I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was lots of fun and, as usual, the food turned out great. Here is the menu:

Roasted Turkey with Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with Red Chili
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Butternut Squash Puree
Oven-Roasted Fennel, Cauliflower, Carrots and Shiitake Mushrooms
Green Salad with Red Pears, Pomegranate Seeds and Hazelnuts
Sauteed Brussels Sprout Leaves with Caraway
Sweet Potato Pie
Pear Galete with Almonds

Two of these dishes were new this year: the very yummy pear galete that my sister made and the sauteed brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts recipe was from a Sunset magazine which basically just says to strip the leaves off of the sprouts and then saute them with butter, bacon, onion and caraway seeds. We skipped the bacon but it still turned out delicious. The little hint of caraway was great. The magazine also has a variation that calls for sauteeing the leaves with butter, shallot, ginger and lemon zest. I made that version last week and it was also good. The smell of the ginger and lemon zest when it hits the pan is amazing.

We sampled a number of good wines:

Brooks 2005 Amycas White (Oregon)
Dona Paula 2005 Chardonnay (Argentina)
2006 Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes Cuvee (France)
Erath 2005 Pinot Noir (Oregon)

All of the wines were very tasty but, if I had to pick a favorite, I think I would choose the Brooks White. It was similar to an Alsatian riesling or gewurtztraminer, a tiny bit sweet at first but with a nice, crisp finish.