It's good to keep saying that when living in a city where there are absolutely no reminders of the season in school (no days off!) in stores, or on ads.
Given we are so far from home, we have over-compensated with numerous Thanksgiving feasts.....I'll compare:
Benefit Auction + Buffet Hotel Holiday: We've done hotel holidays before.....and they've always been quite merry. However, our Thanksgiving dinner at the Inter Continental was relatively spirit challenged.......
It didn't help that the entrance to the event was a silent auction (the dinner benefited a local charity). I love charity auctions and consider myself quite good at 'winning' things at them - but at Thanksgiving?!
It also could have been the 7pm start.....
Or the assumption that the kids would NOT be seated with us - but would spend the evening in the separate kids room down the hall (something I normally LOVE about hotel dining here). As tempting as that was, it seriously made me question their understanding of the holiday......
So we sat together...it was peachy!
The fare was semi-traditional....turkey with some sort of red random berry sauce (no gravy - GASP!)
Zoe opted for a Bavarian pretzel & pumpkin pie....the pretzel was only consumed once she realized a) Xavier was desperate for a pretzel like that AND b) hers was the last one on the buffet. The resulting Xavier eruption I suspect she both anticipated and enjoyed.
Family Home Holiday + Imported American Goods: Saturday we joined 3 other families - all whom work for the US Embassy - for another go at Thanksgiving...
Katherine made a Butterball which had been flown over from the good old U.S. of A.! It was ready 10 minutes early for the 5pm serving (living up to our American reputation here - being on time AND early)
And even had a kids table - near our table - but not too near.......
After having found a store that sold fresh cranberries 3 weeks in a row - I got cocky - and volunteered to make cranberry sauce . Clearly I underestimated the inventory management randomness here......immediately after volunteering, no cranberries were to be found. Inspired by the Inter Continental's mystery sauce, I gave it a go......They may look like cranberries, but I assure you, they tasted nothing like them!
But there was a giant pot of gravy as well as some loot Logan recently brought back for us.....phew!
Net, net, the home party kicked the hotel's turkey!
And in addition to the standard 'friends & family, health & abundance', we learned to be thankful for: early holiday meal times, fresh produce available beyond its local harvest cycle & gravy!
I'll say it again.................Happy Thanksgiving!
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