The final course was Creme Brulee with Lindemann's Cassis Lambic. Last time (e:jbeatty) tried making this, it was more like soup than custard. But this time, armed with the Cook's Illustrated recipe, it turned out perfect. We ate this while playing Clue ((e:Lizabeth) insisted).

Tomorrow we rest and drive to Syracuse.


((e:Lizabeth) watches (e:jbeatty) get funky with the torch.)

The fifth course was some lovely French cut veal chops we got at Wegmans. (e:jbeatty) pan fried them and made a pan sauce with the Burgundy we drank with. I whipped together a salad and we served both with pommes puree and asparagus. Lovely. The veal was a touch undercooked, but still very good.

Before the fifth course was a glass of Laphroaig.

Our fourth course was the first not to have its own drink pairing. This course was also paired with the Loire wine from the previous course. The dish was Moules a la Portuguese, again with baguette slices.

In case you haven't worked it out yet, we often treat Thanksgiving as an endurance test of cooking, eating and drinking. We literally cook a dish, eat it, and then move on to the next. Sometimes we leave space between.

Third course was escargots on baguette slices, with Château l' Oiseliniére de la Ramée Muscadet Sèvre et Maine. It was quite lovely. It is prepared thusly: the snails are simmered in the wine and shallots. An herb butter is prepared with parsley and garlic. The butter is spread on baguette slices and broiled. When the butter melts, the bread is topped with the snails and broiled until the butter sizzles. Put on plates and serve with wine. Yum.

Our second course was French Onion Soup (have you sensed the French theme yet?) and a bottle of Claude Chonion Puoilly-Fuissé. We made the stock last night (and this morning), and (e:jbeatty) made the soup. After the second course, we were feeling pretty full (and a little buzzed-did I mention the bottle of J.K. Scrumpy's Hard Cider we drank before the first course?).



The soup was very good, and beat out the onion soup I had at Colter Bay yesterday. That soup was good, but this was richer and was topped with better cheese. The wine very good, but was too light for the soup. We're thinking we should perhaps have had a red with the soup instead. I would recommend this wine with a lighter dish, such as skate grenoblaise or scallops.