Chance = Change

...at least on Thanksgiving Day, was clearly our place, specifically the new Red Dining Room... where 16 people (later 19), sat at two comfortable tables and ate the many delicious dishes we had prepared for them! The red walls, and the lovely table landscapes, shining with polished silver (I do seem to have a lot of that!) and gorgeous roses (thank you,dear Stephen for all those wonderful flowers and arrangements...such sumptuous beauty everywhere) seemed to create the perfect dining and talking atmosphere.

I have read somewhere that red stimulates the appetiite, which is why so many up-scale restaurants use the color on their walls,etc. Well, that certainly seemed true at our dinner party...people ate and ate and seemed to genuinely enjoy the food. Plates full , heaped high, with foods from the buffet we set up on the hallway bookshelves (also covered with silver serving pieces and vases of roses, as well as a turkey basket filled with colorful foil-wraqpped chocolates, some in the shape of turkeys, and chocolate kisses flavored with cherry and vanilla) Peter even published a prettily scripted menu for all to read,which I placed on the buffet so people could know what they were about to eat, another stimulus to the appetite, i think, because people were clearly very very hungry.

Two turkeys (one savory , one sweet), heaping bowls of mashed potatoe, sweet potato covered in marshmallow, roasted butternut squash, greenbeans with almonds, three different sorts of stuffings (one I invented with hazelnut and orange),and a gorgeous platter of vegetable lasagna brought by our pal Gabby (who is Italian , and who knows his way around lasagna preperation!).....a gorgeous and satisfying meal, covered in various gravies...and it all tasted so good! I firmly believe a Thanksgiving meal should actually taste good, not just look pretty, and this one was delicious! I now know, how to make a moist and tasty turkey! Thank you Food Channel! And thanks for the sweet onion tartlets and goatcheese -filled pears w/ prosciutto! YUM! And then of course, there were all those desserts! Especially the pumpkin rolls prepped and served by Steve's lovely daughter Katy, along with the turkey-shaped shortbreads made by his other girl Chris! Wonderful! And thanks to you both! As well as to Michael J. for the most luscious brownies! We had rich melted vanilla ice cream to cover all of it, including the pies! Urns of fresh coffee topped the dining experience, and bottles of red and white wines and champagne flowed throughout the evening. Very festive and relaxed. It was the relaxed part I liked the best...people really enjoyed each other and conversation flowed easily at both tables. We also set up our Purple Room as a "football" room, so it was often occupied with relaxed and chatting guests who used the televised games as an excuse to get to know each other...so easy. And I enjoyed my own party! That is an accomplishment in itself!

Peter and I discovered we can work very well together in our narrow kitchen. The night before the dinner party, Peter prepared a schedule (color-coded, no less) o allwehad left to do on that final day before guests arrived, and we followed the schedule to the minute (as best we could). The result was that we actually got everything done in a timely and relaxed manner, having fun in the kitchen while we cooked, and of all the things I enjoyed about the holiday, I believe that time with peter in the kitchen was my favorite. That and Paul sitting in the brown recliner knitting, while the party swirled around him. We did it so that Steve and Paul could relax (since they always are the holiday hosts for our family), and we seemd to accomplish our goal! I love those two so much. And, of course, as is our family pattern, whoever didn't do the cooking cleaned the kitchen, and boy did they ever! The best kitchen staff in town!!!

It was such fun!

Labels: Holidays and Slings and Arrows