Well, I can say with full assurance: my dear friends and family and I are really getting to be good cooks! Our Thanksgiving this year was a feast to be remembered. We had a full day (noon–after midnight!) of togetherness and food. I just love Thanksgiving!!

Let’s start with the new shortbread recipe I made for my cookie plate. Finally, I’ve found my go-to shortbread recipe. I should have known to go to the Brits first. I got this recipe from Short & Sweet by Dan Lepard (love this book!).

Butter Shortbread
adjusted slightly from Short & Sweet by Dan Lepard

250g all purpose flour
75g whole wheat pastry flour
1 T semolina flour
100g caster sugar
1/2 t salt
225g unsalted butter

Mix flours, semolina, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut butter into the dry mixture until it looks crumbly. Then use your hands to quickly bring the dough together. Press the dough into a fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. The next day bake at 320ºF/160ºC for about 40–45 minutes or until the edges start to brown a bit.

I also made Oat & Sour Cherry Cookies. This recipe needs a touch more work so it’ll be in Quarterly, Issue No. 10. *Don’t forget to subscribe to our Quarterly; our FREE ISSUE offer is only open for another few weeks.*

And I’ll walk you through a bit of the rest.
We had oysters …

We had a sour and a bitter cocktail (this was bourbon, grapefruit juice, bitters, yumm!)…

We had an amazing cheese board…

We had our outdoor fire and five adorable boys hanging around to make us laugh …

And we had each other. That is what we will always have. Friendship, family, time-spent celebrating and giving thanks. Giving each other hugs, time to listen and laugh, time to play games and take walks, time to share new recipes and savor them. So much changes as the year passes to the next but we still always have each other … we always have each other. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all!

—SCB