G3 Thanksgiving: The DC Edition!

Back in my Brandeis days, Thanksgiving meant a chance to go home to PA and get some Mona-and-Alli-time. But before we left for home each year, the G3 (Gordon 3, the hall I lived on freshman year) crew got together to make a delicious makeshift dinner on hotplates and in microwaves. This tradition has continued on even after college, but I haven't been able to attend, since the majority of that group lived in New York. But THIS year, the DC outpost of Gordon 3 grew enough (it was just Whitney and I last year) to merit our own G3 Thanksgiving, thanks to the lovely additions of Becky P. and Sarah K., both of whom recently moved down to the district.

The lovely Sarah K. and her brand new kitten (!!) hosted this year's celebration, and honorary G3 member Aaron B. was in town, so he joined in on the fun, too! I originally planned to make two of my favorite dishes, Momma Mona's spinach casserole, and Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Bake, but both of those failed. I forgot to drain the water in the spinach casserole, and forgot to add the cream to the sweet potato bake. I swear, if my head were not attached . . . Needless to say, I went to Whole Foods to pick up mashed maple sweet potatoes,garlicky broccoli rabe, and a cranberry apple sauce, all of which were delicious.

There was a delicious salad (with avocados and what I think were walnuts), corn, stuffing, and two kinds of cranberry sauces. The garlicky mashed potatoes were a particular hit with me -- Sarah K. made them with help from Becky P. We finished the meal with butterscotch pudding and my favorite thanksgiving food, pumpkin pie (thanks, Becky/Trader Joe's!). I don't know if it quite compared to the G3 Thanksgiving in New York (see Elizabeth's excellent blog post on that adventure for more details), but it was definitely wonderful.

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We were entertained by Sarah's new kitten (yet to be named -- right now she's calling him "Little Man") and her roommate's very cool Turkish cat, Baykus. At one point Little Man jumped on the computer and turned off our background music, then curled up contentedly in front of the computer, as if to dare us to turn the music back on.

Our excellent meal WAS lacking one thing . . . turkey! (most of the group was vegetarian, or not-so-frequent-carnivores). And because a post about Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without some turkey, here are two of my favorite West Wing turkey-related scenes for your viewing enjoyment.

Aren't I going to get a reputation for being soft on turkeys?

I'm . . . Joe Bethersonton. That's one t and with an h in there.