and a lovely thanksgiving weekend, it was.

thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.

it captures the essence of family, to me. time spent together, the aromas and flavors of wonderful comforting foods, and all without the commercialism and pressures of gift-giving that christmas can sometimes become. it really is the perfect time to give thanks.

growing up, i enjoyed this one time each year that my mom's family would gather together. i remember the food was always delicious, lovingly prepared, and more than filling. but it was the company that made the day special - i loved the time with my cousins, aunts and uncles - playing games, catching up on the events of our lives, and cherishing each other.

when mark and i started dating, i remember him coming over for thanksgiving dessert to meet the family, and at then end of the night, my aunt pattie told me that he was "a keeper"! and after we were married, i'll never forget the year i spent 48 hours taking the greyhound home from a trip to visit my nanay who had just suffered a stroke, arriving on thanksgiving morning just in time for a huge celebration at mark's parent's home. it was the last time i saw my grandma before she died. and it was also the last thanksgiving that mark's mom was here with us.

just last year, we finally decided that we were going to stop "splitting" the day between both families. we spent thanksgiving day with mark's family (enjoying a meal at maggiano's), and invited mine over for homemade Greek food on saturday, and planned to reverse the time in years to come. looking back, who would have guessed that this year we'd be 2000 miles away?

when mark's dad and sister decided that they were going to travel to visit us for the weekend, we were thrilled! not only would we have family with us for thanksgiving, but we were also looking forward to having guests for the long weekend, and this being leslie's first trip to visit us in san francisco, we wanted it to be extra special. and it was.

thanksgiving weekend, 2007

thanksgiving day was spent cooking the perfect [both in size and in quality!] meal of turkey, gravy, carol's (mark's mom) famous dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, rolls and spinach gratin. once we were all positively stuffed, we settled in for naps or for a viewing of the princess bride.

friday we took off for some light shopping, lunch of the best burgers california has to offer, and then an afternoon of napa valley wine tasting! we came home and enjoyed an evening of grilled seafood and bacon-wrapped fillets, cheese and more wine:)

saturday, we rounded out the weekend with two trips into san francisco! we drove in over the golden gate bridge, marvelled at the palace of fine arts, had lunch at pier 39, curved down lombard street, stopped for a wade in the ocean, and toured the presidio before heading home to get gussied up for a night of jazz and fine dining.

thanks for joining us for a memorable thanksgiving, norman and leslie! we love you!

madonna estate's reserve tasting room - where mark's favorite was the dolcetto, norman's the cabernet sauvignon, leslie's the muscat canelli, and my favorite the gewürztraminer

enjoying château service at domaine carneros, where we sampled flights of sparkling wine (the Le Rêve was pheNOMenal), pinot noir (mark was dying to leave with the famous gate), smoked salmon and an amazing cheese tray

leslie was determined to touch the ocean...but didn't expect it to be as COLD as it was when it lapped over her feet!

the four of us, thoroughly enjoying the ambiance, cuisine and jazz trio at BIX. i must recommend the following menu items - truffle cheese and sweet onion "croques", tuna tartare, smoked trout salad, grilled hill ranch pork chops, and the american kobe "bavette" steak. the only dissappointment, in my opinion, were the specialty drinks. why make a cosmo with rum, or a gimlet with vodka, when the originals are wonderful the way they are?