Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The table is loaded down with a beautifully burnished bird plus a multitude of favorite side dishes. Family and friends gather around, and this year our daughter Loretta comes home from her first semester of college at Colgate U! This is the feast Jackie and I plan to prepare, and we’re pleased to share all the recipes with you in this newsletter.

For an all out genuine Tom Douglas Thanksgiving feast, stop by the Dahlia Bakery for a jar of Rub with Love Turkey Rub and pick up a crusty loaf of rustic bread for your stuffing recipe at the same time. If you’d like our pastry bakers to whip up some luscious pies and other desserts for you, be sure to order ahead. I suggest picking a good white, red, and bubble to serve throughout your feast, but not necessarily your best from the cellar. It’s hard to match wines with so many flavors on one plate, and often there are more people than one bottle can adequately pour through. Large format bottles are perfect for this group, but save your super-fancy wines for when they can be more appreciated by all.
Finish the feast with a steaming cup of Starbuck's Thanksgiving Blend, a special blend that I worked with Starbucks to develop, using beans from Sumatra and Guatemala. This coffee not only tastes great with pumpkin pie, it’s also delicious with the turkey, matching herbal notes with an herbiness in the coffee and cutting the fattiness in the gravy with just the right amount of acid.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,
Tom