Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thanksgiving On The Move



So last year we had Thanksgiving on the road and this year we have it on the move...literally.  Yes dear readers we are moving over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Actually, the big move is on Friday which means that while all of you are out shopping the sales I will be packing and moving.  If it weren't for the fact that the new house is beautiful and my daughter is over the moon, I would be having a hissy fit, as they say here in the South.  In spite of the ruckus, there is no way I will be forfeiting my favorite holiday dinner.  It will be simpler and easier, but the basics will be there. If I had a fabulous restaurant nearby, well I might consider going out, but there is no such thing within 60 miles of where I live.

I will tell you that the one time I managed to have a spectacular Thanksgiving at a restaurant was in London, at Claridge's, in the early 90's.  I was there on business and managed to coincide with my friend Silvia who happened to be there for meetings also. There must have been a crisis or something because it is strange that both of us would have been away for Thanksgiving and in London at the same time. In any event, I was staying at Claridge's and invited her to come over and have dinner with me.  We were offered a choice of the regular or Thanksgiving menu and being the more adventurous I opted for the latter. Well, let me tell you, never have I ever had such a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in my life.  It was worth ordering just to see the enormous silver domed serving trolley rolled over to your table and a  perfectly cooked turkey sliced by the maitre d'  who was as elegant and, well, butlery as Anthony Hopkins in The Remains Of The Day.  What a treat and one I highly recommend if you happen to be on that side of the pond.  But I digress...

This year's Thanksgiving will be spent very far from those surroundings but it will be just as special, for I will be celebrating in the company of my daughter who has just bought her first house.  Unlike years past when I spent hours cooking and setting the perfect Thanksgiving table, this year's dinner will be probably enjoyed on a simple card table and rattan folding chairs surrounded by cardboard boxes and masking tape.    But there will be a real tablecloth and fresh napkins, wine glassses and silverware and the simple meal will be just as enjoyable as those of the past for there is nothing in this world that I would rather be doing than exactly what I will be doing this coming Thanksgiving Day. 

For those of you going the normal route, there are plenty of Thanksgiving recipes on the blog and I encourage you to take a look at some past menus here and here.  More on table etiquette and table setting can be accessed by entering Thanksgiving on the Search box.  I might be offline for a while but I will be back...promise.  It all depends how long it will take Comcast to get us back on.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, don't burn the turkey and, above all,  don't sweat the small stuff!


Photo Southern Accents


  

10 comments:

  1. Or as my husband says "may all your turkeys be on the table and not around them"!

    You are adventuresome to move Thanksgiving weekend -- but I must admit that I agree with you that wherever one has Thanksgiving dinner there should be linen and silver and china -- no paper plates or forks!

    Enjoy the weekend -- the good thing about moving Thanksgiving weekend, you'll have plenty of leftovers to feed tired and hungry bodies!

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  2. A high of 62 and sunny on Thursday - you might have your dinner on your deck with weather like that. Good luck with the move and my best to you both! Looking forward to seeing the new place.

    We shall be in Manhattan for Thanksgiving and as far as I understand we shall not be eating turkey (thank the Lord). Btw, we ate your cassoulet last night and it was the best!

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  3. At 62 I have come to see great goodness in our ability to deal with change and chaos. It gives us new brain grooves for new memories. Can't wait to hear about the new kitchen! Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the year. Alas this year with my kitchen down to the studs and the subfloor, TD will be an elegant affair in the basement. I'm calling it ode to hunter and gatherer: nuts, cheese, spreads, breads and that great equalizer: mucho wine.

    Happy holiday to you and your adorable sous chef.

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  4. Barry,

    I am pea green, Thanksgiving in Manhattan!

    The fights over colors have been Napoleonic in scope but at the end we kiss and make up and settle on a "compromise".

    I can't believe that cassoulet was still good. In february it will be a year....

    Have a good one and we will call you after we are settled. Big kiss to the Celt!

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  5. Home,

    Mucho vino is the key!

    The sous chef has developed a rash in her backside with all the commotion...not sure where her next meal is coming from. Sleeps all cuddled up next to me every night. Poor dogs, what must be going on in their little minds.

    Have a Happy Thanksgiving. This one will be one to remember for us both!

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Good Luck with your move. I do hope it goes smoothly. Look forward to seeing you back on line when you can.

    Carolyn/A Southerners Notebook

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  7. Good luck with the move and enjoy your Thanksgiving.
    It might be worth reminding you that the very FIRST THING TO DO IN THE NEW HOUSE IS MAKE UP THE BEDS!! By the time you need them you will be so THANKFUL they are ready. (pardon the pun!)

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  8. Sandra,

    We must have been brought up by the same Moms. I have passed that idea to my daughter and she says she always thinks of me as she is making her bed in the new house. More than anything it makes you think you are there to stay!

    Carolyn,

    Thank you and a happy one to you also!

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  9. i have stayed at Claridges half a dozen times over the last decade on businessm and consider it my favorite hotel in london, hands down. So elegant and undertated. I tend to stick with the prime rib roast there with yorkshire pudding, divine, I am sure there Thnksgiving it beyond fabulous. Oh, and they have the Best Bathrooms and show heads with limitless streams of hot water on the planet!

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  10. You will be real pilgrims this Thanksgiving in the new settlement. Congratulations and happy Thanksgiving.

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