Whether you are celebrating with family or, doing it Los Angeles style, and celebrating with friends… the point is to be thankful, relax, and to enjoy lots of good food, right?! I wasn’t able to be with my family this year, but I am very happy to have such a good group of people to call my “LA Family”.
This year, while Desiree is doing Thanksgiving family style back home, I was able to celebrate with my beau and his family. The last few years, they have decided to go out to eat and avoid the hours of cooking and cleanup. I love this idea! (especially since you all know I don’t enjoy cooking, and no one enjoys clean-up. Am I right?)
We went to a local British pub, The Pikey, which is actually very close to my place. We frequent there often for 3 reasons- great food, great ambiance, and most importantly, great cocktails. I must say I was surprised! They seemed busier than a usual Saturday night. And, while I love an intimate family gathering, it was nice to be surrounded by a variety of people, from all walks of life, with the same purpose, to just enjoy the holiday, food and conversation with their loved ones.
THE FOOD:
We ordered a plethora of dishes and all shared them. Being a vegetarian, I enjoyed many of the sides, from the green bean casserole to the buttermilk biscuits and the cheesy mashed potatoes (yum yum)! The rest of the group went crazy for the Mary’s Deep Fried Turkey Leg. Being from the south, deep-fried turkey was not rare to me, but this bunch had never had it!
They also enjoyed the Mary’s Vinegar Chicken, which is on the Pikey’s regular menu. If you live in Los Angeles (or plan to visit sometime soon), you should order their chicken. When my boyfriend had it the very first time, he couldn’t stop talking about it for days!
THE COCKTAILS:
They have a wonderful wine and beer selection, but I chose to have the Ginger Minge (with a slight variation of Tequila instead of Scotch). I am not a fan of changing cocktails because mixologist work very hard to find the perfect balance and combination, however, rather than ordering my regular Mexican Mule, these ingredients sounded like a winner with Tequila… and they were! Excellent cocktail!
THE DESSERT:
Pikey had many great choices for desserts, but the one family thing we did enjoy, was going back to the house and having a home cooked desert (how lucky am I to be dating a baker!). Anthony made a Cranberry Tart that tasted PERFECT! Just enough Sweet for my taste. We had some coffee, cocktails (made from the left over cranberry filling) and laughs over this delicious dessert.
By the way, if you want to make this AMAZING dessert for yourself… head over to Anthony’s Blog Plate.Fork.Mouth for the recipe. Its the perfect holiday tart. (Great addition to your christmas menu.)
All and all, I had such a wonderful time, delicious food, and I sit here now, writing this article, feeling very thankful for everything I have and everyone I have in my life!
I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving! I am sure many of you enjoyed family, cooking and even, uggg, cleaning… but no matter how you do thanksgiving, hopefully you are ending this day feeling exactly as I do… thankful!
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