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On Tuesday night Gillian came in with shopping bags filled with apples and such just as Nancy and I were heading off to sleep...
When I woke up and came downstairs about five a.m. I found her cleaning
up the kitchen after having spent most of the night baking. |
She baked three apple pies (here's a close-up of two of them), two trays
of baked apple oatmeal crisp, and three or four loaves of banana bread.
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She gave a loaf of banana bread to Eli (her boyfriend), brought some goodies
to Eli's family, donated an apple pie and a loaf of banana bread and a
tray of apple oatmeal crisp to our Wednesday night gathering, and brought
the rest to feed her friends at their regularly-scheduled weekly D &
D role-playing game night.
As most of you know, Nancy is from a large family -- so large that we have
taken to renting the parish hall at church for Thanksgiving dinner so that
there is room to accomodate everyone in comfort (plus they have two ovens
and a commercial grade dishwasher). As many of the out-of-staters come
over a day or two early, we had begun a tradition of having everyone over
to our house the night before Thanksgiving. We don't do a formal sit-down
dinner, just have lots of easy-to-eat food that people can consume while
standing around visiting.
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(above) Mike, Karen, Tom, and a kitchen table covered with veggies and
chips and dips, and shrimp, etc.
(left) Nancy and Janet |
(right) Bob and Melissa and Bob.
Jeremy made us four pizzas (before having to miss the party because he
had to go to work... and make pizzas).
Sitting on top of the pizza boxes is a platter piled high with wooden skewers
holding chicken (marinated in Spiedie sauce) with grape tomatoes and zucchini slices.
Precariously balanced on the corner of the center island is a plate containing
small phyllo dough cups stuffed with clams casino. (Usually clams casino
are served on a clam shell but I saw these phyllo dough cups in the supermarket
and thought they would work well as hors d'oeuvres -- and I was right.) |
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| Nancy and her youngest brother Matt (USMC)... Nancy is holding Matt's son
Jake. |
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And here's a whole bunch of people hanging out... talking and eating and
drinking and talking some more...
I love family gatherings... |
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And in the morning, nine of us would go over to the 21st annual Newport
Pie Run...
That -- plus Thanksgiving dinner -- will be in Thanksgiving Part 2.
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