A global Thanksgiving

There are principally two countries that have an official Thanksgiving, although they represent different celebrations.  Canada actually has the oldest origin, but the US probably has the most well known. 

What is rather ironic is that the American version is rapidly becoming a thing to do in England, as it represents dissidents leaving that country for elsewhere!  Perhaps that explains why my good British friend Ellie, out of the clear blue sky, decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Perhaps it was her first.  I thought you might enjoy how the evening went!

Ellie's fancy table -- so elegant

Ellie is a mom to three young children, and she's a very active mom at that.  On top of that, she started a full time job this school year; at least it's in a school so that she can keep somewhat the same hours as her kids.  She still decided to do Thanksgiving on the real US day, despite everybody having had school and work all day and all going back the following day.  Even I never tried that little trick! 

When we arrived, I was really impressed with how nicely she set her normally practical kids and family table (I didn't even know she had a tablecloth), and the construction paper banner was a family project.

A global group feeling very thankful for each other

We were an interesting mix.  There were two Americans, two Brits, two Spaniards, and two French, all coming together for this most important American holiday.  All spoke both English and French. 

So it was really fun to hear American English, British English, Spanish English, and French English.  Such is the world we live in.

Such inner and outer beauty

Ellie ended up being a bit stressed when she got home from work, discovering that the neighbor who'd had access to her home during the day very thoughtfully turned off the oven she'd set the timer on for cooking the turkey, but in the end it turned out just fine without going too late into the evening!

Whole turkeys are not available at this time of year (it's a Christmas tradition here), so we just had roasted turkey legs.  As we prefer the dark meat anyway, that was just fine with us.

The guys grouped together chowing down

While there were a few American traditional elements missing, such as cranberry sauce in any form,  stuffing, or pumpkin pie, it was still an authentic and delicious meal. 

We started off with pumpkin soup, followed by roasted potatoes, green beans, sautéed mushrooms and onions, corn on the cob, and either sweet potatoes or carrots (I can't remember which now!), and of course turkey.   We finished off the meal with a lovely apple pie brought by another guest.

A thoughtful thankful fall tree

Not only was it a wonderful traditional meal, but it's really amazing how she just pulled this all together after work.  (Maybe once upon a time I could have done that, but I'm not sure!) 

Before we left, she gave us all paper autumn leaves I'm assuming she cut out herself.  After we each wrote down several things we felt thankful for, she stuck them on a tree she'd taped onto her wall.  What a thoughtful end to a wonderful evening of a real cultural exchange. 

Of course, one of my leaves was being thankful for having such a great friend!

Believe it or not, while a European Thanksgiving celebration (American style) is in its infancy, apparently Black Friday has taken Europe by storm for about five years now.  Is the world all mixed up or what?