International Thanksgiving

The only Thanksgiving decoration I could find here

We shared our Thanksgiving celebration this year with families from four countries: England, Trinidad, Spain, and United States. It was our fourth and final Thanksgiving that we will celebrate in England.

Our friends were anxious to partake of the feast they had heard about and they were not disappointed. The cajun-fried turkey is always a success. Using cornbread mix and mini-marshmallows brought back from America, I was able to make the traditional cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole. Pumpkin pie is something our guests were anxious to try as they don't associate pumpkin with dessert. To them it is a vegetable. They liked it.

Three years ago it was difficult to find canned pumpkin in the stores here but that is no longer the case. I have since learned that the stores even carry refrigerated rolled-out pie crust, canned evaporated milk, and bottled whip cream. I'm sure they had those ingredients when we first moved here, I just didn't know where to find them in the store or even what to call them. If you ask a store clerk where the "pie crust" is, they have no clue. You have to use the proper term: "shortcrust pastry". They also look at you funny if you ask for green onions, known as "spring onions" here.

Just as on the first Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims and Native Americans learned from each other and celebrated their harvest in a shared feast, we learned a few things from our Thanksgiving guests and they in turn from us. Okay that's a bit of a stretch, but I just can't help indulging my overactive sense of drama so play along with me...

We learned:

• that the English expect "custard" sauce on their apple pie, not whipped cream or ice cream.
• the proper way to prepare and present after-dinner tea using a teapot.
• "Time for Pud-Pud!" means it's dessert time (pudding).

Our guests learned:

• Pumpkin pie is not made from Jack-O-Lantern type pumpkins but from smaller baking pumpkins, or better yet from canned pumpkin.
• Turkeys can be deep-fried in about 45 minutes.
• the joy of one special day to give thanks with family and friends in a traditional feast.

Exciting that the card shops here sell Thanksgiving cards