Happy Turkey Day!

Or Tofurky (your choice!).  Gropius and I were busy cooking like crazy people most of the day:  turkey, pumpkin pull-apart dinner rolls, wild rice dressing, southwestern roasted green beans, caramelized carrots and pecans, sage-scented mashed potatoes,  gluten-free apple pie, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.

Hey, you can take the girl outta Texas, but you can't take Texas outta the girl!

I tried to shoot a few shots of the dinner prep for the folks who were unable to make it:

turkey brining in our ice chest--compliments of the freezing overnight temps, this worked out well!

Lots of chopping going on--and a whole lotta rice.

My precious dinner rolls--my first attempt at baking dinner rolls that didn't come from a box.
Yes, I AM quite proud.  Thank you.

Pumpkin + poppy seeds = DELICIOUS!

The table set and ready for guests....

We had a very merry, Jewish thanksgiving this year, completely unintentionally.  We realized after we invited everyone that all of our Jewish friends were coming (which settled the annual turkey vs. ham question!).  It was also our first gluten-free thanksgiving because we wanted Tina to be able to enjoy everything (hence the wild rice dressing).

We also set up some cheese and crackers on the "piano bar" and served everyone clove-scented Sidecars (see the last page of Sunset's Dec 2010 issue for the recipe) in the living room.  (forgot to take pictures of that, but it looked really swanky!)

Tina and Shaya arrived first and Lulu was SO excited to have Shaya over, even if it took Shaya a while to feel comfortable enough to take off her coat.  :)  Then Todd, Delia, and Max (aka Zorba Spartacus) arrived from Grass Valley and we settled in to our cocktails and appetizers while everything finished cooking/warming up in the oven.  Tina's friend, Karsten--a neurologist who was on-call at the closest hospital, was also able to join us for the main event.  Gropius carved the turkey and then left to pick up Elisabeth at the airport while we all settled in at the table....they arrived back in time to join us for our second helpings and apple pie for dessert!

Unfortunately, once everyone arrived, I didn't get too many shots b/c I was busy playing hostess, but here are a few I managed to snag before the evening was over:

Lulu and Shaya snacking on some pre-dinner bunny grahams

The only picture I've got where you can get a sense of the scale of all the food.
Walter's getting ready to carve the turkey in this shot.

Lulu and Max playing "we're cooking, too!"

Tina, Shaya, and Karsten--Shaya's already dressed for bed!