This week has been about food and friends, not a whole lot of art happened since we were quite busy.

Friday we got a call from our friends Diana and Karen asking if we wanted to meet-up with them that evening, we were in. We went to one of their regular spots, the Shaku Bar on Sandy. The food and the prices were great, especially the tempura kimchi, and the vegetarian smash burger, which was one of best ever. I think it might become a regular spot for us as well, we may return the favor and invite them to join us there.

Saturday Alexis and Joe came to The Pearl, we went to Irving Street Tapas for happy hour/dinner. It was good, but not as good as the two other times we have been there, not sure why.

Sunday lunch. For our entree (appetizer in the US) tricia made Gruyer Gougeres while I sketched a bit. And I found a good French quote:

Dis-moi ce qui tu manges, je te dirai qui tu es. (Tell me what you eat, I’ll tell you who you are.)

Sunday I tried something new, cooking with Pernod. In France the anise-flavored pastis emerged after absinth, the green fairy, was banned. Two of the most popular brands are Pernod and Ricard. Served with ice and a pitcher of water for dilution they make for a nice sipping beverage.

Chef Pierre Franey’s the “60-Minute Gourmet,” is my all time favorite cookbook. Franey spent much of his career as poissonier, fish chef, so he has some interesting recipes. He has a couple that call for using Pernod, which I have put off trying, until this week. So I tried his “Crevettes au Pernod”- a shrimp sauté with Pernod, served with baked rice and broccoli. We were pleasantly surprised and I am sure I will do it again.

Tuesday the work began. We hosted Thanksgiving, anticipating five people coming, which made a total of seven in our small apartment. We spent Tuesday shopping and prepping. I needed two butterflied turkey legs, the butcher at New Seasons was so helpful, it saved me doing it myself.

Tricia made her always-popular cranberry sauce, none of that canned jelly stuff for her. She starts with whole cranberries, and adds a bit of Marionberry liquor for depth. As a side note, in addition to her cranberry sauce she also makes the best turkey I have ever had. Here is a photo of a past turkey in the brine.

What is interesting is that she does not really like turkey at all, and it is certainly not one of my favorite meals, yet, we have put out some pretty good Thanksgiving meals over the years – we try to send as much left-over turkey home with guests so as to not have to eat it ourselves.

Wednesday we did as much prep as we could. Tricia made pumpkin cheesecake, I know it is sacrilege but neither one of us really cares for pumpkin pie, but do like cheesecake.

This year instead of a whole turkey I did a Turkey Leg Roulade, stuffed with leeks and currants, so I prepared that on Wednesday, ready to cook on Thursday. The cooking was a bit different. I poached it for about one hour, until the internal temperature was 160F. Then it was roasted for about 30 minutes at 450F to brown and crisp the skin. This was not a recipe for the faint of heart, but I quite enjoyed doing it. It turned out well, though, since turkey is a rare dish for us, I doubt I will do it again.

We had Brussel sprouts roasted in brown butter and hazel nuts, yams with cream and maple syrup, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and sautéed green beans with crispy shallots. Joe made rolls and Tricia made herbed butter for them.

Thursday, the extension is in, the table is set and we can devote time to cooking and guests.

For desert we had two cheesecakes, and an apple pie, way more than I needed. There was no shortage of food, and we sent ALL of the turkey home, whew.

The best part of the day was the fun we had laughing, discussing and just enjoying each other. It was a day of experiencing what is really most important, friends and family. Thank you for being an extended part of my life as you follow this, I would love to hear about your Thanksgiving, or for those in other countries how you spent your day.