First Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very special. It is always special to bring together family and friends over great food and wine. Time to eat to much turkey and pie.

This year was special because for one person it was their first taste of a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. I know every year new people enjoy the holiday: babies, immigrants, visitors from other countries, etc. So why is this interesting to anyone? Let me share.

First Thanksgiving dinner (this is the third serving on his plate)

Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner was the first for someone that has lived here almost all his life. How could that be? besides being vegetarian, Ketul is from a traditional Hindu family that has grown up without ever experiencing the turkey overload. No, he didn't eat the turkey. His favorite dish turned out to be vegetarian stuffing with a close runner up of the skittles salad. (That's another story.)

It was a very diverse group of eaters that we had the joy of cooking with and for. We had a vegetarian, lactose intolerant, peanut allergy, and gluten intolerant. And the best part is that everyone had a variety of things they could eat. Nobody starved or felt left out.

The plan this year was for everyone to bring their favorite Thanksgiving dish or a dish with a great memory from Thanksgivings past. We enjoyed an amazing smoked turkey, Grandma's mashed potatoes, Honey Glazed carrots, Grandma Gray's Broken Glass Salad, quinoa salad, Megan's first vegetarian and regular stuffing with water chestnuts, homemade pumpkin pie from our own pumpkin, homemade apple pie and Kylie's first pumpkin cheesecake. And much more...

We also shared the day with some wonderful folks from California. Son has been dating a great girl from California for several years. This year they made the long drive up from the bay area to enjoy Thanksgiving with us. Since we both live in wine country, we shared some great wines from Sonoma. Last year was Courtney's 21 wine run. In honor, we shared some nice wines from Sonoma including a 2008 Cab from
Kunde Family Estate and 2007 Cab from B.R. Cohn Winery. There was one more but frankly I don't recall. :) apparently California Cabs goes very well with the game Apples to Apples. They both seem to improve with the paring.

Family game time

For dinner we paired our amazing assortment of food dishes with a custom blending of three Lembergers from Yakima Valley Vintners. The Lemberger were produced using three different oaks and bottled separately. This let everyone choose the flavor profile they liked and eventually progress to custom blending.

What a great day. The diverse dietary restrictions could have been an issue but it wasn't. Everyone was creative in their cooking and everyone left the table stuffed at least once.

Thanksgiving is for family

Thanksgiving is a time for family. Sometimes during the holidays you find a new "family member." That is sort of what happened last Saturday.

Last Saturday after a day of wine tasting with husband Brad and mother-in-law Diana, we stopped by Bern's Tavern. Granted I was sick and felt like crap but I knew this would be worth it.

For the last nine or ten years, Brad and I have thought that we had found his "lost aunt." Okay, maybe she wasn't lost...we just haven't had helped the rest of the family find her.

We met Linda years ago when started going to an old bar in Prosser called Bern's. Linda works there in the evenings and most weekends. Her nephew owns the bar. She also works at the local newspaper as a typesetter. I worked with her while I was the editor of the Grandview Herald. But I digress.

So we went into the tavern to "get a beer." It didn't matter that we had already stopped by Whistran Brewing to sample the chocolate stout. Yummy...and it comes with a chocolate truffle.

Back to the lost relative. The bar's entrance is a long and narrow. One side of the room is flanked by the old wooden bar. As you get towards the end of the bar their is a grill and fry baskets. A lady is flipping burgers and turns around. It's Linda and the look on Diana's face is priceless! Linda has short dark hair streaked with "salt", wire-rimmed glasses, and is about five feet tall. She is Diana's twin...from another mother of course. Yep, they are speechless.

As we sat down with our pitcher of beer, they are both trying to come to grips with their new found twin. And it isn't just the twins who are confused.As Diana and I are sitting at the bar waiting for the band to start, a tall man in a visor comes up behind Diana. He gives a great big hug and he starts telling "Aunt Linda" how well her nephew played in the state football playoffs. Yep. He's totally fooled until Diana finds her voice in time to tell him she isn't Linda. Me? I'm cracking up! So hard I am coughing! Too funny!

It turns out that they were both born the same year about six months apart. So that rules out adoption...too close in age.

Brad grabbed the camera after dancing with me and Diana. Yep they danced and they were having a great time. So here's the picture of Aunt Linda and Diana.
Remarkable...