Thanksgiving – the food

I know that in the US Thanksgiving is pretty much the largest holiday of all – the one where more people fly or drive home to be with family than any other. A good time to not be at an airport!

But in Canada it is much more low-key. It technically falls on a Monday, but most people will celebrate on the Sunday and use Monday as a day of relaxation. But since both Meghan and Rudi were flying on Sunday, Rudi’s sister had the meal on Monday.

She’s a really good cook! So it is a pleasure to go to her house to enjoy food.

I had made her some blackberry (fresh-picked!) balsamic vinegar as a gift.

Here’s the gravy bubbling away as the turkey stands for a bit before carving.

My lover got to do the carving!

Yum.
Now I don’t love turkey, and I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t. But Frederike’s turkey was delicious1

Here are a few dishes of Frederike’s spiced mandarin cranberry sauce. Yum.

We’d also brought a cornucopia of flowers as a table centrepiece.

But the food was the star!

Sweet potatoes – this year with mini marshmallows.
Frederike also served apple cider – mine was straight, the others had a bit of fermentation, much like the first Thanksgiving.

Smashed potatoes.

Slowly the table fills…

There’s the dressing/stuffing and the Brussels sprouts.
(Apparently it is stuffing when you cook it in the bird, and dressing if you don’t. I never thought about that!)

Here’s Rudi’s dad’s plate. This is before he added everything to it. It grew.

Here is mine. And guess what? My tummy revolted and I had pain for about 36 hours. Too complex for me for now.

Dessert! An apple and a pumpkin pie.
Now I am usually a pumpkin fan, but this apple pie was phenomenal. Frederike says it was, in part, due to it being made about 75% with the Spartan apples from her apple tree.

This was my plate.
I shouldn’t have. But I did. Freshly whipped cream? My goodness.

On the way home the temps had dropped a bit, it was spitting some occasional rain, and as we passed the Salish Sea – which is what the Straights of Juan de Fuca and Georgia are called (and I think this is right) – we noticed a rainbow!

A perfect end to a lovely day!

My gratefuls – That Rudi’s sister is a wonderful cook who watches the Food Network! That we had a really nice day with family. That Truffles celebrated her very first Thanksgiving with us, though we learned she is not a fan or roast turkey. That the sliver of sunlight illuminating one wee island and making a rainbow happened at the exact moment that we drove by, allowing us that treat.

~ by photokunstler on 13 October 2011.