Our Thanksgiving this year was lovely, as always! Being born & raised in the US, I have continued to celebrate Thanksgiving after moving to Ireland ten years ago. Each year we have different members of my husband’s family join us.
I had a few people ask me to write more about my Thanksgivings in Ireland so here we go! Thanksgiving is always fourth Thursday in November. The date changes but it’s always on a Thursday. Because of that, it’s a regular day here with my husband at work & kids at school. I spend the day cooking & preparing for visitors. Being honest, I actually start the day before!
I love hosting dinner parties & Thanksgiving is one of my favorite dinners to host, right up there with Christmas. Setting the table is my favorite part of all! Here is this year’s table (I took out a few Christmas ornaments for the mantle)…
A common misconception in Ireland is that Thanksgiving is a bigger holiday than Christmas & that I wouldn’t have a big dinner for Christmas too. Thanksgiving is a big holiday because it’s non-religious. The whole country celebrates & gives thanks. Schools & a lot of jobs are off work Wednesday – Friday in celebration. But, if you are a Christian then Christmas is a much bigger holiday than Thanksgiving. We have a big meal for both holidays!
I love continuing the tradition of Thanksgiving with my kids. If I skipped a year or changed the day to the weekend, I think it wouldn’t be the same. And that it would eventually fizzle out, which I’d hate to have happened. So we continue to celebrate on Thanksgiving day.
Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have. I think that’s a really great thing for kids to think about in the build-up to Christmas. A lot of kids don’t realize how good they really have it. How fortunate they are to have all the things they have. Especially the basics like food, clothing, a warm house & a family who loves them.
Even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I think it’s nice to take a day & be thankful for everything you have. And to talk to your kids about that. I have some lovely thankful quotes in last week’s thankful on Thanksgiving post.
Thanksgiving 2016 Menu
Appetizer
Melon & berries with homemade strawberry coulis
Main Course
Turkey & gravy – rolled breast
Stuffing – recipe coming soon!
Cranberry Sauce – my one cheat, it’s from a jar!
Corn spoon bread – recipe coming soon!
Mashed potato
Carrots – steamed
Brussel sprouts – steamed
Mac ‘n Cheese – my first year including & it was really nice!
Mashed Sweet Potato – so tasty with a holiday meal!
Dessert
Lemon Meringue pie & assorted pastries – I lied actually, I cheated on dessert this year too. I bought them from a bakery. But everything else was homemade!
So there you have it! Thanksgiving 2016 in all it’s glory. We also had some lovely wine & lots of laughs. It was a great day with family, being thankful for the blessings in our lives.
Did you celebrate Thanksgiving this year? x
