thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and then everything goes downhill until new year's. i'm not a big fan of christmas -- too much frenzied shopping and gift giving and seemingly less about family. i suppose there are things that i do enjoy such as tree trimming, the smell of pine, poinsettias and amaryllis.

i'm recovering still after cooking my annual thanksgiving feast. like other years, we prepared all dishes from scratch but unlike most years, we largely used ingredients found at farmer's market or locally grown. our menu included:

roasted red bourbon turkey

cornbread stuffing

homemade gravy

cranberry sauce

orange cranberry sauce

steamed haricot vert

roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta and pomegranate

roasted lemon sage cauliflower

whipped butternut squash

apple pie

sweet potato pie

it would be a dream to be able to grow most things for our meal, then it would feel like a true harvest meal. maybe someday....

left: low table centerpieces of white peonies, red tulips, 'titanic' pink roses, protea and seeded eucalyptus