It was going to be a small Thanksgiving, just family, a couple of friends, and somehow our small thanksgiving has crept up to thirty two, and I imagine we may find some others to add over the next couple of days.

The good news is, this year, I’m not cooking, and I have to confess, I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty. Two days after Thanksgiving we are having Beloved’s Grandmother’s 100th birthday party, and I am cooking for that, so Balducci’s are doing the honors for Thanksgiving, and I can’t wait.

It means I get to focus on laying tables and arranging flowers, both of which I adore, but I have no idea how we’re going to fit everyone. I’m thinking grown-ups (eighteen) around two tables in the kitchen, and kids (fourteen) around two tables in the dining room. Yes, yes, I know it ought to be the other way round, but our kitchen is huge, and our dining room small, so this seems to make the most sense.

I love the holidays, and anything that involves gathering people together. This year my friends include some of my favorites. Old NBF and family are coming, the friends who are currently renting one of our little beach cottages, two families we spend a lot of time with one town over, and the Beautiful Guru, who is one of my nearest and dearest.

Old NBF recently admitted she is confused. How is it, she asked, whenever we come to your house, we always meet different people? How many friends do you actually have?

I think we have many, many outer friends, and very few inner ones. There are many people we see on a regular basis because they are neighbors, or because our kids are friends, and they become part of the fabric of our lives, even though I may not think to ever call them up in a crisis. The Beautiful Guru is truly inner circle, one of my familiars, the woman who got me through the dark days when I first separated from my former husband, and attempted to navigate my life whilst utterly lost, and completely manic.

The Sherpa is making her famous gingerbread trifle, which is almost scarily good. Last year Beloved and I disappeared into the kitchen, pretending to help wash up, and we dug in to the leftover trifle and, ashamed as I am to admit it, polished the whole lot off. Gluttonous, guilty, and giggling throughout.

For GrandMary’s party I am making Coulibiac, a French adaptation of a Russian dish (kulebiaka ) which is fresh salmon, rice, hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms, shallots and dill enclosed in a hot pastry envelope. The pastry is usually made with BRIOCHE dough, but more recent adaptations are usually made with puff pastry. I suspect there will also be some true vegetarians, so I will do a spiced onion and goat’s cheese tart as an alternative.

Will post the recipes late if I get a minute to myself today. I have been up since 5.30, and these are the first moments I have had to myself since the twins had their tonsils out.

In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Despite these hard times, I have so much to be grateful for: a life of happiness and peace I never thought I’d have; my partner, my children, my family and my friends. And mostly, I am grateful that we are now on day seven of post-tonsillectomy hell, and with any luck those boys will be back in school by Monday…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 7:46 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.