Well, the kitchen sink decided to go from "slow drain" to "no drain" Wednesday evening, so between draino, snaking the line, and a plunger (who knew *that* would be the most effective?) and my workout and having a 6:00am meeting (which made the workout a bit less energetic than normal) I didn't get the Cornbread Chorizo stuffing assembled and my timeline was blown to hell (yes I had a timeline).

Good thing we don't have anyone coming by!

It was a long, but fun, morning. The cornbread chorizo needs a day to meld the flavors, so it'll be better as leftovers. The herb bubble loaf needed a few more minutes in the oven, but was still great. The experimental roasted red pepper soup was a bit thin and just got in the way of the rest of the delicious food. Those complaints aside, I was happy with the result, as were kittens.

Rosa Regale has been a tradition of ours for years as a way to pass the day. Its the standard bearer for apertif sparkling wines. Pinot noir is usually a good bet for poultry and Eyrie Vineyards always makes a good one.

In my conversations this past week with people about what they are doing/making for T-day three things always came up:

1. Buying pre-made food is a cop-out
2. No one experiments with food that day
3. Everyone has a religious opinion about potatoes

Leaving 1 and 2 out, I have to say I'm a bit surprised about the potato thing. Russet, Yukon Gold, Red, Fingerling, Garlic, Chives, Mashed, Smashed, whipped, skins, no skins. There are many, MANY ways to serve potatoes. And they are all good. Potato, cream, butter, salt, pepper. You have to work very hard to mess that up.

For myself, I like whipped because they are the most difficult. Even sized dice. Don't over-cook. A lot of wasted potato. Use a ricer. Season well (use white pepper). And don't over-whip! Its a good challenge.

Way too late for me. Two more days of cooking (climax was in act III, still two to go!): cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie left! Go gluttony!