What does Thanksgiving dinner look like at your house?
Last year was my first time celebrating Thanksgiving. I never used to travel during that period of time. I always wanted to go and see what “Black Friday” was all about, but never went. So last year, after finding a super sale at Surinam Airways, I bought my ticket for only US$325!!! You won’t believe it, the price is usually a lot more than that, but this time it was an amazing deal and I took it immediately. Of course, why would you wait if the price is right… am I correct? And off I went…
Marco Island for Thanksgiving
A beautiful island, unlike a Caribbean island surrounded by water that has no mainland in sight; it is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico off Southwest Florida, linked to the mainland by bridges south of the city of Naples. It’s home to resort hotels, beaches, marinas and golf courses, as well as a network of inland waterways. A long, sandy beach covers most of the west coast, with resort hotels in the south. Tigertail Beach Park has a tidal lagoon, popular for kayaking and paddleboarding. (Source: Travel Guide)
My cousin lives on Marco Island and I try to visit her every time I go to Miami. This time I planned my vacation to be with her and celebrate Thanksgiving, it was around the corner.
Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada, the United States, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. (Source: Wikipedia).
Thanksgiving in the USA
Thanksgiving for me, at first, didn’t mean a lot. It was just another holiday. I must say that I was very surprised. Thanksgiving in the USA is much more than just another holiday. Giving thanks to others, family, friends, strangers, is something you should do each and every day, but this day gives you the opportunity to celebrate it with the people you value and who need to be valued and it is your expression of gratitude, especially to God. This holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1621 and is held in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. A similar holiday is held in Canada, usually on the second Monday in October.
Last year I was fortuned enough to be invited by my cousin, to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with her friends. Friends whom she values and who value her. Roger and his wife, Theresa, invite Stephanie for Thanksgiving dinner every year and because I was with her, they invited me to come along.
Dinner
The first thing was to become acquainted with the hosts. Roger and Theresa are a very friendly couple who live in a beautiful house not far from my cousin. And even though they didn’t know me, they accepted me as a friend and I even felt like family just by being there with them.
The table is set and super inviting! They sure know how to make me feel at home, the house smelled of delicious food, I only had to taste it first. lol
The meal
Did you know that when you cook your turkey in the oven the best way to keep it soft and delicious is to marinate it, place it in a brown paper bag and place it in the oven?!?! Roger and Theresa place their turkey in a brown paper bag, from Publix! They say: “The turkey stays soft and all the delicious juices stay in too.” See below the pictures, I am not joking… they really did place it in a brown paper bag.
Below pictures will show you the process of taking out that beautiful bird!
Beautifully cut in pieces and placed in a glass serving dish. The stuffing separately, so you can choose if you want some or not. In my opinion… take some before it’s all gone! 🥄
Of course, they didn’t only serve turkey, below the delicious other dishes that completed the meal.
Sweet potato pie🍠 with walnuts, ham with cranberry sauce, vegetable in the oven and baked sweet potato.
I had to have a bite of each… So this is what my plate looked like… 🙂
This is what my Thanksgiving dinner looked like last year…
What will yours look like this year?
Do let me know! I am curious to read about it or look at the beautiful pictures you have taken.
