Mmmmm..... leftovers

Last night we had dinner at our next-door neighbors' house (it is their tradition to have turkey pot-pie with their leftover turkey on the Saturday after Thanksgiving). Tom came up with a creative & tasty use for our leftovers: Turkey Balls. He ground up some of our leftover turkey, and rolled them into balls using the leftover dressing as a binder. Then he topped them with leftover cranberry compote. Of course, since the turkey was smoked, it was a delicious result.

Teller Farm revisited

Tom and I took my parents out for a walk at Teller farm on Tuesday (before Merry arrived). Since it snowed last night, we decided to return to enjoy the new views. What a difference! Tuesday it was all grey & brown; today it was a fresh, new look.

we got snow!

Last night we had our first snow of the season. It was only one or two inches, and is mostly gone already, but it sure was pretty....

turkey, turkeys and turkeys

The top photos shows the lovely smoke rings that Tom's smoked turkey had (prior to devouring).
The bottom photo is my mom and her "twin" sister...
the middle photo is the biggest bunch of turkeys: our entourage heading out for a walk between dinner and dessert.

a feast fit for kings

Tom really did a fantastic job on our Thanksgiving feast. He brined the turkey the night before, and smoked it. Of course, he made fresh cranberry compote (my favorite). He also made fresh dinner rolls, steamed asparagus, beets, and dressing. (He has taught me that "stuffing" cooks INside the bird, while dressing is something similar, but cooked outside of the bird's cavity). The dressing was fantastic: french-bread bread-crumbs, sausage, goat cheese, and I don't know what else...

Thanksgiving prep

While Tom prepared his breasts, Merry and I helped my mother (well, mostly we did dishes while she baked) make a lemon meringue pie. The meringue was beautiful.

don't forget dessert

We shared two desserts: pumpkin cake, which was incredibly moist, and a mud pie that was as big as Merry's head (and delicious).

dinner at the Cork

After our day at RMNP, we went to a very tasty restaurant in Boulder, called the Cork. They are known for using local foods (I think this applies more in the summer, when the produce is all purchased from local farms).
For appetizers, we had brie, a salmon & trout dish, lobster ravioli (above), and a crab cake. For dinners, we ordered pesto-covered Mahi (which was mine -- and I LOVED it!), filet mignon topped with lump crab meat (Tom and my dad both ordered this, and they both devoured their meals), sake salmon (ordered by mom my, pictured above), and more lobster ravioli. YUM.

The Pool on Fern Lake trail

Although we haven't gotten any snow yet where we live, there was a bit of snow & ice up in the park.

great day for a hike

My aunt Merry is here visiting from MI for Thanksgiving (along with my folks, from CA). Of course, we had to take Merry to RMNP to show off our perfect surroundings. We had a very nice hike to Cub Lake.

We have great neighbors

The other night, we were hanging around doing fun things (like cleaning the bathrooms) when our neighbor called. He asked us if we had eaten dinner (happily, we hadn't). He told us that he had a made a big pot of cioppino, and he & his wife hadn't been able to eat it all. (Bummer!) He asked if we would eat some -- we told him we'd eat LOTS! He brought us over a nice big bowl, and we happily chowed down...

champagne winners

Every month, the Boulder Newcomer's Club has a wine tasting. This month, in honor of the holiday season, the wine choice was Sparkling Wines.
Tom and I hosted this month's gathering last night. Since we know nothing about champagne, we relied entirely on the recommendation of the wine steward at the liquor store. He steered us well: our selection (#9) was voted best/most popular. A close 2nd was #6.
As you can see, Tom also put together a lovely cheese & fruit plate. The apricot cheese went very well with the bubbly...

gooiest stuff on earth

Well, we have finally found something even stickier than Rose's Lime Juice: home-made marshmallow.
Tom and I have enjoyed Alton Brown's Good Eats show on marshmallow, so Tom decided to try it out. It was all fairly simple -- until it came time to get the marshmallow out of the bowl and into the pan -- then, it was crazy! But I must admit -- these marshmallows actually have flavor. They're great with hot chocolate...

sunset from our porch

Sunsets around here can be pretty amazing.

race day

Last weekend we did a 2-mile "fun run" which was a fundraiser for local kids' sports programs. Sable thought the whole thing was pretty ho-hum.

view to the west

It was 70 degrees and sunny today for our hike. Here was our view of the Rocky Mountains -- which have started to get a bit of snow.

view to the south

Today we went for a nice hike/walk at Rabbit Mountain. This was the view facing south. We could see all the way to Pike's Peak -- which is near Colorado Springs (more than 100 miles from here).