November's Annual Business Meeting and Thanksgiving Dinner Extraordinaire at William's

Hey Kissers! I'm guessing that you, like we, are having a heck of a time avoiding the treacherous vortex of Holiday Spare Time Disappearance...Fernando and I have managed to hold our own so far, and while we did decide to pretty much nix sending out holiday cards, we are delighted to report having carved out time to complete a blog update for our recent annual meeting at William's place!

We arrived on a chilly November evening and found William busily reducing an aromatic concoction of his own invention.

William's home smelled as good as it looked. I can't recreate the marvelous smells, but I can give you a sneak peek at the table - Wouldn't you want to enjoy a gourmet meal here?

I suspected as much! We convened promptly at 5:00...That is, except for Joyce and Jessica, whom Meg had mistakenly led astray regarding meeting times...But that still worked out just dandy - we wasted no time in getting to the important stuff straight-away.

Rick poured up some champagne and we all settled in to attend to the business at hand. Fernando's business was to relax and take a load off, apparently.

Anne posed a thoughtful question...

Meg told us a spectacular story about her search for a chicken on the lamb (see what I did there, har har)..

Here, Frank considers the ratio of truth to hyperbole that Meg's tale really contains...

Poor William, while we were chortling and laughing and drinking champagne in the next room, he was putting the finishing touches on what was certain to be an extraordinary meal.

And speaking of incredible things that William produces, Damian couldn't stop marveling over the gorgeous set of placemats he had commissioned to William. They were stunning!

And, while we're on the subject, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of William's own extra-creative "Jewelry-as-Art" exhibit? Isn't this neat?

Rick checked in with William to see if there was anything he could help with...

In the meantime, we all had a glass of champagne...or two...and got started with the "meat and potatoes" of our meeting. Anne was our valiant scribe:

We began with a short list of items for discussion which immediately sprang to mind. But the point of this photo is really to say, "Ain't Meg a cutie?"

As we usually manage to do, all of us Kissers enjoyed lots of animated discussion and a ton of laughs...

 

 

 

All of us Kissers, that is, except for Damian, who was still raptly enthralled, examining William's astonishing handiwork. (Not really true, but it sounded more fun given the photos I had! *wink*)

See? There's Damian!

Our bulleted list grew as we continued to chat...

And our level of general punchiness grew, too - this is one of my very favorite photos of the night!

In fact, the "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" photo would have been the hands-down silliness winner if it hadn't been for Joyce's awesome dental-reminder-turned-incarnation-of-Rambi...What a crack-up!

We ended up with a nice collection of ideas and events to try. For your reading ease, I invite you to see the bulleted recap below the photo - the astute observation that every single one of us in the group wears glasses did NOT escape me (even if Fernando hardly ever wears his most of the time!)!

The minutes, ladies and gentlemen:

• Date for our annual Cookie Bake: 12/17, at Joyce and Jessica's place
• January idea, hosted by Rick and Damian (is that right, kids?): Brunch and coffee roasting at Rococo in Kirkland
• Trips to consider for 2012. Dates/choices TBD
• Walla Walla
• Lopez Island 
• Oregon wine country
• Napa
• Event to definitely plan for 2012: Woodinville wineries and/or distilleries visit
• Dorkiest idea award-winner (Thanks, Shawn!): Visit Richard Gradwohl and his mini-cows at the Happy Mountain Miniature Cattle Farm in Covington (you can hear an interview with Richard on KUOW's website here!).
• Options for donations/auction offerings to benefit charitable organizations: 
• Sno-County Cancer Gala (May event)
• Seattle University's Zambia program (Feb event)
• "Chopped"-inspired event, using random ingredients
• Mixing up our rotation of Kissers after May (we'll plan in the Spring)
• "Less is More," Redux
• Gluten-free baked goods/dinner
• Knife-sharpening with Daniel (possibility of inviting him to dinner/he comes to us)
• KTC Date changes due to holidays: 
• January 21 becomes Jan 28 (Rick and Damian)
• February 18 becomes Feb 25 (Joyce and Anne)

We also had a brief discussion of sending around an updated list of addresses and birthdays - I don't have a complete set of this information anywhere...Can anyone help a gal out?

