Monday, October 12th - Happy Thanksgiving everyone

What a great weekend it has been!  The week that preceded it was quite cool  and sometimes wet, but our weekend turned out great. Saturday I was at work and it was sunny and cool but still a nice day.  We had invited several couples over for dinner on Sunday so that was a busy cooking/cleaning day. Lloyd and I both had colds all week so absolutely nothing got done before the weekend.  We knew we didn't have room at our kitchen table for this many people so we improvised. We moved  some things around in the living room, put the table into the middle of the room and then topped it with some 4 x 8 sheets of wood that Lloyd had in the garage. It was a little wobbly on the ends because it was quite a bit longer than our table so he used some wood from  his stash to fashion some legs that he installed. Once it was covered in a table cloth and a few decorations added, it was quite serviceable as a 'harvest table'. 

We spent the day preparing ducks that we served 3 different ways. We made duck confit that we used to make wontons and served in "Duck Wonton Soup". We followed that with a warm salad with assorted wild mushrooms and more duck confit served over mixed greens. Then we had our main course of seared duck breast, mashed potatoes with chives and bacon, carrots and parsnips, rice pilaf and roast pork tenderloin, as some might not be crazy about the duck. It all turned out well and being as everyone was still here at 11:00 I'd say everyone had a good time. 

Today, Monday  turned out to be a beautiful day. It reached a high of 17' and the sun shone for part of it.  We had been invited to lunch at a young couples apartment in Stratford. James, our host, is a chef by trade, who hails from England. Even though he's been in Canada for a couple of years, this was his first Thanksgiving dinner and he did a great job. He was hoping to have a wild goose to serve but when that didn't work out, he went with turkey. We had a delicious lunch and enjoyed getting to know them better. They were looking forward to preparing a feast but they really don't know anyone on the island so we were quite happy to be their guests.

When we finally got home, I called Brenda and she and I went out to the back field and picked some wild cranberries. There are lots this year but they probably need another week to be really ripe.  On the way home we took a trip down the road to see where the tulips have been planted for next spring. Her son Will has been working there and should be pretty pleased to see the spring crop come up that he personally planted.

It's been a pretty great weekend but now it's back to work in the morning, but it's going to be a short week as I leave for Guelph on Friday morning.  Only 4 more sleeps!