Happy Thanksgiving!

Can anybody recommend a Walla Walla wine that pairs well with Triscuit, Vienna Sausage stuffing and donut garnish?

Tomorrow, we will have an assortment of local wines to choose from. I will even have the canonical bottle of Pinot Noir (Stoller from Willamette Valley) standing by for the turkey. I will report back next week on the line-up of what Walla Walla wines we consumed.

And no - - we won't be making Pilgrim Ray's stuffing. Instead it will be a traditional sage-celery-onion stuffing. Sometimes I leave the recipe as is or sometimes I add cashews and/or sausage. This year it will be sausage. Thank goodness I picked the sage yesterday from my herb garden before the frost hit it this morning.

I decided not to do a full turkey. Bought a breast and a couple of turkey legs, free-range of course. All will be brined using Alice Waters Chez Panisse brine recipe. Been using that recipe for awhile now. A keeper! After brining over night, my sis, Chefy Chefferton will put on her grillardin chef hat and will smoke the legs on the grill using apple wood. A sage pesto will go under the skin of the turkey breast before oven roasting. Keeps the breast moist, besides adding flavor.

No traditional green bean casserole in my kitchen. That stuff makes me burp. Gah - a mouthful of sodium! Instead we will have cream corn. Not that canned crap, but fresh using real cream and butter. It's a recipe I picked up when visiting Lawry's Prime Rib House in Chicago. The potatoes? Mashed of course, but to garlic and not to garlic is the question and if we go garlic - how many cloves? Cranberries? I usually make my own relish using fresh cranberries, apples, walnuts and add a touch (or two touches) of Grand Marnier. This is where I decided to be lazy this year and not be a Martha about the cranberries. Instead I'll tell everyone that I hand carved the cranberry jelly to make it look like a tin can. But I am making up for it with the stuffed celery. No Cheese-Whiz jar-junk. I make my own pimento cheese spread using cheddar and cream cheeses. Yeah, the menu is kind of reminiscent of Grandma's, but maybe a little fresher and with a slight twist.

My sis, Chefy Chefferton will next be putting on her patisserie chef hat and will bake the pies and a few loaves of challah. I understand the pies will include a pear custard pie and the traditional pumpkin.

After all of that, come Friday morning I am looking forward to resting and maybe sleeping in and drinking my cup of coffee in bed. There is no way in hell you will see me standing in line at 4:00 am in front of one of those big roof stores with all of those crazy people just to buy a $5 football-shape slow cooker and an inflatible manger scene for the yard. Cheers!