Yum.

Enough about death, though. Let's talk food. Thankgiving is by far one of my favorite holidays, because it doesn't involve last minute, anxiety inducing gift buying trips to Target but instead involves eating foods that don't make sense in any other context, like stuffing which, to be honest, who the hell eats stuffing except for at Thanksgiving.

This year we had the culinary joy of having two thanksgivings: a traditional feast with all the fixins' with Mr. L's family on Thanksgiving day and a non-traditional gastronomic festival at our home for my family on Black Friday. We decided to forgo all the traditional eats for our second meal--we thought everyone would already have overdoxed on tryptophan--and instead went for an Italian spread. On the menu:
Pear-Rosemary Cocktails
Roquefort Grapes
Peppered Pecans
Raw Tuscan Kale Salad
Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans, Pears and Gorgonzola
Pumpkin Manicotti
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Brow Butter and Pine Nuts
Parmesean Twists
Chocolate Hazelnut Torte with Sea Salt
Zucotto with Raspberry Sauce (from my favorite cookbook of ALL TIME: Cooking with Spirit.)
and Pumpkin Pie (okay, it's not Italian, but you really couldn't have thanksgiving without it, could you?)

Somehow, we managed to fit 12 around our dining table and didn't get up for hours.A wonderful feast.