In true American spirit Neil decided he would like to make a desert to take with us to our first Thanks Giving dinner. We were now in a kitchen that was almost fully functional. The marble worktops (counter tops) had been installed yesterday, the plumber had been today and so the appliances were working, the sinks were working and we had work surfaces to prepare food on. We found a variety of bowls and utensils from the piles of items in the various rooms and we were in business - we decided a Chocolate Pan Forte would be good and visited the local Nob Hill Supermarket for all the ingredients. It's a simple dish that needs no baking, it sets in the fridge, or when short of time, the freezer. Neil somehow managed to tweak his back while taking it out of the freezer, which was to have serious repercussions for the rest of the holiday.
http://www.ginodacampo.com/recipes/panforte
Lynn prepared a dish of Sweet Potato Mallow and we were already for the next day.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1950,146170-244197,00.html
Dinner was scheduled for 3pm and we have a drive of about an hour. We hit the freeway with the rest of California. As we drove closer to San Francisco all 4 lanes of traffic started to crawl. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to look at the gorgeous autumnal trees
but it wasn't getting us to dinner. Suddenly Lynn's Satnav told us of an alternate route to avoid the heavy traffic. We took the next exit and were soon travelling again and reached our destination only 10 minutes later than planned.
The table looked beautiful
and as we moved through to the kitchen the smell of the turkey met us at the door. It was almost ready to come out of the oven so, once drinks had been served and initial greetings exchanged it was time for the great unveiling of the main event - the traditional Thanks Giving Turkey.
There was 7 of us for dinner but enough food to feed twice that number and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. After dinner, in a family tradition, we all took turns at saying what we were thankful for this year. It was lovely to hear some of the stories around the table and, although we were given a pass if we didn't feel comfortable joining in, both Neil and I were happy to say our piece having been pre-warned of this tradition so having had time to give it some thought.
After dinner we all went through to the Family Room and the guys settled themselves down to watch the big game - 49ers v Raven's - it was a good afternoon as long you weren't a 49er fan - oh, the whole room was rooting for the 49ers!
So, many thanks to our hosts Cath & Chris for inviting us to spend Thanks Giving in their San Francisco home - it will be a special memory for us for many years.
I've always enjoyed visiting America and love watching programs of the American way of life. Since meeting our California friends in 2004 we are just back from our 6th visit with them. This time, I managed to tick another of my ambitions off the list.
To experience a real American Thanks Giving (Sorry, my Canadian readers) as portrayed in American programs such as Cheers, Frasier, Friends and many more.
So, when we were planning our annual break earlier this year we decided we would re-visit California and so I asked it if would be ok for us to go over for Thanks Giving, the last Thursday of November.
I was so pleased when our friends said we could and the flights were booked back in June and I have been ticking the days off ever since, well Virgin Atlantic have as everytime you open up their website to manage your trip there is a large banner across the top telling you how many days, hours and minutes until you fly. And, if it wasn't for this, we would have been at the airport a week too early as I had all my dates wrong in my head and thought we travelled on the 12th, not the 19th - ooops!
In the run-up to our trip Lynn emailed to say their kitchen re-model was running behind schedule and as we arrived there would be no-where to sit downstairs, all the kitchen items being stored throughout the lounge and dining area, no where to sit in the family room as that too was being re-decorated as it runs on from the kitchen and no-where to sit outside as the furniture from the family room was out in the yard.
There was no-where to cook and no tv, but we were still very welcome to stay as the upstairs was untouched and so we could still sleep and even watch tv in one of the other bedrooms where there grandson stays when he's on his weekly overnight visit.
Effectively we would be camping out indoors. No problem, we said, we're coming to spend time with you, it will be fun whatever we do.
I admit there was an element of me that thought Lynn may have been over-exaggerating a little so that when we got there we were prepared for the worse - but she wasn't.
The re-model was originally planned to start in May. Delays meant it had to be postponed until after the family re-union in August. Once started, with plenty of time for completion before we arrived, there were snags and un-expected jobs that kept cropping up. Result - nowhere to sit, eat, cook ot watch tv.
Our first couple of nights were spent in a local hotel as Lynn & Andy were both away for the weekend and we booked a game of golf for the Monday after which we would make our way to their house. The golf was good and although it was the first time my golf clubs had been out in over a year, I was surprised to see I could still whack a good ball down the middle of the fairway.
When we finally arrived at the house we were met with an exact match to Lynn's description with one addition - Andy was very unwell, with manflu - and getting worse. He battled on being sociable serving drinks in his office while we all perched on a variety of chairs, stools and desks. Afterward we ate out, as we planned to do for most of the holiday due to the lack of cooking facilities in the house.
