I will fully admit that I went a little overboard with the Thanksgiving Day feast.  But I wanted it to be special!  The day started relatively early when I got up to make a fritatta for Keith’s parents (and us).  And by noon, my spreadsheet told me I needed to be in the kitchen working, so I was.  So I was off, and as a reminder, I put up the menu for all to see:

Mom helped me shell the boiled quail eggs for the first amuse bouche:

And I chopped up some chipotles for the pomegranate sauce that we NEVER used.  It was too damn hot – and I added gobs and oodles of honey, with no success!  Oh well, it was pretty and smelled good:

Baked off the yams early as well.  The hard part is getting the skin off in one piece while they’re hot.  But it worked…gotta build up those chef calluses:

Everyone else was hanging out having a grand ‘ol time while I slaved in the kitchen.    Kidding, I jest!  I love being in the kitchen, so no chore there.

I chopped & sauted the cauliflower early on, knowing I could finish it in the oven just before dinner.  Here’s the topping for the cauliflower – roasted almonds, tarragon, chives, parsley, capers, green raisins.  That got covered with some homemade rye bread crumbs when all was said & done:

The chef at work – cutting & arranging the yams.  You can see the brown butter vinaigrette ready to be poured over the yams.

The spreadsheet worked like a charm.  The first amuse bouche, Duet of Egg, was right on time.  It’s a boiled quail egg, sprinkle of chives, pepper, a couple of salmon roe eggs, and a shaving of fresh mushroom.

The second amuse bouche (not pictured) was a big success – roasted brussel sprouts, fried pancetta, lemon, butter and parsley.  The ducks cooked for 3 hours (and there were 3 of them) after stuffing them with cooked apples, prunes, rye bread, onions (and other things).  They had to be turned every 20 minutes to get the skin nice and crispy, but it was worth it:

It was absolutely amazing for Keith and I to share this Thanksgiving with his parents, and our great friends Angel & Paul.  We were entrenched in the spirit of Thanksgiving with those we love surrounding us: