Ok, let's do this before my feeble brain loses all recollection. I did manage to keep the wine to a minimum this year so I think I can remember pretty much the whole thing.
It was really nice to have rebby at home this year for the first time in a long time. As I may have mentioned, she bagged herself a turkey this year, and determined that she would wrap it in bacon and smoke it in the smoker outside. I also got a heritage turkey, just in case 1)we had a bunch of people, or 2)the wild turkey was just too weird. Neither of those two things ended up happening, but I was still plenty glad to have lots of turkey to go around.
So anyway, we got up and had breakfast (I think---gah, I guess I am getting fuzzy already!) and then started in on the prep. I had done a bunch of pre cooking the day/night before, so there was mostly a bunch of clean up and putting things together to be done. I was in the kitchen, and rebby was given the task of tidying up the rest of the house before the guests started arriving at about 1pm. But, time inched closer and I couldn't find her. What was she doing? Turns out she was proudly/adorably mounting her turkey feathers on a board to hang up on the trophy wall above the bar. She finally got them hung the way she liked, with plenty of time to get all the chores done. Of course.
Jeff and Lisa, my favorite Thanksgiving pals, came over around 2pm. They brought some seriously boozy pennsylvania dutch eggnog, a case of saranac beer, and some pumpkin pasta. Oh, and extra silverware, and Stan. Yay! Oh! And also, Forbidden Zone, which we never did get around to watching, unfortunately. We all milled around and ate snacks---cheeseball, roasted pumpkin seeds, french onion dip with carrots, black bean dip, shrimp cocktail. Took a lot of pictures and drank a bunch of wine and beers. Rebby started up the smoker and got the party started in the back yard. Not long after that, the family arrived: Shannon and Tristan, Kyle and Brady and Stacy and then Dad. The kids immediately ran to the back yard and rebby got a fire started in the chiminea. They were fascinated. Dad mostly hung out in the kitchen with me and watched me cook. It was fun! My turkey had gone in the oven at around noon---rebby put hers on the grill at around 3pm. It was a smoky business!
I'm just gonna spill out the rest of the menu stream of consciousness style, as I remember it: horseradish-buttermilk mashed potatoes; turkey gravy; roasted sweet potatoes with apples and maple syrup; brussels sprouts with apples, onions, and cider-mustard glaze; alton brown's green bean casserole (with cheater fried onions from TJs on top!); cornbread stuffing; chestnut stuffing; the ubiquitous crescent rolls (done in the adult style of actual crescent roll shape); smoky greens with turnips; spicy black eyed peas; vegan cornbread; bourbon pumpkin pie; apple cinnamon cake; cranberry apple cobbler; two kinds of turkey; and lots and lots of beer and wine and coffee and eggnog and cider and I think more than one shot of whiskey. By the time the dinner was on the table, we had me, rebby, jeff, lisa, colin and his friend (can't remember her name! ack), tait, dad, and leslie. It was lovely and we all found spots in the front room and ate two and three plates full. Yay! Lots of fun conversation and then so quiet you could hear a pin drop as we all fell into the traditional food coma. After a while some of us adjourned into the tv room where Urgh a Music War started, and then some other folks stopped over to bring their holiday greetings. I made it all the way through Urgh, but boy was I whooped by the time it was done! Everyone shuffled off by about 10:30pm, and we did the barest of clean ups and then went snuggly to bed. Nice holiday memories!