Of Feasts and Friends

Days and days of feasts have filled my days.  Yours too perhaps?  I think most likely, yes.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  I had a super lovely time cooking.  Organization and cleaning as you go makes for a splendid holiday.  I found that out ;)

(My vintage tablecloth made everyone smile - it has crabs and fish and roosters on it too)

Paula Deen's pumpkin cheesecake was a massive hit.  Her crust of graham crackers, melted butter and brown sugar sort of turns into toffee.  There should be novels written about that crust :)

 

My turkey was beautiful. Thank heavens.

(Mom's tips deserve the credit)

I covered it in real butter, sliding some under the skin too.

I filled it with herbs from my garden, and apples and lemons and onions and salt and pepper.

I chopped up a bed of sweet onions, carrots and celery for it to cook on.

I threw the bed of veggies in an oven bake bag.

Then slid the turkey in over that.

I drowned the whole thing in chardonnay.

Then I put bundles of parsley and thyme and rosemary from my garden, with more spices, right on top.

I stuck a disposable pop up thermometer in my wee bird, poked some holes in the top of the oven bake bag...

And 2.5 hours later...

Yumms.

 

Mister was a vegetarian his whole life.  But, not so much anymore.

We had spinach, and stuffing which I make with all sorts of sliced nuts and currants.

There were mashed potatoes, as well as mashed brown sugar and butter sweet potatoes.

We fed our friends, and sent bundles of food home with them.

Instruments and song filled the room.

My lovely neighbor and I (she just moved back to the neighborhood -yay- and I had not met her before), exchanged edibles.

She hand made these. (most were eaten prior to the photo)

 

I know - beautiful artisan bread for certain.

And I gave her this.

Made with one of my twin pumpkins.

 

She took it on a car voyage to share with family.

Isn't that lovely?

I love neighborly sharing.

I decided to make a cottage pie (sort of shepherd's pie), with leftovers.  So, I heated up a pot with olive oil...

 

Then I caramelized some onions and browned some mushrooms in it.

I tossed in the left over turkey, browning it a bit, then tossed in the stuffing, letting it all meld together.

Then I poured (err, globbed) in 2 cups of gravy.

I also took all the carrots that the turkey was cooked on (they were so good btw), and tossed them in.

I took a baking dish, and spooned in the cooked mixture.  Then I covered it with all the cold mashed potatoes we had left. ( I mixed in a huge spoonful of sweet potatoes, with the regular mashed taters, for color)

Make sure to take a fork and make some peaks in the mashed potato topping so it can brown real good.

 

I cooked it for 30 minutes at 400' F.

When the timer rang, I promptly took the dish, and popped it into the broiler and set the oven to broil.  Leaving it in the broiler for about 7 mins, until the whole thing was toasty and nicely browned, with blackened peaks.

 

Today is "end of leftovers day," and we get to enjoy it with a turkey cottage pie.

Yumm.

I have to say, the best part of the last few days (aside from enjoying days with both my boys), have been nights with my furry boy.

Matty's daddy snapped this while we slept on the sofa.  Matty has taken to hugging a lot the last couple of months.  I say "Matty hug," and he either puts his paws around my neck, or squishes up real close and puts his head on my shoulder.

Be still my heart.

I love this little boy.

 

With Matty beautifully snoring, and warming me by night, I have been dreaming of Baby as a tiny puppy, in the most beautiful place I have ever seen. (in real life, I never knew her as a tiny puppy, as I met her when she was almost 1 year old) 

I won't say more or I will cry.

Again.

I have been having major animal dreams.  And, they take me to the most love filled peaceful places I have ever been.

A kitty even blew a kiss at me in one dream.

She made perfect kissy lips, and went SMACK in the air.

Isn't that funny?

I found her under a pile of my laundry. (in my dream)

She was the spitting image of a cat I lost when I was 10, and I was calling her Matty.

Yellow and white with a big squishy face.

Kooky lovely dreams.

Matty and I have been falling asleep listening to this (the 1:48 mark really gets me)...

Punch Brothers. 

Bliss sigh... 

How are you?

Is your belly super full?

I hope so :)

I best be off, my paint and clay are waiting.

I am busily painting, sculpting clay, holiday decorating and enjoying the day majorly.

I hope you are too ;) 

See you soooooon!

 

ps:  Did you munch anything out of the ordinary?  Did anything super funny, or awful or wonderful happen in your world on Thanksgiving?  My Mom and Dad had their first childless Thanksgiving ever.  But, they got to be with my granny and grandpa and aunt and cousins etc. 

