Thanksgiving

For the last three years at Thanksgiving, Fiance and I have taken a trip up to San Francisco/Napa Valley. We spend Thanksgiving Day eating at Moose's - our favorite SF restaurant - and lounging around the hotel or window shopping in the familiar but different streets. We like the chilly air, scarves, and hot mochas that make us feel the sense of expectation the holidays always bring. On Friday, we traditionally make our way to Napa Valley for a day of wine tasting. We love wine. Of all kinds. And inevitably we join a wine club - which has helped to keep our wine cellar stocked over the years.

This year, because of our work schedules and the upcoming wedding (ie massive financial drain) , we decided to forego this wonderful, romantic trip. Instead we are staying home for the first time in our dating history.

Part of the reason we started taking this trip is that, despite the fact that Thanksgiving is traditionally a family time, neither of us have family in the area. And with the crowds that rush the airports on the days surrounding Thanksgiving (or any holiday), it's just not worth it to try to fight our way back East like we do for Christmas.

So it will just be the two of us. And one massive turkey dinner. Personally, I think we're up to the challenge.

Rather than cooking the turkey from scratch, we're getting a precooked one from Albertsons that will only require 2 hours of reheating. Along with the precooked turkey comes precooked mashed potatos, stuffing, and gravy. We're planning to eat the potatos, but the stuffing and gravy will go immediately into the fridge and on "standby mode." I plan to prepare chestnut stuffing and chardonnay gravy myself (the Albertson's ones will come out if I screw it up), cranberry relish from my mother's receipe, and green bean casserole from my grandmother's recipe. In addition, David has requested we also have corn, which will come from a can. And of course we will have pie for dessert - either pumpkin or pecan depending on what hasn't sold out when we pick up our turkey on Wednesday.

For lunch on Thanksgiving day, we're making butternut squash soup. Moose's serves it every year, and though I don't like butternut squash in general, it is always so creamy and perfect that I find myself looking forward to it. So rather than go without, I will attempt to replicate this tasty treat.

I'm a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself, and David is practically gourmet. By our powers combined, I anticipate we will turn out a feast fit for a king. Worst case scenario: I will heat up the frozen pizza in our freezer. Worst WORST case scenario: Everything will be so incredibly delicious I will eat my weight in food and not fit into my wedding dres.