Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving.
I love the gathering of family and friends to feast and fest and toast each other, and celebrate community. One of the benefits of being a family with folks living on both sides of the Canada/US border means two Thanksgivings per year.
As a young person, Thanksgiving meant a long drive to Indiana for feast and family with my paternal grandparents and aunts and uncles. The soundtrack to these memories is comprised of Duke, Ella, and Satchmo. The aromas which still linger in the back of my mind are black coffee percolating, my Grandma's scalloped potatoes, and the pall of smoke that always hung low over the dining room table after dinner.
As a young adult, Thanksgiving was often celebrated far away from my immediate family, but with the intensity and urgency of friends developing their own traditions. We made merry, and over-consumed everything. We laughed till we cried, told stories that were mostly true, played games and cleaned up the next day with foggy brains and painkillers.
As I approach my middle years, Thanksgiving to me has morphed and evolved into a gentle gathering of friends and family, with flavours of food and drink supplied by all. Communal cooking, in one kitchen, a conjoining of people who truly enjoy each other. We still laugh til we cry. We still have Satchmo providing atmosphere as often as we have Adelle, or Radiohead, or the Boss. Someone still makes granny's scalloped taters, but we've also added to the seasonal menu new items like scratch made pates, or my wife's pumpkin creme brulee. We still enjoy our wine, or beer, or whiskey, and sometimes have one more than we should... but no one ever spends the day after in misery.
This year, I'd like to say a special thanks to all of you. You, who with your posts, your stories, your jokes, your nuggets of truth, have made me a richer man.
Happy Thanksgiving friends.
-- Pat

Thanks Boudreaux!
In the spirit of giving, and thanks, I thought I'd post the recipe here:
Makes 8 servings.
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) pumpkin purée

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon

1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp (1 mL) ginger

2 cups (500 mL) whipping cream

8 egg yolks

1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar
1- Place eight 6-oz (175 mL) custard cups or ramekins in large pan; set aside.
In large bowl, combine pumpkin purée, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger; set aside.
2- In saucepan, heat cream until steaming. In bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar; slowly whisk in cream. Whisk into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared custard cups. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of cups.
3- Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until edge is set but centre still jiggles and knife inserted in centre comes out creamy, about 35 minutes. Remove from water; let cool on racks. Cover and refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 2 days.)
4- Set fine sieve over bowl; press brown sugar through sieve to eliminate lumps. Pat custards dry; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.
5- Holding small blowtorch so end of flame touches sugar, heat until sugar bubbles and turns dark amber. Chill, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes before serving. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 hours.)
Tips:

Robyn, my wife, is South African, so she adds Cape Gooseberries to the custard after she's poured it into the individual ramekins. These add a lovely tart and sweet pop to the creme brulee.
If you don't have (who doesn't though?) a blow torch, you can also broil the sugar 6 inches (15 cm) from the heat until it turns dark amber. Keep a close eye on the cups because you may need to rearrange them as they broil to evenly darken the sugar.
Mmmmm... hungry.
-- Pat

Thanks Teddy for the cartoons!
And thanks to everyone who has shared some of their Thanksgiving stories, recipes and memories.
I've finished two different chicken liver pates (one sweet with apples, caramelized onions and a little Islay, and the other savoury, with balsamic onions, capers and anchovies) and my wife is baking of the custards for the creme brulees. The house smells glorious.
We're getting perfect weather for our Thanksgiving weekend. Temps in the 60s with glorious sunshine. Thinking I'm going to have to put the pooch on a leash and go for a lunt to the lake later.
Warm wishes.
-- Pat