Thanksgiving in Irish Beach, CA

November 28, 2013

Bob made a reservation for the Carter house on Noyo Way in August when he knew we only had a four-day weekend.  We have driven by it (through it?) several times going to and from Mendocino on Hwy 1 and have always been impressed by the nice homes, zero commerse (only the real estate office) and gorgeous coastline.

We had our (huge) shopping and (huge-r) packing lists going since the weekend.  I picked up our 16-18 lb Diestal organic turkey on Monday at the Barn on the way — courtesy of Mr. Lucas, a tradition going back decades.  We could have had an organic vegan tofu something; wish I could have seen Bob’s face when he read the email where I gave him the choice….  Bob did the shopping at G&G on Tuesday night and he arrived home with five shopping bags.  Yes it is only the two of us.  Options, people.  And the nearest good market is 30 minutes away.   Wednesday I got home just after 1:00 and Bob was already there having mowed the lawns and started packing the truck.  I packed up the kitchen (small exaggeration: knives, spices, fresh herbs, condiments, serving utensils, tablecloths, napkins………) and then my own stuff, loaded up the roasting pan, the wine, the dominoes and we were backing out of the drive at 2:10.  We decided to take Hwy 1 since 101 already jammed from Novato.  It was quiet and not much traffic and, of course, beautiful.   We were both hungry and thought we might find something at the Tomales Bakery which was still open for people picking up their pies… God, did it smell delicious.  The only thing they had for sale that wasn’t pre-ordered were rosemary lemon biscuits.  And they only make biscuits twice a year.  Uh, hello?  We got four.  We were going to eat them but I mentioned that they would go really well with the chili we had taken out of the freezer and packed for dinner.  Or for breakfast with the proscuitto.  So we just got bottles of water at the store across the street and kept going to Valley Ford where we stopped at the Estero Cafe (“best burger on the Coast” according to their own sign).  They were just closing but said we could order.  Bob had a BLT (because the addictive smell of bacon wafted out the door as we walked in) and I had a veggie burger (surprisingly good: cooked correctly — crispy not dry — and tasted mostly of mushrooms not mulch as is so often the case) with mixed greens.  Fortified we continued up to Gualala so we could check out the Surf Market and pick up what we realized we forgot to bring (sausage — seriously! — jalapenos for my cranberry relish and whole peppercorns).  And discovered they are open on T Day from 7:30 to 3 which immediately made Bob feel better… ‘just in case, hon.’

Got to Irish Beach about 5:45 and boy, is it dark here.  This is where we should be for eclipses and whatnot.  House is really great.  Big kitchen, enough light, lots of windows, can hear the ocean.  Could not connect to the internet even though they have a 4g cellular hot spot.  This was worrisome as our cell phones were on “extended” and both of us needed to be able to get to our office emails; I needed my office laptop to work!  We made a big fat fire, poured some Chardonnay, heated up the chili and sliced up some sourdough.  There are tons of books around and big window seats, rocking chairs…reading lights by both sides of the bed and in the living room.  Note to self:  ask if owners are readers when renting a condo!  Then you don’t have to buy/ bring brighter bulbs (Mammoth, Incline Village….).  {Bob’s blog of Wednesday (his words):  “We drove a little over three hours, had some wine and chili and went to bed.” Which is why he never reads this blog. Too verbose.}

Today we were up by 6a.  I was awake from about 3:30 trying not to wake/bug Bob (mostly unsuccessful).  Read for awhile, played two games of Sudoku on iPad….then he was finally awake too.  First order of business was to try to connect to the internet.  Well, first I started the water for my coffee. Then I unplugged and re-started the little cassett disk like thing that is the connection here.  Was able to connect on iPhones, iPad, my MacBook and Bob’s ThinkPad.  But. Not. my SPL laptop.  Panic.  Trinks in Gualala 30 minutes away is closest internet.  Bob (bless him!) noodled it for at least half an hour and finally got it work.  PHEW!!!!

We drove down to Gualala to the store at 7:30.  People who know us are laughing/ nodding/ laughing / laughing…  Here’s the thing.  When we KNOW there is a good store we (the royal we) think of REASONS to go to said store.  In this case, wine glasses (ok, that was me.  There are 11 wine glasses in this house and the only two that match are plastic.  Need I say more?), hard cider for the turkey brine, kosher salt for the turkey brine and whatever else we might need want. Stopped in Pt Arena to check out that store and bought the kosher salt to be supportive as it was a co-op and the only patrons were hippies/homeless and homeless hippies.  Tough life up here. As we drove by Trinks, our go-to emergency internet, it was closed.  OMG.  I would have been completely freaked out if we couldn’t connect at the house and then could not get to Trinks either. Crisis averted.  The Surf Market is pretty great for being sort of nowhere.  They have an amazing wine selection though pricey including most of our favorites from Anderson Valley.  We got two restaurant Reidel Zin glass for 9.49 each — excellent price; they only had two or I would have gotten more.  And we drove back.  It was so peaceful and hardly any cars.  We had Spa on XM (Sierra’s favorite; she would literally YAWNNNNNNN in the back seat when it was on.  She, by the way, would love it here.  Nice lawn, lots of deer to ignore, her people just sitting around, available for cuddling and walks… we still miss and mourn her) and barely spoke, just enjoying the ride.

Got home and started the turkey brining (kosher salt, brown sugar, black pepper corns, hard cider and loads of fresh herbs from our garden: sage, thyme, parsley, oregano, tarragon).

Then we had our rosemary lemon biscuits (me with ham and sliced tomatoes, Bob had his with scrambled eggs and bacon) and DAMN! were they good warmed up in the oven.  Flakey as heck and the kitchen smelled like a bakery til the turkey took over.  I took a walk the length of our street looking at beautiful homes and enjoying the views — 1.07 miles total, should you care.  Bob researched the San Andreas fault and drove about a mile from here to see where it crosses Hwy 1 at Alder Creek and goes in to the ocean at Manchester Beach.  There is a magnificent house on the bluff right which could end up in the ocean I suppose.  Wonder if they know?

Started our turkey prep about 1p and opened a bottle of bubbles when it went in which we enjoyed all afternoon while reading, watching football, staring at the ocean, watching the deer….. blissful lazy day.

View from the couch:

Dinner was superb:  turkey (moist! brown crispy skin! took about 4.5 hours), stuffing (Bob: chile cheese bread from Schatz Bakery in Mammoth — yes, we plan ahead, sourdough, celery, onions, hot italian and pork sausage, fresh chicken stock), mashed potatoes (Bob: sour cream, butter, parmesan), oven roasted brussels sprouts (Sharon: Thai chilis, olive oil, shallots, proscuitto), oven roasted mushrooms (olive oil, salt and loads of pepper, fresh thyme), salad with pomogranate seeds, cranberry jelly (from the can, alas, Bob’s favorite) and cranberry relish (fresh cranberries, jalapeno, orange rind, juice from one orange, a knob of ginger).  It was all so so so GOOD!  With it we had a bottle of Phelps Pinot Noir.

We actually went in the hot tub (which was immaculate and faintly smelled of chlorine — I am a freak about other people’s hot tubs.  Like I won’t go in them 99.9% of the time) and sat out there steaming in the chill under a bazillion stars.  Lovely!