We finally wrapped up our meeting, smacking our collective chops in anticipation of another unforgettable meal shared at William's.

Can't you understand why?

Before we knew it, our plates were filled and we trickled in to sit around that fabulous table.

Suddenly, we realized something a little unusual had happened...How did we (especially WE) organically divide ourselves by gender all the way down the table? After a rousing parody of "London Bridge arms," we were ready to eat.

Doesn't that look scrumptious?

EVERYTHING was HEAVENLY. This was truly Thanksgiving dinner as it was meant to be. We enjoyed each other's conversation, and shared stories about special dinners in our homes of origin. It was an altogether enjoyable gathering! And that was even BEFORE we had dessert!

And ohhhhh.....I can't wait to show you dessert.....Pecan pie, and pumpkin pie with praline whipped cream...accompanied by a fancy vanilla bean ice cream AND an extraordinary cognac ice cream - all homemade by--who else?--our beloved chef du jour, William!

Feast your eyes (It was so good I started eating before I remembered to take a photo!)...

Damian (wasn't it you?) took this opportunity to artistically drizzle over his ice cream some delightful caramel sauce of William's creation...Doesn't that look great?

Add some whipped cream and some crunchy praline bits...and YUM.

Before long, all our plates looked like this:

After we'd eaten, we sat around the table and continued to chat - a truly necessary characteristic, to be sure, of any successful dinner party! We enjoyed William's stories...

On the guys' side...

AND the gals' side!

What a nice time we all had!

Then, of course, came the fun part of the night. We Kissers had decided to offer a couple of fun gifts to William since we adore him...

We suspected William had already seen this package stashed in his coat closet earlier in the evening, but this was his first chance to check it out up close. I like the glint of anticipation in his eyes...

We'd been planning this gift for a few weeks, and Fernando and Shawn put the finishing touches on it to bring it all together. William looked pretty tickled when he opened it:

It didn't occur to me to take a better photo when we were over there, but here's the photo we circulated to our Kissers earlier that day (so everyone could see how everything turned out!) before William's grand unveiling.

One funny side story...William's curiosity got the best of him, and his textile-expert fingers counted, "Tuck, pleat, tuck, pleat, tuck, tuck...Interesting..." Meanwhile, Fernando and Shawn held their collective breaths. They reasoned that, knowing William, he would want to figure out exactly how they assembled his gift--a fact which worried Shawn. She reports, "It wasn't that we did a shoddy job, just that we just kind of winged putting everything together...We just figured out a way to make it work in spite of our combined lack of crafty experience."

When she voiced this worry to Fernando, he considered this a moment, and then shook his head. "No," he stated firmly. "He won't take it personally. It's the American Way."

"The American Way? What do you mean? asked Shawn.

"You know, the American Way. Everything in the United States looks like something, but it's not. It looks like a fireplace, but it's not--it's fake. It looks like a brick home, but it's fake brick. It looks like a solid wall, but it's not! Everything is like that in the United States. It's the American Way!"

Ah, from the mouths of babes...So, William, if you're reading, just remember when you happen to see that extra tuck-that-isn't-even-a-tuck: It's the American Way!

We also offered a gift certificate to go towards replacing his beloved bowler, which he'd recently lost. A little bird told me that the new model looks wonderful, and adds an extra hearty dash of jaunty wintertime cheer beyond what William himself already brings naturally with just his presence! Yay, bowlers!

Here's a thoroughly self-satisfied William, basking in the glow of a job expertly executed and enjoyed by loved ones. I love this photo too - the Master in his domain!

He has plenty of reason to smile, too - not only did we enjoy a fabulous dinner, but we also all pitched in to clean up afterwards! Look at that dedication and hard work!

Also, look at that turkey carcass! Spic and span!

The aforementioned dedication and hard work began to display its fruits...

Between the all of us, we put William's house back together...Here, he corrects our placement of a table to the millimeter:

Anne and Rick would stay the evening, and Anne would Light-Rail it to the airport the next morning.

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner had by all, and rivaling the best I've ever enjoyed! Many thanks again to William for hosting and preparing darn near everything, and many thanks to everyone else for making it awesome all the way around!

See you on December 17 at the Cookie Bake, y'all!