What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?

Potato pierogies. So easy to make, yet so good.

It was just Thanksgiving here in Canada, and we went to my in-laws on Saturday and then we had a feast Chateaux Phoenix on Monday. My parents and my siblings and their families all came and we ate and ate and ate.

My in-laws made some great starter - it was a small baguette toast with goat cheese, beets, and basil on it, which was delicious, and some spring rolls, because my son loves spring rolls. Then we had french onion soup - my father-in-law makes it as a family tradition and it has ruined me for ordering french onion soup in restaurants ever again - and roast beef, lamb, penne and meat sauce, roasted potatoes, green beans, and individual baguette rolls. Dessert was apple pie made by my daughter, store-bought pumpkin pie, and ice cream. My father-in-law also broke out the Johnny Walker Blue Label that his best friend had given him for his 60th birthday many years ago, in honour of that friend's passing, and we raised a toast to his friend Bongo who was an always-interesting character.

The feast at our house on Monday was a bit over-the-top; we hadn't had an indoor get-together meal with my family since Christmas of 2019, and I think everyone went a bit overboard.

Appetizers

• Devilled Eggs - my mom made three dozen of them. These are a family favourite - they were all eaten.
• Cheese and Crackers - just some basics, but Vinta crackers and an old cheddar
• Pepperoni sticks
• Veggies and Dip - raw carrots and peppers, with a sour cream based dip. There were so many left over.

Main Course

• Turkey - my mom made the turkey, with delicious stuffing and gravy. She is always the turkey maker in our family.
• Ham - roasted with pineapple on to, also made by my mother, because her grandkids complained about Turkey.
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes - we roasted the garlic ourselves, and these were amazing
• Roasted Carrots - olive oil, kosher salt, rosemary
• Cauliflower & Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
• Garden Salad
• Yam Casserole - my brother made this - it was pretty good
• Some kind of yellow mush - rutabaga maybe? I don't know who made it and didn't have any.

Desserts

• Pumpkin Cheesecake - another thing my mom made and brought
• Apple Pie - the second one my daughter made this weekend
• Pumpkin Pie - the remains of the pumpkin from my in-laws
• Zucchini Loaf - a special request from my other daughter to my wife

There was also a lot of beer and wine responsibly consumed.

I should specify that I did not partake in everything that was listed above, but I still ate way too much food, and will probably be eating leftovers of all of these things for most of this week.