Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thanksgiving Day

Lately, we have been "living in the present" in a big way. So much has been happening on a day-to-day basis, that we have scarcely been able to look ahead. So, Thanksgiving sort of snuck up on us this year.

Last Tuesday, after I finished a paper and Marcos got his work in order, we gathered all of the essentials and took the major roadtrip up the East coast from North Carolina to New Jersey where my dad lives. This is the second annual Thanksgiving roadtrip to dad's house, and we're looking to make it permanent as long as we're within driving distance.

Traditions surrounding this holiday include:

FEASTING IN THE GREEN HOUSE
My dad's partner Emili's family comes for Thanksgiving, and so we had Emili's sister and her family, their parents, and my Grandpa Jack and Sandra even came in from Texas. The boys cleaned out the greenhouse in the backyard, Emili's niece Emma and I decorated, and the twinkle lights were still up from last year! Perfect! Being able to look up into the stars as we enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast, with twinkle lights and dried leafy decorations all around us definitely got bonus points in our "romantic places" book...

LOTS OF WOMEN IN THE KITCHEN
Emili's family is Greek, so a lot of female bonding takes place in the kitchen.

FOOD, LOTS OF IT...
FAMILY
Finally! A three-generational picture with my Grandpa Jack, dad and me. The last time we were all together was at my wedding, which wasn't the most low-key of times, so it was nice to be together. My only regret? That I didn't have a device to record Grandpa Jack and Sandra's stories. My grandpa was in the CIA, and Sandra also worked for the state, so they basically know everyone in the world, have been everywhere in the world, and know everything worth knowing. And that's only a slight exaggeration...

FAKE MEAT...
My dad, Emili, her sister and their kids are all vegetarian, so each year Thanksgiving takes on a bit of a different feel than in most homes in America. Last year we had tofurkey (as well as a real turkey), but this year we topped it with turkey, tofurkey and seitan ("wheat meat"). So, not only did we have a meat imposter at the table, but we had an imposter of the imposter...

3 comments:

Damaris @Kitchen Corners said...

love that greenhouse. how romantic

Anonymous said...

Wow, how fun!! Almost like my big fat greek thanksgiving :D

Lauren said...

I've always wondered what Tofurkey was like! My sister went to a "Thanksgiving for Vegetarians" cooking class just for fun and told me about it. Hey, sorry I had to cut our conversation short tonight. I lost track of time and the Elders came over for dinner. I always LOVE talking to you, and I know how busy you are so it is a great honor that you called. Lets talk again soon!Hello to Marcos as well!