Thanksgiving At Sista's

 Hello, dear friends.  I am so excited about this post. I  talked Sista into giving me the first scoop on her big news. 

As you may recall from my blog, my brother-in-law died unexpectedly in August. A silver lining of the pandemic is that Sista’s boys (neph 1 and 2) have been home with Sista.  As Thanksgiving was their family’s very favorite holiday,  they were bracing for a tough one.

Rather than allowing his absence to consume them, they decided to honor their husband/dad by writing a book about Thanksgiving.

It seems fitting as my Sista and her late Mista were known for fabulous holiday entertaining, and my bro-in-law instilled in his two sons a true love of food, wine, and cooking.

The working title for their book is:  The Ultimate Thanksgiving Playbook and will cover it all - from cooking, cocktails, conversation, table setting, and even cleaning.  It will make it easy for hosts to elevate their Thanksgiving game by providing cooking techniques, checklists, and resources.  It will be available August 2021, just in time to plan for next Thanksgiving!

Sista provided a sneak peek from their last few Thanksgivings.

Since the boys have been legal, (well maybe even before), they have created a Bloody Mary bar.  Their bar includes everything from homemade beef consommé to asparagus spears and celery foam.

Since tomato juice can be filling, they make clarified juice by hanging tomatoes in cheesecloth overnight. 

Here’s one of their signature bloodies made from clarified tomato juice, consommé, and vodka topped with celery foam. The rim is Lawry’s seasoning - yum!

Neph #2 is incredible in the kitchen.  

He insists on fresh turkey, which Neph #1 picks up from a local farm.

He even makes his own bread for the stuffing and organizes all the ingredients.

While the book will address different ways of cooking a turkey, my Chef Nef prefers separating the turkey into its parts.  He tells me that cooking the white and dark meat separately ensures that every bit of the turkey is perfectly cooked.

The kid gets his perfectionism from moi.

Have I told you that he was born on my birthday?

Neph #1 has made a study over the years of the perfect wines to pair with the turkey.

The kid gets his love for wine from moi.

His taste is a bit more refined than mine, though.

And last, but certainly not least, my Sista has set some beautiful tables over the years.  

And no one has more fun creating them!

Yeah, I think she gets that from me.

Thank you, dear Sista, for sharing your family Thanksgiving throughout the years.  

I can't wait until your book is published and I get my free autographed copy!!!

Need some gift inspiration?

I have some here, here, here, here, and here.

Until next time...

Lady Wiley in residence guarding the family bird.