Thanksgivings 1-3

Last weekend, Thanksgiving #1 in Connecticut with T's family. Here's their traditional champagne cocktail... as you might imagine, ridiculous fun and laughter are implied.

Thanksgiving #2 begins tonight, when we're joined by my sister and brother-in-law and these two handsome guys:

If the last time we got together in DC is any indication, we're going to have a great couple of days. Because we didn't want to be turkey-ed out this year, we decided not to make turkey at all for Thanksgiving #2, or to make any uber-traditional dish we may have eaten at Thanksgiving #1 or will eat at Thanksgiving #3, for that matter. Here's our menu:

Not-Terribly-Traditional Thanksgiving #2 Menu

Butternut Squash Soup

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Chestnuts

Fiery Sweet Potatoes

Spinach Madeleine

Potato Leek Gratin

Seared Duck Breasts with Red Wine and Figs

Salad

Dessert: 

My sister's territory... she's going to surprise us.

For Thanksgiving #3, we're headed down to NC to check on my parents' home renovation and to rendezvous with these pretty people:

My family has done so much beach-time this year, between the Outer Banks and my brother's wedding farther south, that I feel like I was barely home in the Triangle at all in 2011. This trip, then, is long overdue for me.

Three Thanksgivings... an embarrassment of riches, no? I'm feeling pretty lucky.