Thanksgiving-mania!

Thanksgiving this year was a lot delicious and a little ridiculous or over-the-top, one might even say. True to American custom there was way more food than needed. And as we only had about 27 (!) or so people there to eat, it was shocking that there were any left-overs. Appetizers (to the left) included salmon/goat cheese sandwiches on baguettes, deviled eggs, cornbread and chocolate-covered strawberries. For the main course (to the right) there was roast turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, two sweet potato dishes, homemade mac and cheese, stuffing, green-bean casserole, cheesecake, pumpkin pie (they sell canned pumpkin at The American Store for about 5 euro a can, but it was worth it!) pumpkin cheesecake, and probably a few other things that I am forgetting.

We definitely tore the kitchen apart the day of, my friend Mike in charge of the turkey, chicken and gravy and me in charge of potatoes, beans, deviled eggs and desserts. How happy he was when some more friends arrived later in the evening so he could get a second opinion on the turkey and the gravy as I am STILL (yes, grandpa) a vegetarian. The verdict was good and the rest of the dishes arrived at the house later in the evening along with the guests. The night went quite smoothly and everyone seemed to have a good time. Éxito.

In hindsight, I still can't figure out why I decided it would be a good idea to throw a Thanksgiving bonanza for more than 2 dozen people, but in the end it all turned out well and good. My poor roommates put up with my week-long mood swings generated from feelings of stress for cooking for so many people and feelings of loss for my mother- her birthday falling on or near Thanksgiving every year making it an especially difficult yet memorable holiday for me as Thanksgiving and her life are two things that are completely intertwined in my neural fibers. At least they got to take advantage of some left-overs for their patience.

Since every day can be used as a learning experience, what I take from this Thanksgiving is simple. Next year, go to Grandma's.