Everyone has been very dear to ask whether we were able to find all the needed ingredients for our first Thanksgiving abroad. I was admittedly a bit smug in my response because we found Whole Foods in Kensington would deliver an entire dinner to our flat! Fantastic. Days of thawing, brining, and more advanced cooking in Celsius than we were ready to tackle could be swiped off the calendar as easily as they'd run our VISA card. I was so busy proselytizing about such luxuries to every American I knew that I neglected to read the details of the brochure.
So while the Mister walked the kids to school, Baby Sister and I whipped up desserts. Then the 3 of us (strange to have 2 big people to 1 small) went to St. Paul's Cathedral for an amazing Thanksgiving service. It was inspiring to sing "America the Beautiful" with thousands of Americans so far from home. (I held Baby Sister's face up to mine, hoping to see glimmers of recognition of a familiar tune only to realize she'd decided to take a nap.)
Later, with the big kids gathered from school, we awaited the dinner delivery. And waited some more while we put off countless requests for snacks. Then after frantic emailing and phone calls, our lovely dinner arrived 45 minutes late but in a gloriously stuffed box filled with oodles of side dishes that would nicely complement the pie, brownies, muffins, and chocolate lollies we were taking to our friends' after dinner. This bounty included a 6-7 kilogram turkey. Which needed to be baked for 4 hours. Or so.
A bit of angst ensued. We made a quick sannie dinner, piled desserts, smalls and pilgrim hats into a cab and found humor over more pie and wine with a girlfriend I've known for about 30 years. Good cheer filled her flat along with family and friends. The china went back to the sideboard* for a few days and I left the tablecloth and centrepiece in place. Dinner will be served on Saturday. We will now quit looking down our noses at our friends who planned to do that all along. Thanksgiving continues again on Tuesday when the ladies are coming for coffee. THEN I will let Brothers decorate for Christmas.
Before all that though, this afternoon will find Baby Sister and me in Big Sister's classroom wearing pilgrim hats, reading Thanksgiving books, passing around a tray of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and gently explaining to 30 sweet British children that it all began when folks left this lovely island.
*and about that sideboard. I know JUST what you're thinking: "She is so grown up." I KNOW. Pinch me.
My second Thanksgiving in London I ordered a turkey from Whole Foods and completely misunderstood the size/cost ratio. When we got there the price was so outrageous that my husband convinced them we needed something much smaller. The first Thanksgiving my parents came over and ordered a turkey from Harrod's. I won't even tell you how much that one cost!
ReplyDeleteYou really are very grown up! This certainly sounds like a good option, although could you not get yourself down to Waitrose?
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