A Thanksgiving post I am happy to write.

Last Thanksgiving was not a good experience for me. For a lot of reasons. I would just as soon not have participated. But this year is different. Much different.

The most important reason is that I am spending it with the woman I love, and will be celebrating the day with some of my family. People who mean so much to me.

It has been a long time since we've had such a Thanksgiving day. This marks the beginning of a new tradition. Hopefully, the first of many happy Thanksgivings.

Yesterday, Alison and I spent a good part of the day out shopping. We hung out at the local bookseller's for a couple of hours, then roamed Wild Oats for a while where we bought some things we would need later as we prepared the dishes we will take to my sister's house today.

We made a couple of more stops before returning home. After a brief rest, we headed for the kitchen and went to work. But it didn't seem like work. We are both naturals in the kitchen. We set to work on a variety of things. We never got in each others way. We didn't have to discuss what we were doing. We just knew what to do. It was really cool.

Ali made stuffing for the turkey that Jo Ann will cook. Two baguettes had been allowed to go stale. Ali chopped the bread up, sauteed onions and celery in butter, added toasted hazel nuts that we had shelled yesterday morning, and some dried cranberries we bought at Wild Oats. It was all seasoned with thyme and sage, and a bit of chicken stock and vegetable stock was added to bring it all together.

Then she made fresh cranberry-orange relish. A lot of it. We like it around here. It will not go to waste.

While she was working on those dishes, I got the green beans simmering  on the stove with a big ham hock in the pot. Once I had that going, I halved three acorn squash, seeded them, filled them with butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and put them in the oven. They are almost done, but will require another 20 minutes or so in Jo Ann's oven today.

By this time it was about 7 p.m., and we were ready for another bit of rest. It was a nice relaxing hour browsing blogs, catalogs, and magazines. By 8 we were both starting to get hungry, so I threw a couple of steaks on the grill for our dinner.

After cleaning up the kitchen, we settled in to watch a movie on DVD (Grosse Pointe Blank, which Ali had never seen), followed by The Daily Show, and several other hilarious shows on Comedy Central.

Before we knew it, it was 1 a.m. Another great day had come to a close.

We both slept like logs after our busy day, but we both woke early in anticipation of the new day.

It's going to be a blast.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Comments

[Jumpy Girl]

Happy Thanksgiving, Allan!

[Alison]

Yes, it IS going to be a blast.

[Alison]

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving. I love you.

[cassie-b]

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving day. It sounds like you're off to a very good start.

Cas
Happy Thanksgiving!

[Denise]

Here's hoping you two have a beautiful day!

[Smitty]

Happy Turkey Day.. To both of the love birds. And everyone else!

Enjoy!

[Not me]

happy Thanksgiving !

[not-a-fish]

Well, here's to things only getting better. Trends show the odds are in your favour ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Steph

[Margaret]

I'm glad that you will have a positive and DELICIOUS Thanksgiving with your loved ones. I forgot to tell Alison, so could you let her know that her stuffing sounds wonderful!

[bhd]

Good on you, you wonderful kids! :hugs: :kisses:

[Carrie]

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones Allan :)

[Crystal]

Happy Thanksgiving to you both!!

[Daisy]

What a lovely day! Happy Thanksgiving to you both, here's a toast to many more to come.

[evoque]

And may there be many happy Turkey Days to come!