friendsgiving (portlandia style)

I can't believe it - Adrienne and I just celebrated our 4th Thanksgiving in our little house!  Yes, I'm aware - we have a few days before the real holiday, which we will happily celebrate in Jersey.  But its fun to carve out our own Seattle traditions too, so we had a Portlandia-style Friendsgiving yesterday.  Uncle Mark made the annual pilgrimage down here from the Valley of the Rain, and our bestest of friends Simon and Faith came over with baby Hala to join in the festivities.

But we all know the REAL reason everyone made the trek was to nosh on AJ's food creations and imbibe perfectly paired alcoholic beverages.  See below for the menu, the drinks, and a few shots from the day.  BTW, most of the ingredients were garden-grown or homemade. 

I know...its disgusting.

a set table with things we've never used before - chargers (who knew there were plates-placeholders for plates?) and extra leaves for our table

a kitchen prepping for a feast

AJ needed me outta her hair, so she deployed me to the Seattle Car Show for 1/2 the day - unfortunately, I was a few $ shy of driving something like this home...

this is what I came home to - a menu board outlining the gastronomical day with snacks ready to go

for starters, AJ made a Jerusalem Artichoke soup with crispy-fried sage leave

wine pairing for the 1st course: 2009 v 2011 Mirth Chardonnay

light reflection off the dinner plate - art on my table!

good people - AJ, JJ, and MW

more good people, Simon and Faith and cranberry-sauce-lovin Hala

spicy lentil tarte, pureed parsnips and sauerkraut, chanterelles, cipollini, and horseradish, molasses fennel rye bread

wine pairing for 2nd course: 2009 Pinot Noirs, Cambria v Benton Lane

dessert time - pumpkin pie with tahitian vanilla ice cream