Thanksgiving in Key West

Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end and the holidays begin....

We had our first Thanksgiving in Key West which we shared with friends at Jan & Ray's. They had their daughter and son-in-law down from Orlando and then invited a few of us 'without family' to their dinner.

It was an interesting experience for Tom and I since we have been holding dinner at our house since Mom passed away 9 years ago. No turkey to clean the night before and then get up early to cook. No trying to figure out where to seat everyone in the small dining room, find all of the warming trays & serving dishes (used only twice a year), and get the food timed right to try and be done close together. It was Wed night when we had little to do to prep for the dinner when we looked at each other with quivering lower lips and teary eyes..... we would be without our family and friends for our first island Thanksgiving. So we walked down to the Iguana, had a hot buttered rum (my new favorite that bartender Mike makes) and toasted island life with all it has brought us.

Then Thurs brought dinner at Jan & Rays which for them is an all day affair. Appetizers, drinks and games starting at 2 pm with dinner around 6:30 pm. Tom was the bartender for the day since he has perfected the key lime pie martinis and we have introduced them to Apples to Apples which has become Ray's favorite game.
Everyone that was coming to the dinner brought a family favorite and of course we brought Mom's homemade rolls. We have had to adjust the recipe since things cook differently at sea level and with more humidity. We had a couple of 'test' runs over the last couple of weeks to get the dough just right. It was a great dinner with every ones family foods to share, great friends and key lime pie martinis!

This also means the start of season which brings 2 things.
The first is the seasonal residents have started to arrive. Down here they start returning in Oct and stay till April. Traffic has picked up, less places to park and it's getting harder to get our favorite bar stools.
The second being an event every weekend. Our schedule is starting to fill up again with things to attend which means more topics for blogging..... stay tuned!