Once we made it through our first Thanksgiving away from home (toughest holiday we've had so far to be away), each year following it got to be one of my most favorite to celebrate in England. The reason being is that we kept gaining new "family" members to share this amazing day with. Of course the day is all about eating a big meal and I LOVE to prepare special meals for my friends and family...so this is the climax of the year for me! And it is totally amazing how much you can actually cook up in my little kitchen...this year I'm feeding 18 people!
Kevin had to work all day but managed to get home around 4PM to help get the tables all set up in our conservatory, but my friend Molly Barnes came over with her girls around 5:30 to help get the rest of the food ready with me. Husband, Jim, was in the US for family business, so we wanted to make sure this expecting mummy and her girls were with some "family" for the holidays as well.
On this year's menu was:
Orange/Thyme Roast Turkey
Crockpot stuffing
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
Green bean casserole
Corn
Cornbread muffins
Cranberry jello salad mould
Pumpkin pie
Banoffee pie (had to throw in this English classic)
Mike and Debbie Beales...our life savers for letting us borrow their huge cutting board to whack up the bird on as I have is a little 8x10 one that just fits in my kitchen. Also an amazing couple who have raised some of the most amazing girls we'll ever know - Gems and Lelli!!!
Me and the hubby...we don't often get pictures of the two of us so I snapped this one at the dinner table.
Kevin's main job was to carve the turkey...he's getting better and better every year. We really need to get one of those electric knives like my grandpa used to use...cuts like a hot knife through butta'.
My first Thanksgiving "jelly" in a traditional mould. I had gotten one of these cool copper jelly (jello) moulds at an antique store and wanted to use it for special dinners and it doesn't get more special than this. Lellie is so happy for me...Thanks Sarah for showing me how to get it popped out.
Molly and Sarah helping me out with the last minute details in the kitchen. Sarah jumping into Min's traditional washing dishes mode.
Time for dinner!!! And yes, it's a giant free for all...well, we had so much food and so many people to feed that each person usually dishes up what's in front of them onto everyone else's plate. Also this year I got to serve dinner on some special dinnerware as well. Yes, I broke out what I have collected so far of my English China and service pieces. And yes, I used my 3GBP turkey platter to serve the bird!!!
Bumble Bear got to join us for Thanksgiving dinner as well, which was a special treat for this English buddy of Addison's. Yes, and all she ate of this marvelous meal was corn and cranberry jello salad.
Poor Gemma got stuck at the kiddie table with Harry and Addie, but I think she enjoyed it....at least my kiddos enjoyed having her there.
Another first timer to our Thanksgiving feast was Kyle, Emily's boyfriend, and I think he quite enjoyed it as well. He couldn't get over how amazing the sweet potatoes with marshmallows were and the green bean casserole. I swear he looks like one of those boys in the group One Direction from this year's X Factor.
This year I made the most amazing pumpkin pie I had ever, ever made and I still couldn't get any takers on eating it other than me and Kevin. Granted Emily took a very small sliver to be nice, but after I ooohhh'ed and ahhh'ed over it, Simon finally had a piece and thought it was amazing. Everyone else enjoyed the banoffee pie that I made which I knew would be a hit for the Brits.
After dinner and puddings, we broke out the ol' Apples to Apples game and some real good laughs.
Some more new comers to our festivities were the Scott's from next door. They had an absolute hoot playing the game with us and were just blown away by the food. The funny thing is that Cheryl was getting a brand new huge kitchen remodel done in her house, but she doesn't cook. Wish I could have switched kitchens with her for this day...wow!!!
What an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving yet again this year. As the years have gone by here, the meal changes just a little and the faces at the table change a little. There's no football to watch in the afternoon, and nap to take before eating leftovers for dinner. The main meal has been eaten in the evening since everyone works or are in school all day, but one thing that stayed constant was that the day was still about enjoying a special meal with the family and friends that you love and celebrate all the blessings we are thankful for. Hopefully we've started a new tradition for our English family to enjoy every year from now on.
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