Happy Thanksgiving from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado

PART TWO

Happy Official Birthday to Barb!  From left around table:  Gene, Me, Birthday Girl Barb, Barb's hubby John, Roseanne, Barb's sister Carol, and Diane, all having the "OMG Fabulous!" Thanksgiving Buffet at the Stanley Hotel.

John's favorite thing on the menu:  Bacon Bloody Mary!  The garnish was a meal itself and the bacon to die for.  The waittress told us the pastry chef coats the bacon with a simple syrup with six secret ingredients to make it the incredible sweet, salty, crispy wonderful it is. We all kept guessing:  "Molasses?  Sorghum? Honey?"  But the secret is still safe, at least from us.

Sigh. The views from our Thanksgiving table.

My main plate: not much of a turkey eater, I was THRILLED with the Colorado beef fillet with mushroom and parsley-ed sauce, crisp-tender roasted carrots, and a trip to the seafood bar:  crab claws and the best mussels I've ever tasted.  The best of all:  the stuffing and gravy made us all groan with pleasure.  I wish I could pick apart the recipe but all I could get was white and wheat bread, cornbread, carrots, celery, onions, and tons of sage. Yum! The gravy redolent with thyme made the perfect counterpart to the sage-y dressing.  A huge bowl of just stuffing and gravy? I'd be there!

Home-made pies we'd smelled baking the day before, topped with real whipped cream and roasted pumpkin seeds.

The centerpieces were gorgeous fall colors lending the perfect splashes of color around the ballroom of white table-clothed tables and draped chairs.

The only thing that topped that buffet was sitting there with good friends laughing and enjoying the time together.