due to overwhelming demand

for photo evidence of my thanksgiving dinner..
here you go!











I AM A DOMESTIC GODDESS

lol

thanks be to you

after searching in four supermarkets, three butchers, two street markets sam and i finally located two turkeys for our thanksgiving-in-london dinner party. the idea was solely mine -- i like the idea of celebrating canadian holidays abroad. it helps me feel a little bit closer to home. our grocery shopping trip took five hours -- who knew it would be so hard to find a turkey in london in october? apparently turkeys are very seasonal over here, available near christmas time only. same with chestnuts and cranberry sauce. we managed fine though and after nearly getting ripped off LARGE by the sainsbury's car park attendant (what.. £20/30 minutes to park if we don't actually buy anything here?) we filled the boot of sam's 70's mercedes full of thanksgiving-y ingredients.

so after a seven hour cooking fiasco (aided by a few enthusiastic canadian helpers) we managed to put together the following menu:
2 turkeys
gammon cooked in cider & braised with (pure canadian) maple syrup
chestnut stuffing
roasted potatoes
sweet potato casserole
garlic mashed potatoes
brussel sprouts with apple & bacon
creamed spinach
tomato & buffalo mozarella salad
and last but certainly not least... POUTINE!

all 15+ guests ate to their hearts' content, and at the end of the evening we worked off all the butter we'd just ingested with a mad dancing session which lasted until just over 3am when sam's downstairs neighbour barged in through the front door in her dressing gown, stating that 'some people have to work the next day'.

when we laid out all the food on the massive dining table, turkeys ready to carve, i felt my heart smile and looked around at my london family with thanksgiving.

gobble gobble

a beautiful life

a dear friend lost his beloved grandfather over the weekend. his text message read simply, 'he's with my grandmother now..' i am thankful that his outlook is one of hope and fond memories and wish i could be there in person to hear of the many stories he and his grandfather shared together.

j..
all my prayers are with you and your family. i'm glad you're surrounded by people you love and those who loved him as much as you do...

all my love,
anne