Giving Thanks

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. This one was pretty much like the last several. We cooked the turkey per Alton Brown’s instructions and it turned out great again. I didn’t produce much in the way of great photos. The actual meal was a little fragmented because we didn’t get the food on the table until just before the Hogs started playing. We served buffet style and so didn’t load down the table with bowls and serving dishes filled with feastables, which would have made the pictures better.

I lit the table this year with a big studio strobe in each corner. My camera thanked me for not having to deal with those little Nikon SB600s this time.

While watching Alton Brown’s new Thanksgiving episode of “Good Eats” I was struck with the notion to prepare the pecan pie featured in the episode. I had to visit several stores to find the right tart pan, the right kind of syrup and the right kind of specially prepared pecans. (The recipe calls for spicy pecans but I used honey pecans.) By the way, I’d never made a pie before in my life. It was quite a hit amongst the pecan aficionados in the family.

Katie and Amy brought this game back with them from Phoenix that involves two raised boards with holes in them and tossing bags filled with corn. (Being a couple of wits, they call the game Cornhole. An inspired choice in my opinion.) I’d never heard of it but in an inspired bit of naming it’s called Cornhole and there’s an American Cornhole Association that governs the rules of play. The object is nearly identical to horseshoes in that you throw the bags and score points based on how close to the hole the bag lands. I don’t know how they got Razorback-themed boards.