Back to Reality.

I'm back! (Did anyone notice I was gone?)

I granted myself a little vacay over the last few days. I used it wisely – lots of Vampire fiction, Silly bandz and Delia's Catalogue shopping.

(Srrsly, LOLz.)

Oh, and turkey.

Now it is well known in the midwest that the Cave Girl

is a turkey junky – a Bonafide Golly Turkaconis Freak.

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(Points to anybody who can Name That Quote.)

I had an amazing Thanksgiving with two talented ladies. All of our husbands were on duty in various parts of the world and our families scattered across the country, so we banded together for this day of wine – er, gratitude.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is circling the table, pre-feast, and saying at least one thing we're grateful for. It's always hard to narrow it down – but this year I was grateful for my incredible Cavehusband, for his strong sense of duty, honor and integrity, and for our life together, and also that he is super hot. (!)

One of my Thanksgiving ladies, luckily enough, was Kristen of Eat Well With Wine. Kristen knows wine like I know the sound of my smoke detector, and she's an extremely talented cook. A few things from the menu:

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Spiced cranberry sauce – made with honey, fresh-squeezed

orange juice, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon.

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Two-potato casserole – sweet potato and white with seasoning and a dusting of cheese.

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Of course, TURKEY – a Heritage bird from Birchwood Farm. This turkey had a perfect

balance of light and dark meat and was unbelievably savory. It went to slaughter on Friday and we

enjoyed it less than a week later. We stuffed the cavity with fresh

butter from Birchwood, lemon, herbs and garlic.

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Roasted Brussels sprouts (my favorite) with pomengranate seeds.

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Delicious sauce made with the giblets (giggle). Yup, we used the innards and the outards.

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I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was a blessed as mine. Lots of good stuff to come this week, both here and at Steve's Original.