Thanksgiving

We decided to go a bit nontraditional for our Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Still roasted a beautiful turkey, but skipped most of the "normal" trimmings.

We started with a Heirloom Tomato, Caper and Bay Shrimp Salad - yes, we're still getting great tomatoes in November - amazing. 

Our next course was homemade ravioli.  Jeff brought garlic sausage he had made with his cousin a couple of weeks ago.  The pork was fresh from his cousin's farm. For the filling I cooked the sausage, added fresh chopped spinach, a couple of eggs and Asiago cheese.  The sausage was so delicious we didn't need any other seasoning.  Jeff made the pasta sheets and John assembled and cut the ravioli. Marco helped out too - his ravioli are on the far right:

A real family effort:

I dressed the ravioli in a very simple tomato sauce - San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, fresh oregano, fresh thyme and salt:

"I'm ready! Let's eat."

Next up - Roast Turkey, Potato Fennel & Leek Gratin, Roasted Beets with Clementines & Mint and Parkerhouse Rolls.  Everything went swimmingly until my dad decided to steal a roll off Marco's plate.  Do not come between that boy and his food:

To make the Potato, Fennel and Leek Gratin - Sauté leeks in a butter in a small skillet. Place ½ of the leeks in a small casserole. Layer with thin potato slices, thinly sliced  fennel, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle liberally with Jarslberg cheese. Repeat the layers. Pour heavy cream over the casserole and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the top is browned and the potatoes and fennel are tender, about another 20 minutes.
It was a nice change from mashed potatoes & gravy - not that there's anything wrong with mashed potatoes!!

Marco helping with the beets:

To make the Roasted Beets with Clementines & Mint, Marco & I mixed roasted beets (red & yellow) cut into chunks, segmented Clementine tangerines, a little olive oil, chopped mint and seasoned with salt.  It added a beautiful, vibrant color to our plates:

And for dessert - Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie and ..

Vanilla Ice Cream with Cranberry Sherbet Swirl:

Marco giving me advice on how to serve the dessert - no wonder my back was so sore the next day!

Our menu made for a very relaxing day with plenty of time to play board games and visit. 

And for our after-dinner entertainment, Marco played the drums for us:

And then kept himself amused with Dada's computer while we did the cleanup.

Thanks Dad, Ma, Laura, Jeff, Sarah & Marco for joining us you give us much to be thankful for.