Friends Around the Table

There are few things as satisfying as welcoming friends into your home who have traveled a long way, feeding them, and providing them a cozy place to stay. Tonight we were so privileged as to have four wonderful people from Atlanta arrive at our door on their way west to the Grand Canyon for Thanksgiving. It has been so long since we've had such a lively crew sitting around the table laughing and sharing stories and wine over a good meal. Tomorrow morning they are off for a 10 am showing of Justice League at the Alamo Drafthouse, and I leave for Las Vegas before they get back. But I'll see them for breakfast. Jessie is going with them to the movie even though she's already seen it.

So Las Vegas! I have been invited by Zaga to join a small, eclectic, dynamic, opinionated group of women on their annual Las Vegas Thanksgiving revelry. I'm only staying till Thanksgiving morning and then coming home for the rest of the holiday with the family, but I have a feeling the three days I'm there are going to be a wild ride.

For Thanksgiving my spouse asked me to curate a cheese and charcuterie plate to take over to some friends' house for dinner. I may have gone a bit over board. I have 19 kinds of cheese, three kinds of thinly sliced smoked meat, two kinds of sausage--duck and wild boar, two pâtés, three fruit spreads, three kinds of pears, two kinds of apples, four kinds of olives, three preparations of almonds (including marcone almonds in honey), three kinds of crackers, pumpkin seeds, ginormous grapes, and a pomegranate. I think there are six adults and four kids. We'll be having another games night/party (or five) (or ten) with the leftovers.

As I think of how to layout this marvelous spread of munchies, I picture a 7 feet long 2 X 12 plank of some interesting wood (maybe blue pine!) that runs the length of a dining room table and has a beautiful inlay pattern in it. Everything would be laid out on the plank and would meander the length of the table. Oh that would be so cool! But not this time. At least not for the inlay...