The Freshmaker

....or what I like to call, the highlight of Thanksgiving. Between the imbibing, the cooking, and being thankful on this most splendid of holidays, Brett decided to showcase his true love and thanks for Diet Coke, by bathing in it with the help of a handful of Mentos. Priceless.

First, the prep....

Contemplating his first move

The first attempt

Namaste

The Motherlode

Blue Steel

One last sip

The Menu

As most of you know, I have the tendency to go overboard, and Thanksgiving is certainly no exception. We are headed North to Petaluma to indulge in a multitude of culinary wonders with our friends Brett and EP. It will be a collaborative effort that will include the following:

Appetizer:
Hog Island Oysters with champagne vinegar mignonette
Stuffed mushrooms with Italian sausage and marscapone

Starter:
Butternut Squash Soup with fontina cheese crostini
Rosemary sea salt rolls

Main:
Herb Roasted Turkey w/ Truffle Butter
Fried Turkey

I know. Two turkeys? Really? We are doing a side by side taste test, not to mention making an attempt to fill our freezers in one shot. I am not even going to tell you how big these suckers are.

Wild mushroom brioche stuffing
Babs' famous cornbread stuffing (because it's that good)

Again...2 kinds of stuffing? Yes. They say variety is the spice of life.

Baked parmesan mashed potatoes w/ pancetta
Candied yams (a must!)
Steamed cranberry beans (I'm told they are a sight to be seen)
Pear, brandy, walnut cranberry sauce
Canned cranberry sauce (just because)

Dessert:
Peen's famous pecan pie
Pumpkin Roulade with ginger buttercream

And of course, there will be wine. Perhaps starting with some cava, or proseco, or maybe some Veuve. Eeps is fully embracing the holiday spirit and digging into the bowels of her wine fridge to bring out the big guns:

Archery Summit Reserve
Rochioli Pinot noir
Jordan Cab

Plus we will be cracking into the 29 year old port that we gave her for her birthday.

Below are a few pics in attempt to showcase it all coming together.

It is no secret that I love food. And nothing beats good food paired with a ridiculously good glass of wine. But most of all, I love sharing it with friends and family. I could not be more thankful for that. Cheers!

First things first....a glass of vino for the chef

4 Years??

Seriously? Time flies when you are having fun! Love you Monkey! Here's to the adventure......

P and T seen doing their best high-paid fashion model poses in Smögen

Happy Birthday Froggie!!!!

Today, Tuesday, November 3 was the Frog's birthday, again. My how time flies. However, the birthday celebrations started already last week with a birthday dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, with our friends Brett & EP, followed by a Sunday brunch at Waterbar with Brett, EP, Rob and Devon.

On the actual birthday we celebrated by eating even more starting with a late lunch at Le Garage in Sausalito and then in the evening with some drinks and more food at Piccolo Teatro.

Thank you to everyone who wrote, called and came out for the vast flora of eating and drinking activities.

Waterbar

The Ultimate Blood Mary at Waterbar is really quite the ultimate

Johnny Cakes

Crab Benedict

The view from the patio at Waterbar

A painting of le garage at Le Garage

Le Garage

Croque Madame....mmmmmmmmm

Another stunning view

Delicious latte

And there were presents too, such a lucky Frog

Thanks EP

France 2009

As usual we made our annual pilgrimage to Cannes in the south of France to spend some time with Kaj, Anneke and Tsabo but also to take in those lovely Mediterranean rays and the deep blue azure waters. And as usual, there were no disappointments, just wonderfully copious amounts of wine, cheese and other delicious foods, sailing, beach time, pool time, restaurants, warm waters, perfectly humid temps, fireworks, late evenings and even later mornings. If there was anything negative then the culprit was a lingering cold that I picked up on the way to Sweden. Most pictures are worth a thousand words, these are worth a million and summarize our trip quite nicely. Enjoy!!

Approaching Nice airport

Welcome-drinks on the terrace

Tsabo

Pool time fun

Pool side fun

Animals talking

Mmmmmmmm

Bidding farewell to the sun

French road signs.....exciting

Pegomas

Cannes

Le Suquet

Kaj & Anneke

Restaurant fun

World championships in fireworks

Taking out the bateau

Cannes harbour

Vigilantly searching for that elusive wind

Good times

Lunch on the Mediterranean

Enjoying another day on the water

Hello Frog

Hello winch

Heading back in.....

....carefully

Saturday morning.....

......market......

.....in Cannes.

Until next time.....au revoir