thanksgiving 2007

Dan's family and grandmother joined us in Albany this year for Thanksgiving and a few days filled with games (Apples to Apples, Scrabble), cooking and eating, and rounds of drinks (bloody marys, mimosas, good wine, Dan's homebrew, cheap beer...!). We are a family that knows how to celebrate!

Starting off right with Bloody Marys and a round of Apples-to-Apples

On Thursday morning, we started cooking early! I was up at 6 to brine the turkey (and then back to bed), and Bruce followed soon after to make the traditional blueberry strudel.

delicious!

Starting early left plenty of time to enjoy ourselves before the turkey dinner. We played Scrabble and Apples-to-Apples,* and Grandma Sylvia found time to enjoy her book with a mimosa. In the early afternoon, Dan, Andrew, Marcy, and Bruce went for a quick walk around the neighborhood while Sylvia and I prepped brussels sprouts and chatted about Thanksgiving traditions and family. We realized that it had been over two years since I'd seen Sylvia (at our wedding!!), so it was a treat to spend some time together and hear old stories about Dan's extended family.

* Marcy, Sylvia, Dan, Drew, and I all went to pick up this game the day before at Toys R Us... Drew and I joked "How many Kyles does it take to buy a board game?" Lame punchline: "Four plus a Richardson - One Kyle to drive, one Kyle to navigate, one Kyle to find the game, one Kyle to tag along, and one Richardson to buy the game").

We served roasted acorn squash with thyme-lemon infused maple syrup, a tasty turkey, sage gravy (yum!), rustic porcini mushroom stuffing (a three-year running favorite at our table), caramelized onion mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts (always a winner with Bruce and Dan), and cranberry sauce. I didn't do traditional desserts this year but no one seemed to mind - we had a pumpkin mousse parfait with ginger snaps and a cranberry caramel almond tart.

Acorn squash ready to be baked

Dinner served up!

Ready to eat!

The man of the house carves the turkey

Cranberry caramel almond tart

On Friday morning, Marcy, Dan, and I braved the mall crowds for some Christmas shopping - it was a bit overwhelming, but the deals were great. We got back to the house around midday for a leftovers lunch, and then decided to head to the Playdium for some bowling. We got a few beers and some popcorn (and Drew tripled his sugar intake for the year with a couple trips to the vending machines...), bowled a couple games, and had a great time.

Marcy and Bruce show good form--to be expected, since Marcy has bowling in her genes (Sylvia used to bowl in a league) and Bruce apparently took bowling as a course in school...

Drew celebrates a good frame, quietly.

Dan celebrates a good frame, ridiculously.

Marcy chooses a ball.

Dan checks the score...

which shows that Dan is winning, and I knocked down a total of 5 pins... in 5 frames...

The family that bowls together stays together, or something like that...

On the last night, Bruce made turkey mole--a longstanding tradition in the Kyle family--which he pronounced delicious. And of course, it was. Thus ended another wonderful Thanksgiving!