Thanksgiving weekend was a huge success- and now I’m feeling huge. So much food, so much wine, and so many good times!

The weekend started off with a celebration here in Ottawa for my mom’s birthday. I took a sweet trip to Suzy Q doughnuts and was easily persuaded to buy 6 donuts for 4 of us because why not? The choices were two chocolate peanut butter, 1 carrot cake, 1 pumpkin spice, and two cookies and cream. We kicked off the party with a charcuterie board (truffled salami, Balderson aged white cheddar, roasted red peppers, olives, an assortment of crackers, and homemade salsa with nachos), and 4 tastings of County Cider Company ciders before dinner. We tried the original, peach, blood orange, and twisted path. We then headed to the Savoy Brasserie for oysters, mussels (in a clarified butter and lemon sauce),
and truffled mushroom risotto- with Chablis, Pinot Noir, and oaked Chardonnay. The next morning, we enjoyed a french toast bake with fruit and whipped cream and fresh-pressed Galapagos coffee. Happiest birthday weekend to a wonderful woman!

Next stop- Prescott! Visiting grandma and grandpa is the best. They have a beautiful property in the country that boasts massive trees over the house and a surrounding of colourful forests. We stopped for Chinese food (saving them the whole ordeal of cooking the turkey etc) to celebrate Grandpa and my Uncle Randy’s birthday’s along with my mom’s. Then, back to g & g’s for cake, cheesecake, and, my personal favourite, an ice cream bar.

On Sunday, we headed to aunt Gail and Dave’s for the Lemmon Thanksgiving. It’s always full of delicious turkey, wine, and the best stuffing. I paired my dinner this year with the Sandbanks Cabernet Franc.

Late afternoon, we finally were off to Bath to see Eric’s parents. It was a beautiful scene and a wonderful evening of spiked homemade apple cider, and beef with potato dumplings paired with Dogajolo Tuscano. Ahhh- Monday’s off are the best. We woke up to Starbuck’s copy-cat homemade pumpkin scones. We took a nice hike through Parrot’s Bay Conservation and then had our own beer tasting. We tried a hibiscus saison, a Bord du Lac saison, and a raspberry wheat beer.

Feeling so thankFULL after this beautiful weekend.