Febgiving: A Holiday of Sweet Mercy

Febgiving Story on WCCO

jrnorton23 — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:09:01 +0000

There’s a terrific video segment on Febgiving over at the website of one of the local TV news stations here, WCCO — check it out!

A Febgiving Shout-Out in the Washington Post

jrnorton23 — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:57:09 +0000

Febgiving got its highest-profile shout-out yet a couple weeks ago: Check out this terrific mention in The Washington Post. Also: Febgiving Ninja was a roaring success. We hope to have some photos and/or video up soon.

Scenes from Febgiving: Dragon

jrnorton23 — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:43:34 +0000

The first Febgiving of 2011 went off without a hitch! We’re going with an Asian pop culture theme this year for some reason, so the first Febgiving was Febgiving: Dragon; tomorrow’s will be Febgiving: Ninja. We’re very excited about it, and we’re also thrilled that there’ll be a Febgiving in Madison tonight, featuring a Thanksgiving dinner deconstructed and served on blinis. Holy. Moly.

Here are some lovely shots of the event from Natalie Champa Jennings — enjoy!

Febgiving in DeKalb, Il.

jrnorton23 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:09:45 +0000

From DeKalb, Illinois we get these scenes of a festive Febgiving complete with Green Egg cooker, beer can chicken, and other assorted revelry. Cheers!

Febgiving in New York City: Photos!

jrnorton23 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:51:57 +0000

What follows is a wonderful photo update from our friends Tim and Abbey, who have also blogged about their rendition of the holiday over on “Abbey Goes Design Scouting.”

Abbey writes, on her blog: “Tim designed an awesome invite and on Saturday we hosted 25 friends and seven babies for a turkey feast! Everyone brought a side dish, dessert or cheese. The table groaned under the weight of such deliciousness.” Thereby, I think, setting the record for largest Febgiving feast on record, and in a Manhattan apartment no less!

A New Rendition of the Holiday!

jrnorton23 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:33:16 +0000

A comment on our previous post that merits its own post:

Diane Kostecke Says:

Inspired by this web site and by meeting Jim and Becca at a recent book-signing, Febgiving was also celebrated by 11 revelers on February 20 in Madison, WI. No printed menus or customized shot glasses, but we all enjoyed our first attempt at this new holiday. Here are some pix of the meal we enjoyed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24270063@N05/sets/72157623378666413/

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Congrats, Diane! We hope the holiday becomes a tradition with you and your friends and family.

Febgiving Alpha and USA Photos

jrnorton23 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:57:20 +0000

We’re proud to present some shots of the two Minneapolis Febgivings — Febgiving USA (Feb. 20) and Febgiving Alpha (Feb. 14). Attendance was great — 22 folks at Febgiving Alpha (including two from New York) and 25 at USA (including guests from Milwaukee, New York, Boston, San Francisco and Eau Claire.

Big thanks to Katie Cannon (of Minneapolis, who shot Febgiving USA) and Anne Kosseff (of NYC, who shot Febgiving Alpha) for their photography.

The Febgiving USA tablescape, featuring menu, Crispin bombers, and custom souvenir shot glasses.

The Febgiving plate. As per Katie’s notes: “Starting at 6 o’clock: sage dressing, sausage dressing, beets w/ chevre, roasted sweet potatoes, cabbage salad w/ lime vinaigrette, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, cheese grits souffle, sweet potatoes with bourbon, and int he middle is perfectly cooked turkey and a mushroom gravy – YUM!”

Left: The New Glarus beer flight station. Right: The souvenir Febgiving shot glass.

This year marked the international debut of Cornish Gamehenge, a triptych of three boned, stuffed, deep-fried Cornish game hens erected on hemispherical cabbage bases. The birds were delicious. Left: Jessica Forbess of San Francisco builds the triptych. Right: Host Becca Dilley presents it.

Sage dressing by Katie Cannon and Erica Mauter carving up her delicious Febgiving banana roll.

Left: Co-host Jim Norton surveys the tablescape. Right: A drink, and homemade pate brought by Nick and Liz Scheibel.

