Great Thanksgiving!

I started early slicing and dicing, chopping and blending. I had two contributions to make: Cranberry relish and Creamed onions. I was working with less than optimal equipment. Because of no propane because of Coastal RV repair, I was using a 900 watt hot plate. I remembered how long it takes water to boil on this so the onions went first. My blender, bought last season was more a drink blender and it was not doing a good job on cranberries, nor oranges. Out came the hand chopper. Not very efficient but eventually it all came together with minutes to spare before departure. Guests were Trish who celebrated her 30th anniversary of emigrating to the U.S. from Great Britain. I was glad to see her again. Brother Rich, Val and Justin, Lori and Jason, and the dogs. Trish brought starters: Champagne laced with creme de cassis and Swiss tarts she made. Hosts Jason and Lori provided cheese and olives and crackers. The drinks were subtle but powerful. Jason was the master chef and worked his fanny off. I have food pictures: in two cameras both in Deerfield. (Crap!) Trust me when I say it was a fabulous traditional spread.

The new dining room was inaugurated and performed as designed. We ate and lingered and visited and played games until it was time for a sunset cruise. We took David's twin diesel cabin cruiser. It was a great ride on the Intracoastal to Lighthouse Point and the open sea. We got stuck while the bridge keeper at the Camino Real drawbridge had a nap or something. The bridge is supposed to open every 20 minutes. We idled for nearly an hour but the only complaint was we didn't bring enough wine! It was wonderful being on the water in the evening. I was astounded at Jason's ability to parallel park a cabin cruiser. Amazing tour de force. Justin broke the ice and we ate leftover dinner (again) before tucking into apple and pumpkin pies with homemade whipped cream. Then Trish's after dinner liqueur stoked another round of word games and gabbing around the dining table. Great fun. The doggies were good while we were gone and made out like bandits while we were there.

The kids have been busy getting the house assembled and the decorator was in town from Michigan. They turned their former large bedroom into a kind of private quarters living room. The centerpiece of that is a kind of cocooning couch/daybed inspired by Juneau. It has two upholstered sides like a couch and a full size mattress so Jason, Lori and Juneau can snuggle, watch TV, hang out. Juneau took no time figuring out what this was all about. The master bedroom is now where Jason's former office is. They found they gravitated to the smaller bedrooms so made themselves a small one. Many other improvements. I'll take pictures. It is coming together very nicely.

We got a break from the heat. In fact it is a little chilly tonight. I'll cook for Andre and Nicole tomorrow (before the groceries go bad). Saturday we will all do Butterfly World and dine at Enigma. Sunday?? Casperites go home Monday a.m.