While out, they received a phone call about there grandson, he too was very unwell and needed taking to the doctors in the morning, could Lynn take him as his Dad was also down with man-flu and his mom was working. Result - he was brought through to stay the night and our tv priviledges were withdrawn as he would now be sleeping in the room with the tv.
American man-flu certainly seems to hit hard, that was 3 generations of men in one family - wow!
As an avid fan of 'Friends' and many other U.S. sitcoms and Romcoms, I've always enjoyed watching the portrayal of Thanksgiving as a great, social, annual event.
We've visited California at a variety of times throughout the year. We've been to Yosemite in Spring when the river was vibrant with the melting snows and the wateralls beyond words.
We've visited California when the summer sun had baked the green, lush hills into the parched grasslands that give the State its name - The Golden State.
We've visited California in the fall when the leaves glowed with autumnal reds, oranges and yellows.
We've visited California on Labour Day weekend and got married.
We've visited California on Memorial Day and played in a golf tournament to raise funds for our friend's local church.
And now we're going to visit California for Thanksgiving. We're going to spend time with our friends and experience the tradition for real, rather than watching it on programs on TV.
The air tickets are booked, the visa waiver application forms submitted and approved.
We're definitely going.
And I am SO excited!
163 days and counting!
When I worked 5 days a week and had a normal 2 day weekend, I did what needed to be done and Monday's arrived at their appointed time.
Now I work 4 days a week and have Friday's off the weekends just don't seem long enough. I think it's because I now feel as if I have loads of time so I plan things ahead whereas I am normally a 'I'll see what I feel like doing and then do nothing' type of person.
Take this last weekend as an example.
Friday was not a brilliant day, weather wise, but it was dry so a friend and I took the dogs to Rufford Abbey for the day. Rufford has great walks, a large lake with lots of ducks and swans to feed left over toast from breakfast to. It has good woods for the dogs to enjoy and a great visitor centre and cafe.
My friend has been in hospital since Christmas, and although she is much better, she is still being cared for in hospital but she is able to have days out. We had a wonderful walk and even managed a Q&A session with a group of children who had so many questions about Brandy & Brinkley.
Finally, Brinkley decided he had been detained long enough by all these half- sized people and we made our escape. On arrival at the cafe/restaurant we met a couple with a ruby cavalier, a very sweet little dog - it's odd how nearly every cavalier we meet is so much smaller then our 2, we must have fed them too well when they were puppies.
I left our 2 outside with my friend and went in to get some lunch for us. When I got back there was some hillarity from the table behind her. Apparently she had wanted to impress me by having both the dogs sitting sweetly by her side when I got back. Now, this may not seem such a difficult task but you have to know B&B don't really do sit. She had even been tempting them with left-over duck-feeding-left-over toast but, although they had been eating the toast, they had not been doing the sitting bit. However, the couple at the table behind her also had a dog who, apparently, had been sitting perfectly every time she issued the command - ah bless!
I enjoyed a Saturday catching up with shopping, laundry and all those little jobs that need to be done because we had more plans on Sunday.
Sunday we finally got over to Holmfirth to meet up with friends we hadn't seen since we lived in Spain. They moved back a couple of months after us and it was brilliant to finally spend some time with them. The dogs came with us and they got to meet Rusty again, who was, it has to be said, our Brandy's first love - although feelings seemed to have mellowed, if Sunday is anything to judge things by.
We had a great day, a great meal and a great walk through the woods and it hopefully won't be as long before we see them again.
But then, suddenly, Monday was here again.
It seems the more I plan and the more I do - the quicker the weekend flies by.
So, roll on this weekend - lunch with a friend Friday, a few hours catching up with another friend Saturday and......oh, I don't have anything planned for Sunday yet......better go and see what I can arrange.
I just hope I have a few more weeks before they ask me to start working 5 days a week - I'm really enjoying my long weekends.
It's always difficult to see good friends going through bad times. Over the last few years there's been a variety of situations that have tested my friends to the extreme.
And now, I have another friend going through an extremely difficult time. She was taken to hospital on Christmas Day and is being kept there until they can stabalise her condition and she is well enough to manage on her own. A consequence of this problem is her long term relationship has ended and when she is ready to come out of hospital she is reliant on friends for somewhere to live.
It is immensely difficult for me to see any of my friends having such traumatic times and knowing there is little I can do but try and be a good friend.
Anyone know of a good 'Guide to being a good friend' book?
