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!


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