Pie, pie, pie

If you are ever in the area for Thanksgiving, Mark's house is the place to be. Mark did the honors with the electric carving knife (that's a sound that brings back Thanksgiving at 413 Fair Oaks).

With the risk of forgetting something, here's the menu: free-range turkey, sweet potato casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish (the real kind, made by Carol, with chopped nuts and fruit, and the regular), Matthew's green bean casserole, Tom's oyster stuffing and cole slaw, regular stuffing, excellent gravy (what's the secret Mark?), champagne, wine, and pie.

That is Cullen's dessert plate, with a slice of Carol's pecan pie on the left and my pumpkin pie on the right. I thought I was doing pretty well to manage to put one pie together, and then I found out that Alyssa made five (that's 5) pie crusts for her mother!

This gives me hope. There are some great Memmott pies in our future.

One more photo (thank you Alicia).

That's Leah and Russell, showing us how to relax, leave the dishes and baking to someone else, slow down, and hang tight with a good dog, who knows how to settle in by a friend.

Cattaraugus County wood burns clean.

I did my walk late this afternoon in high winds and steady rain, but the new damper on the fireplace is working well. It is now shut down to one stop before closing, which means the wood is burning slowly, with lots of good coals. Makes hibernating a pleasure. That and some banana bread that just came out of the oven, and Tom's roasted chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. Mashed food of any kind appeals to me right now. The dental work continues, and as of Wednesday, I have a mouthful of metal, flexible wires, and porcelain. No rubber bands.

I can see clearly...

The big news here is that our house is now the most energy efficient it has ever been. On Tuesday the flue on the fireplace, which had been stuck in the open position (for way too long), was fixed, and on Wednesday the team of window people showed up, on time even. In two days they removed and replaced every window and the front door. There is a little bit of fine-tuning left to be done, but basically we are set. Two layers of krypton, fancy locks, and every pane folds in to be cleaned. Too complicated for me to figure out, but I'm impressed.