Thursday, November 22, 2007
Usual oatmeal breakfast. Cut my hair and showered. Began setting up the apartment for thanksgiving feast. Set up the paper lantern we recently bought at IKEA. Snack: shared a slice of leftover pizza with Patrick. We rented tables, chairs, and chafing dishes from a party rental supplier. They delivered and picked up for an additional $75. Patrick has been cooking for the past 3 days and nearly everything turned out like he wanted, so he was very pleased. After eating, everyone fell variously into different stages of food coma. People hung out chatting until about 9 PM. Mom Ryan was unable to attend due to some back and stomach problems, but we sent Danny and Drew home with a package of food for her. In attendance: me, Patrick, Tony Q, Chris, Nate, Phil, Drew, Danny, Shain, Remi, Jesse, Ted, Emery, Sam, Dave, Quyen, Dong Yi. We would have invited lots more if only our home would have seated more and perhaps had a larger kitchen. Here's what everyone brought: Ted and Emery: cabernet sauvignon; Tony Q: flowers; Quyen, Dave, Dong Yi: honey baked ham, gourmet mustard, pineapple-ginger chutney; Danny, Drew, Phil: a bottle of Knob Creek and a bottle of wine; Chris and Nate: pumpkin-cranberry tart, a bottle of white cranberry juice; Sam: chocolates and assorted gift baskets; Remi and Jesse: chocolate cake, ice, ice cooler to borrow. Someone unidentified brought a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape (!). The menu: bourbon cranberry sauce, southern pecan pie, bacon & sweet pea soup, bayou chocolate bread pudding, shrimp-stuffed merlitons (only one each please), sweet potatoes with pecan & marshmallow streusel, green bean & mushroom salad, herbed butter parsnips, cayenne-lime corn on the cob, spiced iced tea, creole roasted turkey with giblet gravy, honey-baked ham (brought by quyen, dave, and dong yi), pumpkin cranberry tart (brought by chris and nathan), pull-apart bread (brought by nathan). Photos to come.