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It has been quite a challenging year for me (to read about my experience click here [2]) but, as always, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending time with friends and family and sharing good food and wine. This is truly a Thanksgiving to be thankful for. And, like we have for every year since our marriage in 1967, Laurie and I are busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving celebration. In the past two years I have shared menus, brief descriptions of the food, and wine suggestions (to read the article that also contains wine and food notes and photos click here [3]). This year I am sharing our planned menu (that varies only slightly from year to year), and the list of wines we plan to serve. And, to all of you, our best for a very happy Thanksgiving!
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2013 THANKSGIVING AT THE TILSONS
APPETIZERS
Food
Homemade holiday snack mix
Raw vegetables with vegetable spread
Whole shrimp with fresh lemon wedges and cocktail sauce
Graber olives
Roasted almonds with sea salt
Wine
Holiday Sparkling Wine Cocktail (sparkling wine – Cremant de Bourgogne is our choice) and blood orange juice in equal proportions with a teaspoon or two of French peach, apricot, cherry, or cassis liqueur)
DINNER
Food
Rotisserie roasted fresh small turkeys
Mashed potatoes with cream and French butter
Homemade gravy (made from a turkey reduction stock)
Homemade dressing (fresh made cornbread, grain breads, chopped onion, fresh sage, and chicken stock)
Cranberry and orange zest relish
Fresh green beans with hickory smoked bacon and chopped onion
Roasted Brussel sprouts and parsnips with French butter and fresh rosemary
Yams and fresh apples baked with French butter, fresh squeezed apple juice, and a pinch of ground cinnamon
Biscuits served with French butter
Apple and Pumpkin pies served with whipped cream
Wine
2012 René Couly Chinon Rosé
2011 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Pinot Rosé
2011 Domaine De Fontsainte Corbiéres Rosé
2009 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé
2007 Jean Foillard Morgon Cote du Py
2006 Domaine Lucien Boillot & Fils Gevrey Chambertin Les Charbaudes
2001 Ridge Vineyards Geyserville
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This is the basic Thanksgiving dinner we have been serving for nearly 50 years! There have been a few additions and deletions here and there, but it has been very consistent from year to year both as to food and wine. In most years, we have offered a selection of different wines. It is a lot of fun to try different wines with the variety of foods and the more choices the better. This year we are going with different reds and rosés as listed above. And, depending on everyone’s thirst there may be even a few more! If you want to include a white for Thanksgiving, I would suggest an Albariño (to read my article on Albariño click here [6]) or Torrontés (to read my article on Torrontés click here [7]).
And, as mentioned earlier, if you would like more detail on Thanksgiving food and wine please click here [8] to read the article mentioned above.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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In Vino Veritas,
John Tilson