Up until this week I’ve been in that funny ‘ole in-between place that comes the two or three weeks before Thanksgiving in a country that doesn’t celebrate it.
Thanks for this, Sabrina. I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday of all, both for the food (I love all the traditional elements of the Turkey Day feast: the turkey itself, the dressing, my homemade cranberry-orange-apricot chutney, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, and especially the pies) and for the fellowship and generosity (when I was in college, I could never afford to fly the three thousand miles home for the holiday - I came home for Christmas break and for the summer, and that was all - but I had four of the most wonderful and memorable Thanksgivings of my life thanks to various people who welcomed me to their homes and tables). This year, Sonya tested positive for Covid upon our return from Italy (I’ve tested negative twice so far), which forced us to cancel our plans to spend the day in Oakland with her BFF Donna, Donna’s partner Richard, and their elderly parents. Instead, we’re going to have a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us at her house. It will be lovely, but it will feel a little strange not to be sharing the feast with others. Nonetheless, and despite whatever sorrows or frustrations we may be experiencing, we know we still have so much more for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I'm glad to hear you are still tasting negative and warm healing wishes to Sonya! And I agree, it is strange to have a small event, but in the end it is all about our blessings. And the pie. ❤️
This tribute to Thanksgiving resonated deeply with me. I know exactly how you feel about missing and wanting it but having no big pushes from family and friends to celebrate in a place where that Thursday is just another day. As I learned the hard way, we need to celebrate - not so much for the food but as a way to take the time to count our zillions of blessings and things we have to be thankful for.
Since we didn't celebrate on Thanksgiving day, and I learned the error of my ways, we're celebrating this afternoon before going off to a concert of Christmas music. We're having stuffed butternut squash, sauteed wild mushrooms with garlic, and Brussel sprouts. Fabio has finally learned to like them so I'm taking advantage of that. After we walk home from the concert, we'll top it off with pumpkin pie, that for some reason, already has several slices missing.
We broke the no Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving rule because Fabio leaves for Colombia on December 5. We won't come back from our family Christmas until the end of December. We had to break the rule to have Christmas cheer here, another painful lesson I learned about the importance of Christmas cheer here even though we'll be away the week of Christmas.
All these adjustments and mind changes due to living abroad. Glad we can still be flexible and celebrate the meaning of day and season even if a bit out of synch.
Thanks Andrea-it seems we both had a bit of a struggle this year and learned new ways to adjust holidays to better suit our lives. I love that you are combining your thanksgiving feast with a concert of Christmas music! It really is the best of everything. And my goodness that feast sounds so yummy!
Getting a head start on Christmas cheer sounds like a very smart way to go when the dark is closing in and you want to make sure you can embrace some of your own traditional activities, especially when you will be travelling and time will fly by. Funny that problem with pie that goes missing....I gave some of ours to our neighbours to try, and now I am regretting making only one pie this year! 🤣🤣🤣
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia - Christmas is the B-all and End-all of most family celebrations. In our own family, I use any excuse to get us together - Easter, birthdays, 'because' days. And we're a very small family so it's not a great sweat to have a BBQ or somesuch.
But the cold (rarely snow but cold, damp, off-the-water greyness) and dark of winter is something we do have in common. So after my husband retired, I made sure I booked us 'away' time in 5 star Air B'NB's in faraway points across our island. We had things to look forward to then which shortened the winter - the bonus being we were discovering back roads and byways, hidden coves, rivers and doing things that got us away from the mainstream and recharged us mentally.
It sounded to me on one of your posts as if that is what you and your husband were doing when you vanished off the Isle of Wight periodically. Good idea! It refreshes the spirit!
Here's to Christmas and freedom to Deck the Halls. I have a rule here - no music, Christmas food, no deccies until after December 1st.
I have an even more rigid rule that all Christmas paraphernalia is stored away on Boxing Day as THAT is the day Australians in our house begin summer and that's truly worth celebrating!!!
PS: Like you, love the fragrance of seasonal meats cooking but stick to the veggie components. It still works a treat!
Yay for a kindred spirit in the fragrance sphere! So happy to hear it is not just me! I really like your approach to embracing Christmas on a limited basis, particularly when you have a fabulous summer lifestyle to get on with. And I appreciate your approach to winter greyness and damp. We tend to set sail for the US for a short while most winters, and if we can, focus on the southern parts of California where usually we can rely on some warmth. At any rate, we fill our souls with friends and family (and our stomachs with beloved foods). Then we top up with weekend breaks around the UK when we can the rest of the season. I may jump your Dec 1st rule as I have the house to myself next week so I can sing and deck the halls to my hearts content without disturbing anyone else. Wishing you another week of calm meantime!
This is wonderful Sabrina! I agree wholeheartedly....and also love Thanksgiving! Foods are the traditional ones I grew up with, along with a few tweaks here and there - roasted turkey, Pepperidge Farm stuffing (with extra onions and celery!), mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade cranberry and orange, and recently added roasted Brussel sprouts that are a family favorite. This year all four of our kids, plus one partner, are joining us for dinner, along with 5 dogs! 😅 Chaos will undoubtedly reign, but the pumpkin and pecan pies are ready to go so it can’t fail! ❤️🧡🍁🍂❤️🧡
Thanks for sharing you favourite foods! Umm I'm getting hungry thinking about all of that. And I had forgotten about Pepperidge Farm stuffing...I'm such a big fan of Brussels sprouts too. Oh what a wonderful crew you will have today Martha! Soak up all that big family vibe and all that love and time and joy. And PIE! Yay! Wishing you all the best!
