turkey day

For Thanksgiving, we headed up to a house on the Russian River with a great group of friends. It's about an hour north of Oakland. klaus got to enjoy the freedom of dog doors, and we all enjoyed some fun cooking, amazing food, synchronicity in the kitchen, and lots and lots of games.

Now we can't wait for Christmas!

Scott giving a juggling demonstration with the cuties.

Sean and Victoria brined the turkey for the entire night before the big day, and had impeccable timing getting the bird into the oven. I think they might be able to give Grammy a run for her money.

Ugh, persimmons. I like them, and Sarah made a delicious persimmons and fennel salad, but persimmons are kind of like tomatoes in the summer on the east coast. There is a never-ending supply!

That's lettuce, Chris.

That's Laura's spicy-ginger-carrots grin.

Left drumstick on green. Thanksgiving twister.

Let the feast begin!

Mmm, the fattiest pumpkin pie ever.

Scott declared a boycott of shopping on Black Friday, so he, Sarah, and Devin decided to hunt for some food. They went abalone diving, but unfortunately the swells were huge when we got to the coast. They swam a bit and we all watched.

Abalone superheroes.

Yeah, those swells are not diver friendly.

Keeping an eye on the divers.

Cutest boy dog ever.
(kristin has declared her dog the cutest girl dog ever so I wanted to respect that).

A starfish that klaus and I spotted. klaus tried to bite it off the rock, but thankfully he was deterred.

Hot.

On our last night at the Russian River, we had a relay race of various culinary skills...dicing an onion, mincing garlic, julienne-ing carrots, eating 3 pieces of raw brocoli, peeling and chopping potatoes and butternut squash. It was intense. But in true non-competitive fashion, the winners got to choose whether they wanted to cook dinner or clean-up. I was pumped to be on the losing team because the winners chose to cook.

We're looking forward to seeing our family and friends on the east coast next week! Happy holidays!