Ferry to San Francisco followed by Thanksgiving Dinner!

Sunday was glorious. It was warm and sunny without so much as a cloud in the sky so I gathered up my children and we went on an adventure via the Oakland Ferry to San Francisco. My boys had never been on a Ferry, let alone any large sea vessel so they were positively in orbit while on the boat. We sat at the bow and watched as the boat jettisoned over the glassy San Francisco Bay under the bridge and to the Ferry Building which was our final destination. We disembarked and walked over to the Ferry Plaza where we sampled all of the amazing delights within. We had Cow Girl Creamery cheeses, Acme's bread, Boccalone's sausage and some amazing gelato to finish it off. When lunch time rolled around, we went to eat at one of my restaurant customers, Fog City Diner. I had a seared Ahi sandwhich which was slathered in a garlic aioli and the boys had hot dogs off the kids menu served with truffled french fries draped in a melted Asiago cheese. It was heaven and the chef comped us the meal so we simply left a hefty tip in lieu of.

After lunch we hopped on the cable car and took a jaunt around, came back to the Ferry Plaza, bought a few additional goodies and got back on the Ferry to Jack London Square. It was so fun!

After we arrived home, the boys went out to the back yard to play and I started making my sweet hubby a Thanksgiving meal from scratch with all the fixings. I had brined hen that morning in a cider brine with peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sea salt and garlic. After I rinsed and patted the bird dry I rubbed it with butter and seasoned it generously with salt and pepper. I threw the neck and a portion of the giblets in to the bottom of the roasting pan with aromatics from my garden including lovage, carrots, a chunk of onion, thyme, rosemary and sage. I dumped in a little water and in to the oven it went. I also made buttermilk mashed potatoes, peas, collard greens with slab bacon, candied sweet potatoes, clover dinner rolls, stuffing, pan gravy and pumpkin pie for dessert. And yes, it was all from scratch. It was a magnificent feast and we had my family over as well as our good friend Knute who's been making a habit of showing up at our house right before Sunday dinner is served. He loves my cooking and I'm happy to oblige because he's such a nice guy and good friend! Anyhow, tonight we'll be feasting on home made turkey soup with fresh, hand rolled egg noodles and veggies from my garden...