, in which case there’ll only be the four of us. Lordy, the leftovers.