A Lot to be Thankful For

We certainly had a nice Thanksgiving. Andrew, Connie and Alex were able to join Nancy and me, and we had a great time over the entire long weekend, enhanced by some fabulous weather.

The kids all came home on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning we set the table and gathered around for a group shot.

While Nancy worked on the finishing touches of our meal with a just a bit of assistance...

... the rest of us broke out Wii Resort and generally entertained ourselves.

To improve our appetites we took a hike up the Morning Sun Trail into the Marin Headlands. Although it was a nice day, it was a bit hazy and the views from the top of the trail were not great as can be seen from this video and the below photo of Connie looking out over Mt. Tam.

Back home we broke out some cheese (Brillat Savarin, Abbey de Belloc, Comtè and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar) from our favorite cheese store, Cheese Plus, which we enjoyed while we watched some football, and then moved on to our Thanksgiving dinner which was great. Nancy’s brined turkey turned out exceptionally well and after a few years of experimentation, I think I finally have perfected a stuffing recipe I like. We also had a couple of wines that went very well with the meal. Pumpkin and chocolate/coffee pecan pies rounded out the day.

On Friday, after an emergency run to Best Buy for a replacement TV (our former set having suddenly taken on a decidedly greenish hue), we went to see “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”, then were off for dinner at Sociale in San Francisco where we were well cared for by our friends Cornelia and Melissa (fabulous braised pork shank!).

On Saturday we hopped on a ferry in Tiburon for the short trip across Raccoon Straits to Angel Island where we hiked around the island and enjoyed the panoramic views of the bay.

On our way home we stopped by the Farley Bar in the Cavallo Point Resort at Fort Baker, happily early enough to catch dusk falling over the Golden Gate.

It was a wonderful holiday.