Thanks Giving Day

[Ang Monsoon]

SOS US brothers n sisters!! All suggestions for thanksgiving day celebrations are welcome...I've got the Nigella Lawson book "Feast, Food That Celebrates Life", which I think is a great read, although when it came to following the instructions for Xmas last year I did get a bit bogged down in prose...can't have everything...and it covers thanksgiving day...but i'd like us to do it in style, in proper American fashion...any minutiae (sp?) about traditions i'm sure i'd lap up like an enthusiastic puppy....hope you don't mind me borrowing this celebration....

[Lin Neiswender]

Can I come have TDay dinner at your house???? Sounds simply delish...

[Ang Monsoon]

that's a fabulous start, Fiona, it sounds well cool, and much different to what we do at xmas. I'm planning on doing a BIG thanksgiving so that I can include my Dad's "girlfriend", as she goes to her own family at Xmas, then a smaller Xmas. Thanks so much for taking the trouble to write this at such a busy time for you...

[Ang Monsoon]

i've never seen a table set like that, it's beautiful, a really worthy setting for a celebration, thanks so much for letting me see these....

[Lin Neiswender]

Great pics Fiona! You two know how to celebrate!

[Lin Neiswender]

Going around the dinner table and everyone mentioning one thing they are thankful for...

[Ang Monsoon]

thanks, Lin, that's the first time I've heard of that. Consider it adopted as a tradition by my family. I've got the: "The All American Cookbook, America's Favourite. Dishes for Non-American Cooks" . It has a good map at the front so that I can locate my CCS friends. I just love the titles: "Oregon Baked Halibut with Spinach"; "Acapulco Chicken"; "New England Seafood Stew"; "Philadelphia Pepperpot Soup"; "73rd Street Duck"....I'm a bit "all or nothing" when it comes to cooking & I can feel an ALL wave coming towards me now I've got my Thanksgiving dinner to plan for...be happy....

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

The basic necessities for Thanksgiving at our house are:
A big turkey, stuffed with dressing ... an extra pan of dressing (or stuffing as it's also called) ... sweet potatoes or yams (or both - the orange yams are better for you as they have more carotene in them) and they must have marshmallows melted and toasted onto them ... flaky biscuits or rolls ... home made cranberry sauce (I like it with bits of orange in it) ... some sort of vegetables (the most popular I know of being a green bean casserole topped with french fried onion rings from a can) and apple pie with vanilla ice cream and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. You can add as much as you want to beyond the basics, but that's usually quite enough to stuff most people :)

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Oh, I forgot that before dinner there's always a platter of celery and carrot sticks with dipping sauce, like Ranch dressing, and olives (green and black) and pickles (sweet and dill) and whatever else you might like such as pepperoncinis or broccoli or whatever ... and chips and dips and salsas ... so that by the time you get to the dinner table, you are well on your way to being stuffed already :)

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Anything to alleviate stress is good in my book! Your photos of your presentation are simply beautiful, Fiona. And the two of you look so contented! Sigh! Gotta be True Love! :)

[Ang Monsoon]

oh mi god, I'm lovin' this, n let's face it it's all the planning n recipe scrutinising n list making n anticipation ......i love olives....i can feel the extra weight picking up it's ears now in anticipation of the binge to come.....thanks so much for helping......

[Ang Monsoon]

oh i definitely will, this thanksgiving is going to be a ccs-inspired/shared festival....i'm so glad you've got happiness & festivals in your life now....seattle is a lucky city to have you guys.....

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Olives reminds me of another Thanksgiving tradition ... the kid cousins always had to sit together at card tables separate from the adults, whether we liked each other or not ... and it was mandatory to put black olives on the tips of all ten of our fingers, and make scary faces and noises at each other ... prolly why we weren't allowed to sit at the adults' table ...