I hope that everyone had an abundant and wonderful Thanksgiving. I was fortunate enough to travel to one of my favorite places, Boulder, Colorado to see my family for the holiday. It was a very special time, given that I have not seen this side of my family in a very long time. The weather was absolutely spectacular, never once dropping below 60 degrees. One of the reasons why I love Colorado so much is for the beautiful sunshine that it boasts, more often than not.
My trip was spent mostly relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather, the mountains and many amazing things that Denver and Boulder have to offer. On Thanksgiving day, my abilities in the kitchen were put to the test and thanks to one of my idol’s, Martha Stewart, my sister and I banged out a beautiful feast for our family. I don’t know about the rest of you, but for my family, we have a tradition of going out and having one to many drinks the night before the big feast. So you can probably imagine how we were all feeling before we had to start whipping up vats of food for our family, thanks to a little Bailey’s and coffee we were ready to rock in no time. Luckily Dad called dibs on the Turkey, so we were responsible for the rest of the Thanksgiving menu which included, Garlic Mashed Potatoes (of course), Mushroom Walnut and Sage Stuffing, the classic Green Bean Casserole and Sweet Potato Casserole. Another thanks to Martha Stewart, we had no problem choosing recipes for our dishes, I have never tried a recipe of hers that was not good and up to my mothers standards. The biggest hits of the night were obviously Garlic mashed Potatoes and Stuffing.
Lucky for my family, our Mother owns a farm in New York (yes the one I always mention). My sister decided to road trip from there to Boulder, in order to stop and spend time with family on the way. This was a brilliant idea, because we were able to cook with free vegetables and dairy from our farm that my sister drove with her. Butternut squash, russet potatoes, onions, dried herbs and freshly baked breads were all provided to make our family feast. Remember when I told you there is nothing more rewarding than being able to eat foods from your own labor? This was one of those beautiful moments.
Flora Farmer 