We had an extraordinary Thanksgiving in a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving. I ordered a turkey two weeks ago and went to pick it up this morning from the meat market. They first said it had not arrived, and then that it was two tiny turkeys. But then, the brought out a perfect, 18 pound turkey. I was delight.
I went home and dressed it and got it in the oven. It touched all sides of our tiny oven--a perfect fit! :) Then I made homemade dressing with cornbread I had made from scratch the previous day, plus Roman bread and whole wheat bread. I also made gravy, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and apple pie. We had wine and tea and soft rolls. I put some cherry chutney on the table in place of cranberry sauce. And I had never made pie crust without vegetable shortening, but it turns out, there are lots of legitimate ways to make pie crust.
The kids went to school, and then we had our big meal. Meanwhile, Ron has been asking our family to go all Italian, speaking only Italian together, for many months. Finally today seemed like a good day to start. So rather ironically, on our American holiday, we spoke only Italian. The kids have all improved so much over these past few months, I could not believe how good they were. The highlight of the Italian, however, was Ron saying our Thanksgiving blessing: "Padre, grazie per I suoi regoli" which means "Father, thank you for your many rules." We all started laughing out loud at the table. He broke from the prayer, looked up and said, "Whaaat??" We said, "Regali (gifts), not regoli (rules/laws)." He laughed hard and it was a great start to a boisterous meal.
This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for so many friends and family, and the chance to be here in Italy. But a true highlight is my new niece, Jenna June Miller. Kimberly and Ken are blessed with this beautiful child and I cannot express my gratitude to God for answering our prayers!
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