1. After some morning coffee and a little writing, I leapt into action in the kitchen and prepared our Thanksgiving cornbread dressing. I baked the cornbread itself on Tuesday and on Wednesday I dried it out at 200 degrees in the oven, making it a little bit toasty and crunchy. Today, I chopped up an onion and four celery stalks, cooked them in olive oil and butter and a little salt until tender, and then added four minced garlic cloves and cooked it all another half a minute. I poured this mixture into a bowl, got out scissors and snipped parsley into it, added sage and thyme and ground pepper, and then added the cornbread. I stirred it all up and added a half a cup of half and half and then some more milk to soften it and transferred this creation into a baking pan and topped it with five tablespoons of chopped butter.
You might be wondering why no turkey, why no chicken stock -- well, I made it vegetarian on purpose because our niece Molly doesn't eat meat -- and, I tend to enjoy vegetarian food a lot!
This stuffing didn't need meat or meat stock. Even unbaked, when I sampled it, I could tell it was rich, savory, and flavorful with a most pleasing texture thanks to the cornbread.
To celebrate having the dressing ready a few hours ahead of putting it in the oven, I fixed myself a V-8 vodka Bloody Mary with celery and pickled asparagus and salt and pepper. For some reason, I really enjoy a Bloody Mary on Thanksgiving Day and it was fun to sit and sip on this one before I cleaned up dishes.
2. Christy celebrated Thanksgiving today with Tracy at a handsome airbnb in Walla Walla. Cosette was tied up with work at the University Inn. But Debbie, Molly, Zoe, Carol, Paul, theater pal, Carl, and I all gathered at the Roberts' house at 3:00.
Debbie had employed techniques to roast the turkey on Wednesday and store slices in the turkey juices overnight and she headed to the kitchen to put the pan of turkey and the cornbread dressing in the oven and she got going on the gravy. Once the gravy was under control, I stepped away from social time in the living room and made us each a cocktail.
In keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition of eating cranberries, I mixed us each a Cranberry Moscow Mule, a simple combination of vodka, cranberry juice cocktail, ginger beer, and lime juice garnished with a wedge of lime.
It was an easy, refreshing, and just festive enough Thanksgiving cocktail.
We sat down to dinner. Carl brought three bottles of old-ish homemade wine that was, I think, left behind in the basement of the Jameson/Sweets building, a property Carl has purchased. None of us knew if this wine would be any good, but I was eager to find out.
I liked the first bottle because it had a kind of musty quality. Oddly enough, it reminded me of the peaty quality in some single malt scotches. I'll admit, the way this wine had aged made it not taste exactly like wine any longer, but I enjoyed its uniqueness and the way it kind of reminded me of drinking scotch.
I had an even more unusual response to the wine (or "wine") I drank from the second bottle. It tasted remarkably like one of my favorite wild ales, Russian River's Consecration, a dark ale aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. I suppose that means that as a wine, it was not very good, but, to me, the way it had aged and, I suppose, deteriorated, tasted great. I didn't care that it wasn't much of a wine any longer. I loved the sensation that I was back at 16 Tons enjoying the rare pleasure of drinking a glass of Consecration or a similar sour/wild ale.
Our dinner was awesome. The turkey was the most flavorful and moist I'd ever eaten. Carol used buttermilk in the mashed potatoes and they were perfect as was the gravy Debbie made. We had a superb side dish of roasted vegetables and the cornbread stuffing turned out tasty.
We retired to the living room after dinner. Carol and Paul sang the song "At This Table" for us. Carl is a musician (and a piano tuner, by the way) and he played a bit on Paul's guitar and did a little singing, too. Our conversations were wide ranging. We talked about our kids and families, education, and music, musicians (especially Hiram!), and performing - and about the challenges of trying to make a living playing music -- and what one turns to having given up on that. Carl told us about how he came to purchase the Jameson/Sweet's building, the challenges of owning such an ancient property, and his hopes for what he might do with it.
Our Thanksgiving get together was calm, relaxed, invigorating, nourishing, and peaceful. Everything worked: the food and drink, conversation, amiability, generosity, and laughter.
I could tell we were all thankful for such a comfortable time together.
3. Cas and Tracy put on a Thanksgiving dinner at the Inland Lounge every year, carrying on a tradition, as I understand it, started by Chilly, the Lounge's owner before Cas took over. In the past, I've enjoyed going to the Lounge early in the day for a Bloody Mary and a little food.
Debbie and I dropped into today's Thanksgiving party at The Lounge after we left Carol and Paul's.
I wanted to have one of Cas's Thanksgiving Day Bloody Mary's and enjoyed it. Eddie Joe joined us at the bar and we had a fun time yakkin' with him. Bob told me things got pretty busy in the afternoon and that they had plenty of food for everyone. Several people left with take home boxes and bags and the vibe at The Lounge was happy and energetic.
Debbie and I didn't stay long, but, for me, I loved wrapping up Thanksgiving Day as a part of the long standing Kellogg tradition of the Inland Lounge offering a buffet turkey and prime rib dinner to anyone who walked through the door.
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