By: Emily Ferro
Posted In: Blogs
Photo credit: Stephanie Turaj
Mmm, Delicious: The Thanksgiving meal awaits Ferro and her friends. Ferro prepared a pineapple casserole for the meal.
Photo credit: Stephanie Turaj
Emily Ferro shares a “British” Thanksgiving meal with her friends. Planning for the event started weeks in advance.
See more at Emily’s blog: http://trvluk10.wordpress.com/
Thanksgiving is a holiday that, as an American with an appetite for fantastic food, I appreciate very much. It was recently suggested to me by a British man that the British celebrate Thanksgiving in thanks that the Americans left. It was a joke, of course, but I personally think he only jokes because he has never experienced Thanksgiving for himself.
Approaching Thanksgiving was a challenge for me because my parents were planning to visit the day after, but plans fell through, so I was really missing family with the approaching holiday. To make it easier, my friends and I threw a Thanksgiving of our own. It was quite the production, and I was not quite sure how it would all work out. Planning started weeks in advance – making the menu, hunting down recipes and then shopping when Wednesday before Thanksgiving arrived.
Following the imminent Thanksgiving morning grocery store run (because when is there a holiday when you don’t forget at least one ingredient?) the cooking began. I was in charge of the turkey and my family’s pineapple casserole. The pineapple casserole, by the way, was criticized frequently before the meal. My flatmates refused to believe me when I told them pineapple and cheddar cheese tasted good together.
The day was filled with people running in and out of kitchens, putting things in the oven, cooking on the stove, organizing dishes, and rearranging the kitchen to make the most room possible. We all put on dresses and fancy clothes when dinner time rolled around and all of the guests arrived. I have never felt more proud of myself, because the dinner was an overwhelming success.
Our Menu:
Veggie Platter
Brie Bites
Cheese and Crackers
Turkey Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
Squash
Pineapple Casserole
Green Beans
Rolls
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Ooey-Gooey Cake
Chocolate Platter
Everything was absolutely delicious (especially my pineapple casserole). We had an honorary British guest who had not celebrated Thanksgiving before, and he told us that everything was phenomenal. He said it in a British accent, which made it far more meaningful, naturally. He admitted to being full to bursting, as he should be. The next morning he told us that he had slept through his alarm because of his “food coma”. Nothing could have been better, because if you don’t suffer a food coma after Thanksgiving, then you did something wrong.
We used every dish in our kitchen and a few other peoples’, and it was very worth it since I did not have to lift a finger to wash dishes. As if making Thanksgiving dinner was not enough, I then proceeded to make homemade turkey soup the morning after. I have never felt more prepared for the future. Now I know that even if I can’t get a job, or finish writing these papers I have due, or any other imminent task in my life, at least I can put together a darn good Thanksgiving.
Bringing a little bit of home to England made the homesickness vanish just enough to make the next few weeks seem to go by all too quickly.
