Family Reunion in the Boonies

We spent Thanksgiving at our cute little house in the country. Guests included Marty's mom, who served as my sous chef (small-knife wielding and endless chopping are among her talents), and my dear children. Here are some snapshots of the long weekend.

Wednesday afternoon, I loaded the car and we drove uptown to pick up Mark. There was little traffic once we left Manhattan. Once we arrived and unloaded, I picked up the turkey at the local market, along with some other groceries. Later that evening, Marty arrived, and then Mariel and Harry.

We had snow flurries on and off Thanksgiving day. Since I had made a number of dishes in advance, it was fairly relaxing for me. I quickly came to the conclusion though that my NYC micro kitchen is better for cooking in than my commodious country kitchen. Sure, you can dance a waltz in the center of the room, which is fun but does little for the relative lack of counter space.

Since our dining room has no overhead lighting, we used a couple of lamps and lit a lot of candles, which was actually quite lovely. The best part of the feast was the after-dinner chatter, which in my family can run overtime. Sometimes, it's hard to get a word in edgewise and you're forced to raise your hand so you can go next. It's nice to see that some things don't change.

Nephew Mark and his wife Brie joined us for lunch Friday. Our friend Doug drove over from his country place in PA and joined us for dinner Saturday. There was much drinking and chatting and eating and laughing.

The dishwasher was begging for mercy by the time we left on Sunday.