Well, his name isn’t Charlie, but the Studmuffin does have his very own little red-haired girl that he adores. We were all excited when our oldest daughter told us she was coming to stay for a whole week at Thanksgiving.

The week’s activities included driving lessons, which went much better than the first set of driving lessons many years ago. That wasn’t Jen’s fault — while the south parking lot of the Pentagon was an ideal spot for driving lessons (vast, empty, nothing to run into), the erratic patterns resulting from lessons on braking, turning, and maneuvering also aroused the suspicions of the Pentagon police, who descended upon father and daughter in full SWAT gear. (This was well before 9/11 — no more driving lessons at the Pentagon.) It was all cleared up quickly, but it made for a memorable day.

Meanwhile, I prepped the full menu listed in September’s issue of Fine Cooking, including an aromatic brining solution for the turkey. The end was result was most certainly worth the effort!

Our niece, Emily, was also able to come up for the day. We missed having her husband, an airline pilot, at the table.
Charles Schulz got it right when he depicted Snoopy as a vulture. Our beagle lurked quietly during dinner…..

Afterwards, the Admiral took the girls out for a visit to the herd — a quick one, since it was so cold.

At first, Jen wasn’t sure about having a goat named after her, but now that they’ve been introduced I don’t think she minds. After all, they’re both smart, independent, quiet leaders who know how to accessorize.