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Time To Give Thanks

Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. -Charles Dickens

This is one of my favorite quotes to help me keep things in perspective. I am especially reminded of it this time of year when in a few days, my family (like so many others) will be gathered around the table to reflect on the many blessings in our lives…and eat a lot of food. Sure, this year has had some misfortune, but we will be celebrating our many blessings as well- particularly another successful harvest.  Everything has finally slowed down in both the vineyards and winery and what better time to celebrate the fruits of our labor, than Thanksgiving?

One thing I am particularly thankful for year after year is that I am married to a man who loves to cook…and his favorite meal to cook, by far, is Thanksgiving dinner.  And in recent years, I am thankful that my kids are old enough to do all of the cleaning up after, making for one easy easy holiday for mama- I can kick back and enjoy my food coma in peace.

Derek is especially proud of his pretty spectacular stuffing recipe.  I’m going to include it as part of this post but since he doesn’t measure anything (and it varies depending on how many guests we are having) I have only ingredients-

1 sourdough baguette toasted and cut into chunks, 1 yellow onion diced, a few stalks of celery sliced, a couple of carrots diced, 1 lb sausage, 4 oz Gruyere cheese cubed, 10-20 chestnuts (roasted and peeled), 1 apple cut into small chunks, and 8 oz of wild mushrooms. Bayleaf and sage for seasoning.

Soak the sourdough chunks in milk. Cook the onions, celery, and carrots in olive oil.  Add the sausage and cook mostly through.  Add the apple and mushrooms just at the end.  Remove the sourdough and squeeze out extra milk.  Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix them by hand.  Place in a baking pan or casserole dish and bake for an hour at 375.

A photo from one of the Irwin Family’s Thanksgivings past.  Alas, no picture of the famous stuffing

Now that you have the recipe, I’m guessing you want to know what wine to drink with it, ’cause we all know that is the most important consideration.  For turkey and Derek’s Famous Stuffing (yeah, I came up with that name on the fly) pair with the Cabernet Franc, Syrah, or Root 49.  If stuffing doesn’t float your boat, then you might look to our Grenache or Le Grand Pere as both are sensational with oven-roasted turkey.  And if you are among the heathens (Derek’s word not mine because I don’t cook, I just eat) that deep-fry your turkey, then our Viognier or Grenache would work best.

May your future blessings abound!