Right: Bennett Gordon quizzically displays a can of O2 (flavored oxygen) that circulated the party at one point. Left: Kyle Sommers removes Briscoe Dilley, the Febgiving Ambassador Cat, from Kate NG Sommers’s back.

Dessert! Starting at 6pm, clockwise: Cardamom bundt cake, banana roll, a Sweets Bakeshop macaroon, chocolate pecan pie, cherry cheesecake pie, “crack” pie, classic bourbon pecan pie.

For all of Katie’s terrific photos, visit her Flickr site. Now, on to Alpha, courtesy of Anne Kosseff!

Becca Dilley toasts the group.

Sweet potato-stuffed oranges.

Anne and Becca, together at the table!

Guests mingle as the turkey roasts.

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Oh, and the menu for Febgiving USA, for the curious:

FEBGIVING USA
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cocktail Hour

House-infused Cranberry Vodka Tonics
Absolut Boston Black Tea Tonics
Flights of New Glarus Beer

Assorted Local Cheeses and Dried Fruit
French Pate by Ms. Elizabeth Mead Cavert Scheibel
Baguettes by Rustica

Mains

Turkey with Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce
Mushroom Gravy by Ms. Jessica Forbess
Sage Dressing by Ms. Katie Cannon
Cabbage Salad with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette by Ms. Emily Nystrom
Old-School Mashed Potatoes
Butternut Squash Soup with Gorgonzola Cream by Ms. Laura Spencer
Pumpkin Bread Trains

and Featuring the International Debut of Cornish Gamehenge

Postres

Traditional Febgiving Banana Roll Cake by Erica and Missy
Buffalo Trace pecan pie
Vanilla Cardamom Bundt Cake by Kate and Kyle Sommers
Cordials and Whiskys Including Various Scotches and House-Made Root
Beer Schnapps

Coffee

Febgiving Alpha: The Menu

jrnorton23 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:29:24 +0000

Here’s the menu from our Feb. 14 “Febgiving Alpha” celebration. We’ll post another one after Feb. 20′s “Febgiving USA.”

FEBGIVING ALPHA
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cocktail Hour

House-infused Cranberry Vodka Tonics
Pisco Sours by Ms. Amy Daml
and a special cocktail surprise concocted by Mr. Brady Clark

Assorted Local Cheeses and Dried Fruit
Local Charcuterie Platter

Mains

A Very Light Salad
Turkey with Gravy, Stuffing, and Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Relish by Ms. Miranda Wilson
Mashed Potatoes ala Becca
Sweet Potato Oranges
Nadine’s Potatoes by Ms. Ashley Pernitz
Pumpkin Bread Trains
Moroccan-Spiced Winter Squash Stew with Quinoa by the Kosseff-Kosseff-Jones Delegation
The Mastersons’ Mac and Cheese
Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese by Song and Robert E. Lee

Postres

Double Decker Apple-Pecan pie
Mocha Poached Pear Gingerbread Torte
Coconut Rice Pudding by Ms. Jolynn Choy-Blackstone
Cordials and Whiskys Including Various Scotches, Buffalo Trace, Black Currant Mead, and House-Made Root Beer Schnapps

Coffee

Febgiving in the Star Tribune

jrnorton23 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:26:48 +0000

We’re pleased as punch that our little holiday got some major-league ink. Kim Ode of the Minneapolis Star Tribune did a wonderful story on the Febgiving tradition that’s well worth a look.

A Fantastic Febgiving Invitation

jrnorton23 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:17:14 +0000

Our New York City friends Tim and Abbey put together this gorgeous invitation for their upcoming Febgiving feast. Holy cow is it classy! It practically oozes style! At any rate, we’re very pleased to see NYC so brilliantly represented this year. Hopefully we’ll have photos to share from this and other Febgiving feasts. Locally, we’re gearing up for the first of our two Febgivings, the Feb. 14 Febgiving Alpha. (Febgiving USA is Feb. 20.)