Friday, November 24, 2006

Thanksgiving 2006


My wife blogged recently about a sadder, past post-divorce Thanksgiving. Happily, this one was nicer. Palette and her family joined my us. My son Adam was with his mother and her family. He'll be with us this evening.

We had, as Arlo Guthrie sang, a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. This was the first Thanksgiving dinner I've had in my home in many years. I cooked up a 15 pound bird, and mashed and sweet potatoes, and Palette brought the stuffing and dessert, both wonderful. Big bonus: she, like me, has Celiac disease-- a genetic allergy to wheat. She used a grain called spelt to create delicious dressing. I hadn't had dressing with my turkey in years. Her meringue dessert was not only delicious, but had a beautiful presentation.

I'm excited to discover this spelt grain-- Palette says that you can make bread, pizza crust and other things I've been missing, with it.

We had coffee and a nice pinot noir that Palette, a trained sommelier, chose. We played a game of "Apples to Apples," and retired to the front room for karoake. I did "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", but I think the height of the evening was a full-blown version of "Hey Jude" with everybody joining in.

One magical little moment was when we were eating dinner, I had my itunes random shuffling on the Mac Mini in our dining room; of the over 5000 songs I have on that computer, "Alice's Restaurant," the ultimate Thanksgiving song, played.

If you look in the background, in the window, you can see that Adam has not accepted the results of the 2004 election.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Johnny, you need to know that spelt is NOT gluten free. It has the same protein in it that wheat does and is definitely on all the DO NOT EAT lists for celiacs. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Johnny Yen said...

That may be the case, but I definitely have not gotten the reactions I get with wheat. I googled it and the research is still out.

Joe said...

Did you have a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat? And then what did you do with the garbage?

Johnny Yen said...

Officer Bubs, I cannot tell a lie-- I put that envelope at the bottom of the half a ton of garbage.

Joe said...

See, that's the disadvantage of urban living. If you were out in the country, you could just pile it in a 50 gallon drum and burn it.

YEEE HAW