thanksgiving feast - take 2

They say variety is the spice of life so we invited our friends Lynnis and Larry to bring their Thanksgiving leftovers and enjoy a second Thanksgiving feast. Lynnis and Larry are neighbors, friends and wonderful cooks--it was their Thanksgiving tradition of dinner with friends that first inspired the seasonal dinners we share with them.

I think their menu put ours to shame. Here's what they added to our meal:

Spiced Cheese Staws
Spiced Pecans

Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs and Shallot-Dijon Gravy
Sage Stuffing
Yukon Gold and Fennel Puree with Rosemary Butter
Sweet Potatoe and Apple Puree
Rose's Baked Artichoke Hearts
Creamed Spinach and Parsnips

Cranberry-Pomegranate Relish
Orange Fennel Rolls
Mary Jameson's Sweet Potato Biscuits

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie
Pear Cardamom Pie with Almond Crust

front row seat

We opted to watch the televised version of the Plaza lighting tonight and decided it's better than experiencing the event in person. At home you are warm and cozy and able to hear the music, see the celebrity switch flipper and have a birds eye view as the entire Plaza twinkles with tiny lights. (in person, you are cold, have no idea there is music and can only see the lights (and thousands of people) near you). We did venture outside to watch and hear the fireworks from our front porch!

thanksgiving 2008

We have so much to be thankful for this year and we were glad to share our day with Warren, Suanne and our friend, Doug. As usual, we had to put a new spin on the traditional turkey dinner. Thanksgiving 2008 featured:

Rolled Turkey Breast with Sausage-Pecan Stuffing

Cranberry-Currant Chutney

Herbed Oyster Stuffing

Wild Rice, Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta, Dried Cherries and Pecans

No Knead Bread

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Apple Tart

trading places

While we were in Arkansas for Sean and Jessica's wedding, Josh, Amy and Madeline were in Kansas City for Amy cousin's wedding. We were glad that they were able to spend a few extra days in KC so we got to spend some time with our favorite house/dog sitters!

on top of the world

A high point of our weekend was an early morning run to the highest point in the state of Arkansas! A trail from the lodge led us up to 2,753 feet where we had a great view of the Petit Jean River Valley. Afterwards we met up with family to refuel over a southern breakfast--complete with biscuits and chocolate gravy.

beautiful beginnings

There could not have been a more perfect setting for my cousin Sean and his new wife, Jessica, to start their new life together than Mount Magazine State Park near Paris, Arkansas. Both Sean and Jessica love the outdoors. Temperature-wise, the outdoor ceremony was a bit reminiscent of our own reception!

six years

It was 6 years ago today that we moved into our little bungalow here in Kansas City and we are experiencing a bit of dejas vous...

At that time Mike had just started his job at BNIM and now he (along with many other architects here and across the country) is looking for a new job as a result of layoffs and the poor economy.

Amy (Bartel) is here to celebrate another milestone with us. This time, we put her to work house and dog sitting instead of cleaning and unpacking!

Dad is here (and mom flies in tomorrow). We celebrated a post-Thanksgiving dinner with them our first year in KC!

We hope to spend another 6+ years here and look forward to the memories and adventures ahead!

celebrity sightings

In an effort to get caught up since our last posting in August, we offer a few hightlights:

Heidi's dad (and aunts judy, audrey and uncle chris) attended the Ryder Cup in Louisville

Mike and I attended a fundraising event at which Anthony Bourdain spoke about his travels and never ending search for the perfect meal.

While waiting in line for over 2 hours to vote, Heidi heard a familiar voice. The Pitch Magazine's Food Critic, Charles Ferruzza, was standing behind her!

back to back

On Heidi's birthday we flew to Chicago and took the "L" into the city where we were picked up by Kim, Chris and Livia Nigro. After lunch at Hot Doug's (The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium) we spent a relaxing day exploring their neighborhood and relived our time in Italy with dinner at Trattoria Trullo in Lincoln Square followed by a game of Scrabble.

After Sunday morning cappucinos, Kim dropped us off at our hotel where we checked in before she shuttled us to the MCA. We spent the rest of the day exploring Millenium Park, exploring the city and sampling chocolates at Vosges (including Mo's Bacon Bar and the Rooster truffle ("a mélange of Taleggio cheese, organic walnuts and Tahitian vanilla beans draped in bittersweet dark chocolate"). Our dinner at Primehouse was fantastic--possibly the best steak we've ever eaten (and the pretzel crusted crabcakes and the Kickin' doughnuts weren't bad, either)!

Our last day in Chicago was rainy but that didn't stop us from partaking in an architectural boat tour and a long walk to Blackbird where we enjoyed the pork belly sandwich, croque monsieur, kalamata olive cake with honeycrisp apples, toffee and buttermilk ice cream and milk chocolate fritters with cured plums, soy and rice milk sorbet!

A month later, the Nigros flew to Kansas City for a wedding on Kim's birthday. We celebrated with Christopher Elbow chocolates, molten caramel chocolate cakes, brunch and a trip to the Nelson!