Yesterday Tom and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving together, so we decided to invite 30 of our friends over to share it. Brilliant! It was a decidedly international affair, with only 6 Americans in the group, it was the first American Thanksgiving for the vast majority of guests. We tried to create an authentic celebration with all the trimmings and did quite well -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (of course!), carrots, green beans, brussel sprouts, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie and lots of wine. There were some European additions to the meal that just made it better (and will be my contribution to Thanksgivings in the future). I loved watching people go back for seconds and thirds of everything and then groan about how full they were. If it wasn't for the lack of corn syrup and condensed milk, and the fact that, until Melanie translated for me last night, I didn't understand what my oven was saying, it would have been just like a Thanksgiving back in the U.S. Our friends are lovely and everyone seemed to have a great time. This holiday in particular is so easy to share. I am amazingly happy that we had the opportunity to open up the new place and bring people together on a random Thursday in Amsterdam.
Judging by the pride in my smile, you'd think I actually cooked the turkey instead of having it delivered by the wonderful Small World Catering.
Truly this is the sign of a successful dinner party.
Nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" more than aryan pilgrim candles made in China!
A helpful hint to diplomats trying to woo their European counterparts: serve stuffing.
Maureen and half wall
"USA! USA! USA!"
And God's quarterback was there too...
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