Thanks for this, Sabrina. I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday of all, both for the food (I love all the traditional elements of the Turkey Day feast: the turkey itself, the dressing, my homemade cranberry-orange-apricot chutney, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, and especially the pies) and for the fellowship and generosity (when I was in college, I could never afford to fly the three thousand miles home for the holiday - I came home for Christmas break and for the summer, and that was all - but I had four of the most wonderful and memorable Thanksgivings of my life thanks to various people who welcomed me to their homes and tables). This year, Sonya tested positive for Covid upon our return from Italy (I’ve tested negative twice so far), which forced us to cancel our plans to spend the day in Oakland with her BFF Donna, Donna’s partner Richard, and their elderly parents. Instead, we’re going to have a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us at her house. It will be lovely, but it will feel a little strange not to be sharing the feast with others. Nonetheless, and despite whatever sorrows or frustrations we may be experiencing, we know we still have so much more for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I'm glad to hear you are still tasting negative and warm healing wishes to Sonya! And I agree, it is strange to have a small event, but in the end it is all about our blessings. And the pie. ❤️
This tribute to Thanksgiving resonated deeply with me. I know exactly how you feel about missing and wanting it but having no big pushes from family and friends to celebrate in a place where that Thursday is just another day. As I learned the hard way, we need to celebrate - not so much for the food but as a way to take the time to count our zillions of blessings and things we have to be thankful for.
Since we didn't celebrate on Thanksgiving day, and I learned the error of my ways, we're celebrating this afternoon before going off to a concert of Christmas music. We're having stuffed butternut squash, sauteed wild mushrooms with garlic, and Brussel sprouts. Fabio has finally learned to like them so I'm taking advantage of that. After we walk home from the concert, we'll top it off with pumpkin pie, that for some reason, already has several slices missing.
We broke the no Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving rule because Fabio leaves for Colombia on December 5. We won't come back from our family Christmas until the end of December. We had to break the rule to have Christmas cheer here, another painful lesson I learned about the importance of Christmas cheer here even though we'll be away the week of Christmas.
All these adjustments and mind changes due to living abroad. Glad we can still be flexible and celebrate the meaning of day and season even if a bit out of synch.
Thanks Andrea-it seems we both had a bit of a struggle this year and learned new ways to adjust holidays to better suit our lives. I love that you are combining your thanksgiving feast with a concert of Christmas music! It really is the best of everything. And my goodness that feast sounds so yummy!
Getting a head start on Christmas cheer sounds like a very smart way to go when the dark is closing in and you want to make sure you can embrace some of your own traditional activities, especially when you will be travelling and time will fly by. Funny that problem with pie that goes missing....I gave some of ours to our neighbours to try, and now I am regretting making only one pie this year! 🤣🤣🤣
We both learned the same important lesson learned about those darn pies.
And to you, Sabrina.
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia - Christmas is the B-all and End-all of most family celebrations. In our own family, I use any excuse to get us together - Easter, birthdays, 'because' days. And we're a very small family so it's not a great sweat to have a BBQ or somesuch.
But the cold (rarely snow but cold, damp, off-the-water greyness) and dark of winter is something we do have in common. So after my husband retired, I made sure I booked us 'away' time in 5 star Air B'NB's in faraway points across our island. We had things to look forward to then which shortened the winter - the bonus being we were discovering back roads and byways, hidden coves, rivers and doing things that got us away from the mainstream and recharged us mentally.
It sounded to me on one of your posts as if that is what you and your husband were doing when you vanished off the Isle of Wight periodically. Good idea! It refreshes the spirit!
Here's to Christmas and freedom to Deck the Halls. I have a rule here - no music, Christmas food, no deccies until after December 1st.
I have an even more rigid rule that all Christmas paraphernalia is stored away on Boxing Day as THAT is the day Australians in our house begin summer and that's truly worth celebrating!!!
PS: Like you, love the fragrance of seasonal meats cooking but stick to the veggie components. It still works a treat!
Yay for a kindred spirit in the fragrance sphere! So happy to hear it is not just me! I really like your approach to embracing Christmas on a limited basis, particularly when you have a fabulous summer lifestyle to get on with. And I appreciate your approach to winter greyness and damp. We tend to set sail for the US for a short while most winters, and if we can, focus on the southern parts of California where usually we can rely on some warmth. At any rate, we fill our souls with friends and family (and our stomachs with beloved foods). Then we top up with weekend breaks around the UK when we can the rest of the season. I may jump your Dec 1st rule as I have the house to myself next week so I can sing and deck the halls to my hearts content without disturbing anyone else. Wishing you another week of calm meantime!
This is wonderful Sabrina! I agree wholeheartedly....and also love Thanksgiving! Foods are the traditional ones I grew up with, along with a few tweaks here and there - roasted turkey, Pepperidge Farm stuffing (with extra onions and celery!), mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade cranberry and orange, and recently added roasted Brussel sprouts that are a family favorite. This year all four of our kids, plus one partner, are joining us for dinner, along with 5 dogs! 😅 Chaos will undoubtedly reign, but the pumpkin and pecan pies are ready to go so it can’t fail! ❤️🧡🍁🍂❤️🧡
Thanks for sharing you favourite foods! Umm I'm getting hungry thinking about all of that. And I had forgotten about Pepperidge Farm stuffing...I'm such a big fan of Brussels sprouts too. Oh what a wonderful crew you will have today Martha! Soak up all that big family vibe and all that love and time and joy. And PIE! Yay! Wishing you all the best!
Happy thanksgiving! We usually host friends on this day. Looking forward to a fun, relaxing afternoon!
Thanks Jen! I know you all have a LOT to be thankful for! Enjoy it all. I made a pumpkin pie this morning and I'm not really planning on sharing it. 🤣