Well, it was a different sort of Thanksgiving Day for the three of us. We decided to have the holiday meal at a restaurant. Hubby just didn't want leftovers in the house to tempt him.

We made reservations at a Seattle restaurant, which was the first mistake. A closer one would have been a better choice. We spent twice as long on the freeway as normal, due to extremely heavy traffic. Everyone was on the road traveling to their own harvest feast. Plus there was a big traffic accident to wade our way through. We were an hour late for our reservation, but they were still able to seat us fairly quickly.

The meal started with a very promising pumpkin soup. The bibb lettuce, cranberry, blue cheese and raspberry vinaigrette salad that followed was very nice. The rolls in the breadbasket were cold and chewy, so I didn’t have any trouble skipping that. Alas, the turkey was very dry. The vegetables were cold, and overcooked. The gravy was too spicy. The mashed potatoes were grainy. The stuffing had promise, but had been sitting around a bit too long. The bottle of Riesling helped a lot.

The desserts were wonderful. The three of us nibbled on a key lime mousse and a dense chocolate cake. I was careful just to take tiny tastes.

I wasn’t disappointed in the day. It was fun to be with my family and have a new adventure. I looked around the restaurant while we were eating and marveled at all the different families enjoying each other. There were smiles on all faces as they engaged in jokes and conversations. There were lots and lots of smiles. It was marvelous. That was food for my soul this Thanksgiving Day.