Bright Ideas: Busy Thanksgiving

I made these fun hats as a throw-back to something we did as kids in school. They also prompted a bit of a history lesson about the origins of Thanksgiving, Pilgram-Indian relations, and the many ways you can cook a turkey.

This weekend was perhaps my busiest yet (with the exception of when Ali and Brendan were here). Friday night I went with Candice and several of her friends to dinner (Japanese) and then to see the new James Bond movie. I feel like I have seen my share of Bond movies and to be completely honest, I don't really care for them. Nonetheless, I went for the opportunity to socialize and eat a nice dinner. My movie ticket was $20 and the theater was the biggest I've ever seen. The chairs were akin to lounge chairs, fully outfitted with comfy arm rests and plump cushions. Not sure it was entirely worth $20 but it was pretty good. The movie was fine.

Saturday my housemates and I celebrated Thanksgiving. After a morning Pilates class I went the grocery store (twice) and started cooking with my roommate Sebastian. I made pumpkin pie, ambrosia, veggie tray with homemade ranch dressing, and homemade biscuits (American biscuits). Other dishes my roomies made included a stuffed chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans with glazed onions, pecan pie, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, and a kale salad. My roommates wanted a traditional American Thanksgiving feel so they went out of their way to make the recipes as authentic as possible. It was very sweet. We had about 12 people over to celebrate with. The weather was high 80s during the day but ended with a light shower and cooled to about 65 at night...perfect weather if you ask me.

Katrina and Sebastian preparing a bit the night before.

Me working on ambrosia salad (or watergate). They don't have cool whip, so I substituted whipped cream and I don't think it worked as well. I found that it was much more concentrated and less fluffy than I remembered.

I also took this opportunity to try a new cider. Good thing it is 8% alcohol because at $17/4-pack, I can only afford a few. It was delicious.

My turkey veggie platter.

Most of the final spread.

The delicious chicken.

Getting ready to eat outside.

On Sunday I went for a long hike with my friend Be and her American friend Jaime who was visiting from California. I've been wanting to go on a hike for a while so I jumped on the opportunity. It was quite a trek of a day, I first had to walk to the tram (about 1.5 miles), then took the tram to the train station, took the train to Be, continued on the train to a new area of town, walked to the park (about 2 miles), then hiked about 10 miles in the park, then walked back to the train, took the train back to town, then walked to the tram (just a few blocks), took the tram to the grocery store, then walked home (about .5 miles). This was an all day adventure, I left at about 7:30am and got home around 5pm. Well worth it though, had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect, probably high 70s with a nice cool breeze. Also, I can now check off # 24 - ride a train - from my Goals for Oz.