I wish I had some juicy tales about my Thanksgiving :)

Comments

[Kim]

Vanessa:

Thank you for sharing your Thanksgiving with us. I adore Thanksgiving. Ours was lovely as well...other than my sadness over not finding ONE single green tomato in the grocery. I love fried green tomatoes, but alas ~ we weren't able to have them this year. :(

Oh...there must be something in the air, something dreamy and magical because I have been having all sorts of silly, whimsical dreams myself. Hmmmm....

Have a great day Vanessa.

Kim ♥
Gerushia's New World

[Rodi]

What a lovely holiday Thanksgiving is! It's a pity I can only enjoy it through lovely blog posts. :) The food you prepared is mouth watering!

Thanks for sharing the food and the dreams and all the loveliness!

[Rhonda Roo]

My Thanksgiving was rip roaringly audaciously insanely...quiet. And i wouldnt trade it for the world! It was the most peaceful serene turkey day. LOVED it, just me and the Lost Boys and Cowboy.

And Buddy the Wonderdawg.

We had Cheesecake Factory recipe cheesecake, and green bean casserole, and homemade mashed potatoes (this year this lefty figured out how to use the peeler!) and spanikopata. YUM. and sweet potato casserole/pie with pecan in the mix and marshmallows on top, 'cause cowboy couldn't make up his mind, streusel or 'shmallow. ;)

I made turkey noodle soup and tonight is brunswick stew with turkey and tomorrow is turkey pot pie (great minds!) and then we're done with turkey for awhile.

Maybe bloglandia is resting from shopping or decorating madly? The itis (say "eyetiss:) has me bad! Decorate anything not breathing-itis, that is :)

OHHHHHHH please let there be little bunnies in your shop!!!!
xixoxoxoxvviixoxo Rooooooster

[Jaime aka artsyfartsyme]

No juicy tales here either. Your Matty is sublime. I made the turkey and everything else except some yummy yeast rolls thanks to Grandy's. I've been looking for a worthy leftover recipe and yours looks like it may be it. I can't wait to try it. Thanks! great photos as usual! :)

[Molly]

Your turkey looks amazing!
We had a freak snow storm and I wasn't able to get to the store to make anything I planned on making. :(
But I'm going to make them anyway, for some other random day that I decide to make special.
I so enjoyed that song! I love the purity of sound in bluegrass (or is this considered newgrass?) and I think it has something to do with all those string instruments. I just swoon over violin and mandolin. And cello. And piano. ;)

I was trying to remember the name CocoRosie last night and could NOT to save my life. I decided I would visit your site and look through posts until I found it. As soon as your banner loaded, the name popped right into my head. How funny is that?

[Jill James]

Your centerpiece inspired me.....we were supposed to drive to relatives for Thanksgiving but my son & I came down with goombahlitis & decided not to infect everyone. Quick trip to store for turkey breast (to go with my 16 cups of streusel sweet potato casserole I made for all the relatives!). Anyway, got out my wrought iron pumpkin, twirled ivy, butterflies, leaves, tiny harvest dollhouse, votives - leopard placemats (not as tacky as it sounds!) w/my gold china....It made me feel better just looking at it. You are an inspiration....going to make your shepherd's pie right now

[Bobbypin Bandit]

That pumpkin cheesecake is amazing. Can I trade you a slice for a pumpkin empanada??

Matty is a ham... I hope he lets me hug him when Doug and I come to visit....

[Bobbypin Bandit]

That pumpkin cheesecake looks amazing... can I trade you a slice for a pumpkin empanada??

Matty is a ham... I hope he lets me hug him when Douglas and I come to visit.

[Jill James]

p.s. Love Paula Deen (she has such a hopeful way about her) She seems very huggable....

[Laurie G]

Hi, Vanessa. Such a beautiful and whimsical post, as always. I loved the kitty kisses dream (I'm partial to the kitties) and your food photos are just gorgeous—-is there anything creative you can't do? :)

Thanks for turning me on to the Punch Brothers. I thought this song was haunting and intriguing and I just added their album to my iTunes wish list.

[Linda Diane]

Oh, your food sounds other-worldly luscious! We had a very quiet Thanksgiving, but a nice one with just my hubby, son, and me. My daughter had to work and lives over an hour away to boot, so she had her meal with her roommate's family.

So glad you are getting warm fuzzy time with Matty. I love it when my little dog snuggles with me.

