The morning after

By all accounts the Thanksgiving 2007 Feast Of Giving Thanks was a smashing success! Here are the pics, in no particular order.

The day and night were gorgeous, with the wavy glass givng us a watery view of the houses on the opposite hillside. The table settings were, as usual, elegant and understated and matched-up Martha-worthy, with fresh flowers and glistening glassware and silver and napkins folded to look like asparagus. (Which is to say I had little to do with that part of the preparations.)

In the kitchen, me and Libby did our Chef thang off and on all through the day, with the vegetarian stuffing and a 20-kilo turkey (which took 7.5 hours total to roast!) and three casseroles and a salad and aperetifs to deal with. It was such a treat, working in a real honest-to-god kitchen. The guests started showing up about 7 p.m., with the notable arrival of Dominic.

Dominic is a French chef, a formidable presence in anybody's kitchen. He took over the gravy preparation, and helped us determine the turkey really was NOT done in the prescribed time, and showed me how to cut a swath around the legs to get it to roast through toute suite! I learned a whole lot in the bargain, even if the pace really did get a bit crazy there for a while, what with the four different languages, the oven catching fire, and the grease getting on the floor and all that. (the fire wasn't bad, really. But that is how the grease got on the floor, and why for a little while I was working barefoot, so I wouldn't slip in the mop-up water.)

Jean-Marc, our host, made sure the Kitchen Help had their own champagne supply, and different guests nipped in here and there to help out. Libby performed superbly.

And somehow, a mere 30 minutes behind schedule, we got it all out there, hot and ready and even elegantly.

I did a good job, I gotta say, but I have to admit I didn't deliver on the sparkling guest role... by the time it was all served I was pretty whupped, and rather overwhelmed by all the people and noise and language. I hid myself a piece of pumpkin pie for later, and went and hid in my quiet back room in the dark for a while!