Thanksgiving getaway

With decades of preparing family Thanksgiving repasts under our belt, we formally retired from peeling and basting, carving and slicing - and cleanup - three years ago. Instead, we decided then to escape the tryptophan ODs and spend the long holiday weekend in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Steeped in history, this island is located in the Salish Sea in the San Juan Archipelago and as far away from the chaos of Black Friday commercialism as we could get on short notice.

This new family tradition includes a ferry ride across Puget Sound to our island getaway, the Tucker House Inn Bed and Breakfast, one of two 1898 Victorians just a couple of blocks from the shops and cafes of downtown.

After checking in on Wednesday we were free to roam the island, with Casey usually leading the way, knowing full well that our focus event is the Thanksgiving spread at the Coho Restaurant on Thursday night. The Tuckerhouse inn keepers are the owners of the Coho, and the meals they prepare on this holiday are always memorable.   

This Thanksgiving menu openers included a mixed island green salad with goat cheese, roasted pumpkin soup, assorted breads - herb and sweet potato biscuits, brioche and rosemary olive - Dunginess crab cakes and wild mushroom croquettes, all leading up to entrees of smoked turkey breast and turkey leg confit.

 

Still in a reasonable condition to walk back to the inn, the dessert that we chose to top off the meal was a couple of slices of bourbon chocolate pecan pie that tasted like venal sin - a confection that we'll be thinking about until next year - because, oh yes, there will definitely be another serving of this Thanksgiving getaway.