North Carolina: For What We Are About To Receive - Give Thanks

Whilst visiting my sister in North Carolina we had a family Thanksgiving Dinner the Sunday before the big day and then they went off to visit family in California this year for the actual Thanksgiving. Mr R and I stayed at my sister's house in North Carolina to look after the house and the dogs.  I have been home for Thanksgiving over the years but I can't remember the last time I cooked the whole meal.

We didn't want a whole turkey, there was only the two of us and we didn't want a ton of leftovers as well as the fact that Mr R was travelling home the following day.  I would be staying another week and didn't want to be faced with loads and loads of food left over.

I bought a packet of four turkey wings which were huge and loaded with meat.  I cut up the sweet potatoes, potatoes, onion, yellow squash and covered with a little bit of oil and spread out on a baking dish.  The turkey wings were placed on top of the vegetables, seasoned lightly and popped into the oven for about one and a half hours.

We still had some cranberry sauce left over from the family meal we had the Sunday before leaving one less thing for me to make.

I bought a packet of cornbread stuffing which looked interesting.  Melt some butter and saute some onion and celery until starting to just brown and add chicken or vegetable stock. When the stock boils you add the stuffing (just stale bread and corn bread really), mix well and spread in a baking dish. Bake about 30 minutes until brown.

I also made a baked sweetcorn side dish I recently discovered but one which will be included in our family meals for the future.  In a large bowl mix one 14oz can of sweetcorn (including the water), one 14oz can of creamed sweetcorn, one cup soured cream, half a cup of butter melted, chopped red chilli or red chilli flakes to taste depending on how spicy you want it.  Mix in one box or packet of corn bread mix (you could use corn meal and self raising flour with a pinch of salt).  Pour into a greased 9" square baking tin and bake at 350F/180F for 50-60 minutes.  Really tasty and guaranteed to become a family favourite.

Green vegetables and gravy completed our meal along with a glass or two of red wine!

As I mentioned Mr R was flying back to the UK the following day so I have made him a little Thanksgiving leftover takeaway  meal. The plane food is never great and I thought it would be nice to have something tasty!

Don't know when I will be home for Thanksgiving again however this one will stay in my memory for a very long time!  

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

North Carolina: Family Thanksgiving Dinner

I usually celebrate American Thanksgiving at home with my family in the UK however every now and again I am able to celebrate it in the states with my American family.

Mr R and I made the trip this year for the biggest and most important holiday on the American calendar. Thanksgiving is the holiday that most Americans try to get home for whereby Christmas they tend to stay where they are and phone home.  

This holiday celebrates when the pilgrims landed in what is now known as Massachusetts following a terrible sea crossing and bad first year they made some local friends with native  Americans who taught them how to survive by eating local wild animals and grow vegetables that they could keep throughout the winter.  At the end of this year the native Americans and the Pilgrims got together and shared a meal which would have consisted of turkey, venison, squash, pumpkins and corn.

President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 set the date for Thanksgiving as the 4th Thursday of November and that is the date we still celebrate it.

Today the traditional Thanksgiving meal consists of much the same but each family will have their own traditional dishes that have evolved over time.

My Thanksgiving meal would consist of turkey, stuffing, gravy, my homemade cranberry relish, peas and carrots, sweet potato with marshmallows (don't say yuk until you have tried it), creamed sweetcorn with chilli, creamed onions, roast and mashed potatoes followed by pumpkin pie, apple pie and if I have time pecan pie.  I don't usually have turkey again for Christmas as it falls just four weeks later.

Although we were in the United States for Thanksgiving this year the family would be travelling to California to visit my niece leaving Mr R and myself to look after the house and the dogs.  We will be having our own little Thanksgiving meal.

My sister cooked an early Thanksgiving dinner for the family as we would be apart over the holiday.

This year my sister's spread was turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potato, roast sweet potato, cranberry jelly and cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin bread and an apple bread as well as an array of dips and crisps to keep people going until dinner time.

Tummies full the other tradition is to sit back and watch the Thanksgiving Day football matches! 

This year Mr R and I had a quiet Thanksgiving meal with our turkey, roast potatoes, cornmeal stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweetcorn souffle as well as green vegetables.  It is a quiet meal and one with reflection on what we have to be thankful for over the past year and what we are thankful to look forward to for 2016.

I will be bringing home tablecloths, napkins and other table settings with me for next year - who wants to come to mine for Thanksgiving dinner next year?