Oh, and I got a certain Somerset Workshop publication featuring the most magical Miss V.! I'm looking forward to giving it a really good lookover! : )

[Theresa]

Hello Miss Vanessa!!! Look at all those lovely food photos. LOL Everything looked and sounded delicious. We had a quiet day - although there was a bit of drama involved (long story) - but the food was great. Between my mom's cooking and my dessert and side dish offerings, we were quite full. :) I'm now looking forward to a festive, magical winter season. We've begun the decorations today - there will be much more next week. :)
Matty is so sweet. I love nothing better than furry baby hugs. My Neo gives them to me all the time. I love feeling his fuzzy fur on my neck. Hope you are having a wonderful evening - can't wait to see all your new finished lovelies. :) xoxo Theresa

[Miss Lori]

Our thanksgiving was pretty uneventful.. until, that is.. we walked into the kitchen and found our cat, Pancho, sitting ever so nonchalantly on the counter, nibbling away at the leftover sweet potato pie..
I turned around, and walked away.. Cats like Thanksgiving, too, my husband said..

[m]

On Thanksgiving I married myself!
I'd been wanting to do it for years, and I finally did it. I promised to love, honor and cherish myself from this day forward. It may sound silly, but I feel different now, like my relationship with myself has reached a whole new level of love.
For my special wedding meal I prepared grilled marinaded halibut with a salad of grapefruit and avocado.I had never had halibut before because it's so expensive. But I decided "I'm worth it!" It was really good!
My wedding cake was called a "King Cake." Someone came up with it in honor of Elvis: banana cake with peanut butter frosting. (But I called it The Queen Cake instead, since it was for me!) It was the best dang cake I've ever eaten!
I am very happy with myself! If you want to send gifts, I'm registered at Tiffany's! heehee!

[Lavender Dreams]

We had a quiet day..but a good one! My hubby put a turkey breast on the rotisserie ... very very good! Hugs to you my friend! ♥

[Candice]

Thanks for the introduction to Punch Brothers- love them!! I liked Chris Thile before from Nickel Creek and didn't realize he had a new band! btw, me and my girls had a great time this weekend making your cotton ball Christmas trees. They are so cute! :)

[Betty : Mrs Yappy Dog]

If only we could bring Thanksgiving to the UK - looks like a great time for sharing and spending time with loved ones.

[Teresa in California]

Your turkey looked absolutely divine!
And your casserole looked scrumptious too!
I ate turkey and dressing for three days in a row, and froze the rest. Maybe I'll try a casserole with the rest of it. Thank you for the recipe suggestions and wonderful photos.
It was nice to see a sweet photo of Matty, what a sweetheart of a dog he has become.
It's been a long weekend and I am yawning...
Hope you have some more of your lovely animal dreams, they must be a comfort to your heart.
hugs,
Miss Teresa

[Laume]

We thought we'd have our first childless Thanksgiving but then a few of the kids just showed up. We pretty much nailed both silliness and adorable cuteness. Proof here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrrlGunzHIU

[Brandi McKenna]

Love your Thanksgiving post Vanessa! The song was beautiful! I want to tell you I enjoy how you view life in such a way as to see only the magic and beauty. Thank you for sharing!

[stephanie]

Thank you for this peek into your Thanksgiving AND your turkey recipe...as I will be making my Thanksgiving turkey this week.

Mr R had knee replacement surgery so we spent Thanksgiving day in the hospital...we're snuggly home now and I'll be making the td turkey!!

x..x

[Renee]

What a lovely holiday you had. We had our family dinner here on Wednesday. I forgot to take a picture of my turkey and it looked so nice, nicely browned and everyone kept asking me what I did to make it so tender. Its just a Butterball and I stuff it with onions, carrots, celery, butter and seasonings and then put butter mixed with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning on the outside and under the skin. Veggies in the pan with the turkey. They liked my dressing too.

I have to try that Paula Dean cheesecake. I make a cheesecake from Tyler Florence's Ulitmate show.

On Thursday it was just hubby and me. I cooked a ham and a couple other things and had leftovers from the day before. I really enjoyed my quiet at home Thanksgiving. We've had days of leftovers:)

Today I am decking the halls (for the 3rd day).

[Renee]

I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you what a sweet, sweet picture of Mattie and lovely dreams of Baby. Those memories are precious.

My dreams have been full of Zombies-ya think I might be watching too much of the Walking Dead?

[Nicole]

Vanessa, can you please tell me what is the recipe you use for your pumpkin pie? It certainly looks tasty, and I would love to make one! Thank you, and have a nice day.