Giving Thanks

I don't know about you, but I'm already sick of Thanksgiving! Sick of hearing about it anyway. Oh sure, it's still my favorite holiday, but this year the plethora of magazines, cookbooks and even blogs all focused on the topic lead to my feeling as stuffed full as a you-know-what. So instead of food, I'm going to focus on two other themes for Thanksgiving, feeling thankful and something to drink.

Last week my world seemed to revolve around the food bank. In an article in the New York Times I was quoted mentioning my volunteer work at the San Francisco Food Bank. Then on Thursday I celebrated the release of Beaujolais Nouveau at the very same food bank, which received a generous donation from Georges Deboeuf to coincide with the event.

It seems popular to beat up on Beaujolais Nouveau these days. But I am not here to spill Beaujolais Nouveau but to drink it. I am a fan of the wine, I enjoy the seasonality of it and how accessible it is. It's refreshing and fruity. It's fun, not sophisticated or complex, and that's fine by me. It is great with appetizers, especially cheese, and it's dark red berry flavors pair with turkey much like cranberries do.

Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of the season to be released and marks the end of the harvest when wine producers typically hold parties to celebrate. Those celebrations have grown and now everyone celebrates with the catch phrase "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!"

While Thanksgiving is also about celebrating a successful harvest and sharing with friends and family, it is also a time to be thankful. I can't think of a better way to pay tribute to the holiday than by spending time volunteering at or making a donation to a local Food Bank. Having a hand in feeding people REALLY makes you feel thankful. Tomorrow when Thanksgiving rolls around, Lee and I will bring a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau to my parents house to enjoy and celebrate with, as we always do. And in the following weeks I'll be back at the Food Bank again doing what I can to help end hunger in the Bay Area.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites are my reviews of a handful of entertaining books, Easy Entertaining, Party Confidential, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

FOOD