Dear Liza,
While you and your folks spent Thanksgiving day in The City of Lights, the rest of us all got together at my house in Portland.
After a Turkey mix-up was sorted out (with Laurelhurst Market giving us the best service ever and a fine upgrade) we got everything started and Auntie Katie and Cousins Kestrel and Jasper came over.
Auntie Katie and Jasper taught Bridgett and me how to play role-playing games. The most well known of these is Dungeons and Dragons, of course, but there are lots of others. We were playing Magical Kitties.
We got to make up feline characters with personalities and magical powers, as well as their humans, who had troubles for the kittens to solve. It was fun, and next time it will be even better because we will know more of what’s going on.
We had lots of food, too. The giant half Turkey cooked well in the crockpot, the pumpkin purée got spiced, and veggies were roasted. There was homemade bread, of course. I had baked a regular loaf and four smaller round-ish loaves, which Kestrel transformed into a “bread Turkey”. It was fun, and just as tasty as ever.
We took a long walk after supper, and we saw some lovely Christmas lights (Which I totally forgot to take pictures of, stay tuned), and then back for PIE! Beside delicious apple and pumpkin pies, Auntie Katie made something absolutely new.
This is a Hanishi Custard pie, which is also called Faerie Pie, made with eggs, cornstarch, and vanilla and colored with butterfly pea flowers. It had a Graham Cracker crust flavored with rosemary and lavender. It was amazing; sweet without being sugary, soft and creamy. A Thanksgiving Day triumph of pie.
My contribution to dessert was Grandpa Nelson’s favorite, Pinwheel cookies. The apple and pumpkin pies sat beside them on the counter until knives and forks came out and we ate until we were hopelessly stuffed.
By then, the thread of the game was lost and it was time for the evening to end.
We divided up leftovers and loaded our fridge and Katie’s car, hugged our last hugs and headed in for ginger tea and bedtime.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 