use real butter

When all of the haute cuisine mags in the markets have holiday spreads on the covers, you know some dysfunctional family gathering looms large in your future. Actually, they’re all gearing up for xmas, while I’m still wondering what to do for Thanksgiving. I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving because unlike my dad, I actually like turkey. I have no problems with making leftover turkey reuben sandwiches, turkey broth, turkey salad, hot open-face turkey sandwiches, brunswick stew (with turkey), turkey quesadillas, etc. I also like ham – both the honey-baked and the [Virginia] country versions (or maybe it’s that I love those special silver dollar biscuits we served with the country ham?). I could just as easily go for Peking duck, bouillabaisse, southern pulled pork, sushi, you name it.

I’m not one for tradition – big surprise! As of this moment, we aren’t planning to spend Thanksgiving with anyone and that’s fine with both of us (much to our parents’ dismay). I don’t really need to spend the entire day cooking either, I do enough of that whenever we entertain. The plan is to ski and then come home and have a nice meal. But what the meal will be is the question. Here are some options:

Oh, I guess I could also do a crusted beef roast or a standing rib roast. Jeremy clearly prefers the seafood menu, with ham as a distant second. I like the idea of having a glass of Chablis.

Tonight was community night! It was fabulous as usual and we had a great time with Nicole, Andrew, Kellie, Tom, and Beth. There would have been a picture of me and Beth, but I think that martini Jeremy had negated the autofocus feature. I’ll shut up now and just post the pics.

andrew and nicole; tom and kellie

flatbread, hummus, salmon mousse, pate; panzanella (bread salad)

**Jump for more butter**

Happy Birthday to all my mates born on this day! I know the autumnal equinox bops around a bit, but I love it when the first day of autumn coincides with my birthday. Why? Because it means the ushering in of a favorite season with pumpkin pies, fall colors, cooler weather, Halloween, apple cider, autumn harvest, hearing children at play in the school yard, the smell of smoke from chimneys drifting through the air, and frosts.

But today we managed to skip over all of that and plunge into winter. Okay, to be fair, the forecast calls for warmer temps and sunshine in the coming week. However, today I could pretend it was winter – except it didn’t require much pretending. On our drive to the trailhead this morning, the roads were completely slicked with a sheet of ice. Although I love winter, this punch of winds and then cold temperatures seems to have some aspens going from green to brown. Thankfully, there is still some color to spare.

last year, this expanse was full and brilliant

**Jump for more butter**