Thanksgiving Dinner, 2010

Aya planned and we prepared a full-course Thanksgiving dinner for eight, a week after the official date.

The menu. It is supposed to be "smoked pork jowl", not "smored", obviously.

Stuffing the oregano pesto down inside the turkey, between the skin and meat.

Injecting stock into the meat.

While there are no good photos of the roast bird on the table,

the meat was full of flavour and juicy.

The pesto saturated the whole thing with aromatic intensity.

A selection of some of the appetizers.

• Sautéed Pork With Apple
• Octopus Tentacles
• Chèvre And Dried Persimmon Spring Rolls
• Smoked Pork Jowls

Desserts!

• Egg Nog Pudding Spice Cake With Cranberries
• Pear Tart In Roast Nut Pastry With Chocolate
• Missing, Presumed Devoured: Pumpkin Cream Roll Cake

The wines, many of which came from our generous guests, included:

• Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Cava with the appetizers
• Stony Knoll Chardonnay with the roast kabocha ravioli
• James Oatley Tik Tok Cabernet Sauvignon
• Rodney Strong Zinfandel
• Venturi Shulze Pinot Noir 2004 with the turkey... oh wow!
• La Frenz Vintage Port Style 2009 with desserts

Thanksgiving 2009

Aya's amazing menu for eight people. All made from scratch over four days.


Stuffing the turkey with Pinot Noir grapes from Foxtrot Vineyards.


The turkey had soaked in brine overnight and here gets extra stock injections along with butter, herbs and garlic under the skin.


Aya's first roast turkey, with parsnips, carrots and roast garlic.