Happy Fakesgiving
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| Churkey |
I decided to skip Thanksgiving this year, not quite sure
why. Perhaps I thought I would have the
willpower to watch it unfold on Facebook without getting physically involved.
Last year, with an 8 week old newborn I had the same
mindset (and a solid excuse.) As I stalked photos of my friends and skyped with my family
I felt twitchy (more likely from lack of sleep and sore boobs.) Undeniably though, something was
missing. By Saturday I had obtained a couple
turkey steaks, potatoes, instant stuffing and this gravy that comes in a
microwaveable bag. First year in the new
house with our new baby. I was going to
start the tradition even if it killed me (and even if I had to nurse at the dinner table.)
I didn't realize it would be a tradition of me trying to
ignore one of the last great holidays. There
are lots more excuses this year: We don’t have enough room in our house, Christmas is
coming and I’m completely unorganized, it will be lots of work and I’m just
flippin worn out.
Honestly now that I think about it- maybe it’s just plain ole
homesickness. Que head in sand.
My American genes must be stronger than I realized.
When I went food shopping Wednesday (see just like I would
have if I were back home!) after days of scraping by on ‘cupboard surprises’ due
to Lavinia being sick- we were filling up our shopping cart. I spotted
cranberry sauce on display- yay American products! Though I’m meant to
be on a budget- I grabbed a jar without looking at its price tag. Nostalgia-
gets me every time, a marketers dream.
And since I’m on a supermarket-chain, meat-boycott I
purchased a little free-range chicken at the Butcher with no real plans for it.
See what my subliminal mind was doing there?
I also happened to have a large, organic pumpkin left over
from our Aussie Farmer’s Direct veggie box.
I could not possibly let another one go to waste just because my freezer
is already full of pumpkin puree (Christmas prep, maybe I’m not as disorganized
as I thought.) See how all the elements of
the perfect Faux Thanksgiving are coming together?
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I even had stuffing mix in the cupboard (from last year) and
contemplated using it because the expiration date is still one more year from
now (that can’t be healthy, stuffing mix which has a shelf life of two years.) Give yourself permission to take a shortcut I
told myself....use the boxed stuffing or skip it altogether. But
it’s been open for A WHOLE YEAR. So
no. My toasted one inch cubed
breadcrumbs had just come out of the oven.
You can't have Fakesgiving without homemade stuffing!!!
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Could I help myself? No.
I could not.
Tired as hell, my 14-month-old, teething baby finally went
down for a nap. The house was a mess, laundry needed to be done and I my hair
had not seen shampoo since the weekend. Yet... let me make the most delicious
gosh darn pumpkin pie you have ever seen.
No whipped cream or ice cream. What ever shall I do? How bout just whip up some coconut cream with vanilla extract and honey. I’m as gangsta as Martha Stewart.
By the time Matt arrived home from work I was spent. And a tad crabby. But you know what? Those smells coming out of the oven and the anticipation of that
gorgeous pie....perked me right up. The
wine helped too.
It’s a little sad that I cooked the meal all by myself but
at the end of the day it was worth it. I’m
thankful for giving Thanksgiving its proper place in our family.
Labels: Eat, ExPat Life, parenting
posted by Unknown @ 12:46 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Perfect! Somehow I thought Shane was there joining you?
Shane will be joining us for Christmas, but since I planned on skipping Thanksgiving all together it was just Matt and I on a quiet Thursday evening (still a work night for the Aussies). I'll have to ask him if he got together with any of his American friends. I'm actually seeing him for dinner tonight!
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