Usually writing the menu out is one of my favorite tasks, but this year, Zoë did the honors. Just look at that lovely French handwriting!

From Whole Foods: One of the last butternut squashes available on Wednesday afternoon and an outrageously delicious red kuri squash. From our friend Greg's Indiana garden (he brought it in his suitcase when he visited last week): a lovely little organic acorn squash. Also two sugar pie pumpkins hanging around from Halloween. These latter two turned out to be past their prime--good thing I had a backup can of organic pumpkin puree. (To me and Tate, Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie doesn't even count.)

This winter ale caught my eye at Whole Foods; it was perfect.

I wanted to do as much prep as possible the night before since we were planning to do the 5K turkey trot in Ballard in the morning.

I never use a recipe for stuffing, but garlic, carrots, celery, sausage, apples, and sage are usually involved.

We always soak the turkey in saltwater overnight. Tate's inspiration was to add the rubber duck.

This year I tried a new recipe from Tom Douglas's Seattle Kitchen.

Basically, roasted squash pureed with chicken stock, roasted garlic, and a splash of cream. It stored beautifully overnight.

While we were making this, Zoë asked me whether I make it because people eat it, or because it's fun to make and the colors are nice.

Definitely the latter.

It's perfectly good cranberry relish; there's just nobody in the house who loves it. At least this year I remembered to make a half recipe.

I absolutely love to cook, but baking is really not my thing. Making homemade crust is nearly always a disaster, and I usually want to swear and throw things when I start rolling it out and it sticks and breaks.

This year I refrigerated the dough for just the right amount of time, and it rolled out like a charm. It was actually fun. There might be hope after all....

Well, you never have to worry about my pies looking too perfect....

...but they do taste good, especially the next day for breakfast.

This one was for Zoë and Scot.

Zoë arranged all the apple slices and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

We had a little resistance from Miss Z about getting up so early on a non-school day, but once we got there, the festive spirit was contagious.

Next year? Costumes.

This was Zoë's second 5K and her friend Chloe's first. They're getting the hang of not starting off too fast.

It was so beautiful running along the water and ending up at Golden Gardens. Zoë had some kick left in the final stretch.

I've heard about the stairs at Golden Gardens, but after 17 years of living in Seattle, I'd never actually done them. It is incredibly gorgeous.

Caffe Fiore was packed with turkey trotters, as you might expect, but it was a superfun, festive scene.

I have a friend who would keep a sheet on the fridge to mark every stick of butter used for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Yes to butter! Lots of it.

Garnet yams and a true (white) sweet potato from Whole Foods. No marshmallows or gooey candied sauces in these parts.

I am thankful for....my bread machine.

It makes a perfect dough that we can then hand-shape and bake.

We scarfed down two loaves with the appetizers and one with the soup.

I learned this trick from my friend Martha---cook the stuffing in the crockpot, so it's ready at the same time as everything else without crowding up the oven.

He brought this home from second grade on Wednesday. He was very proud.

I love having a bowl of supersweet satsumas on the counter when we're cooking.

I dislike making lunch on most days, but especially on Thanksgiving, when you're in the flow of getting the real meal ready.

This year I think we figured it out--We had our appetizer course as our lunch. Manchego and aged gouda cheeses, smoked salmon, and fresh baguettes. Also, pomegranate seeds -- Zoë's special request.

It was fun to break the meal into courses---the kids enjoyed the ceremony (truthfully, a little more than they enjoyed the sweet butternut squash soup with thyme creme fraiche). Their loss.

We enjoyed some lovely wines; Tate put away pretty much an entire bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.

Salad greens from our winter garden, D'Anjou pears, blue cheese crumbles, toasted pecans, and balsamic vinaigrette.

I use a potato ricer to make the mashed potatoes super fluffy.

Also, cream.

Also, butter.

Usually we have more people around the table, so this year's ~11-pounder looked a little....scrawny. It was quite tender and flavorful, though.

Scot decided he needed a dedicated turkey plate.

Everything looked fantastic on my grandmother Frances's ivory and gold china.

Just turkey and mashed potatoes.

He was in heaven.

Z piled it up and enjoyed everything, especially the stuffing.

Choices were pumpkin pie with whipped cream and/or apple galette with salted caramel gelato.

Yes to both!

I think maybe somebody saying "Bird is the Word" led to the Ramones getting blasted while we were washing the dishes, which led to some high-energy dancing by the kids, which led to Scot and I introducing them to first records we ever bought (the "California Girls" and "Funkytown," respectively.)

Tate was in charge of games. He chose Dance Central 2.

He was a strong contender, but Z was the evening's dance queen. There were multiple performances of "Fly Like a G6."

We all agreed this one never gets old.

We had promised Tate he could stay up as late as he wanted. He made it about halfway through the movie.

So many good things in abundance....we wish the same for each of you!