Thanksgiving

Hubby got beat up by a turkey once (!) so cooking one is his revenge.  Think I will definitely need a big cardboard one!

Why not!

I could get a turkey hat!!!!!!!  Am I going too far now?

If it's a small group who can all fit around one table, you can just do sit-down if you prefer.  But serve it "family style", rather than prepared plates.

Yeah! We pretty much always serve "family style" so everybody picks what they want. I didn't even think about the "seated" serving as being any other way because it just totally didn't even cross my mind! haha

In my family, the day after Thanksgiving, we would either go out to a movie and dinner, or we would go to the mall and just walk around people-watching (Black Friday madness...).  Sometime over the four-day weekend, our (artificial) Christmas tree and lights would go up, and that kicked off the Christmas season.

Can confirm we've also gone to films (but on the day, after dinner or before dinner depending). We've done the tree up that weekend as well but since moving here and having a husband who doesn't enjoy the holiday spirit as much, I rolled it back to the first of Dec as a compromise! hahaha

These are like the turkeys my mom has a collection of...

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/546483736006293835/

Pressed apple cider with cinnamon!  How fabulous is that!

And will definitely do the buffet type meal so everyone can enjoy what they like.

And Macy's Parade - will try and find that on TV.

I really am excited now!

I want to put exclamation marks after everything!

One thing I miss most about fall is like properrrr American Apple Cider (not the alcoholic kind although it's delicious when adding rum/etc. and cinnamon to!) If you can find something similar to that, he might enjoy that!

You might not be able to find the parade on TV, but you should be able to find something online to stream (either live or as a replay).

She has herds of turkeys looking at you as you tuck in!

American Apple Cider - so non alcoholic, any other different?

Can you see  us with mulled apple and cinnamon in a mug in one hand and a Thanksgiving butty in the other?

Absolutely that's how it should be! 

My mom is Thanksgiving-daft and decorates whole-heartedly!

She has a large collection of these (really ugly) plaster or papier-mâché turkeys, painted and with brush-bristles for the sort of 'chest beard' that tom turkeys have.  She also goes mad with pumpkins, gourds and those dried ears of coloured corn/maize, preserved autumn leaves (or maybe they are fabric and look just like leaves?).   She loves it.

Yeah we definitely used to decorate a lot more when I was a kid! Once I got to my teen years I think my mom decided it didn't warrant the effort anymore! hahaha

Hubby got beat up by a turkey once (!) so cooking one is his revenge.  Think I will definitely need a big cardboard one!

Why not!

I could get a turkey hat!!!!!!!  Am I going too far now?

Absolutely never going too far in that sense! hahaha We always had like random packs of wild turkeys roaming and I remember chasing them down the road with a friend laughing our heads off, only to have them turn around and chase us! haha

She has herds of turkeys looking at you as you tuck in!

American Apple Cider - so non alcoholic, any other different?

The closest thing I can compare it to is "cloudy apple juice" but even then it's not quite right..

American apple cider is a thick, usually cloudy, pressed apple juice. The fact that it is unpasteurized and often minimally-filtered is what separates it from apple juice (which is clear, not cloudy) in the US.  In the US, if it is fermented (alcoholic), it is called "hard" apple cider, but we don't normally use that for this drink.

So to have the same thing in the UK, you'll want to get cloudy, still apple juice.  Add the red hots (available on Amazon if you can't find them anywhere else) and let it go.  It's not uncommon for a slow-cooker to be devoted to this.  If you want to get fancy, you can get add some cinnamon sticks as a pretty accent and to enhance the flavour. 

American apple cider is a thick, usually cloudy, pressed apple juice. The fact that it is unpasteurized and often minimally-filtered is what separates it from apple juice (which is clear, not cloudy) in the US.  In the US, if it is fermented (alcoholic), it is called "hard" apple cider, but we don't normally use that for this drink.

So to have the same thing in the UK, you'll want to get cloudy, still apple juice.  Add the red hots (available on Amazon if you can't find them anywhere else) and let it go.  It's not uncommon for a slow-cooker to be devoted to this.  If you want to get fancy, you can get add some cinnamon sticks as a pretty accent and to enhance the flavour. 

Well done explaining! I never know the best way to describe american "cider" haha. I remember when husband and I had just started talking, I was saying to him about "hard cider" and when he asked what it was I said "alcoholic cider!". His reply was "......so.....just cider then? :p "

We would take cider (american), warm it with cinnamon sticks in it and add rum. Delish!

I also have what looks to be a delicious Fall Apple Sangria "recipe". I've not tried it yet but I can tell by the ingredients that I'll love it (as I'm more partial to cold drinks than warm ones for some reason).

Well done explaining! I never know the best way to describe american "cider" haha. I remember when husband and I had just started talking, I was saying to him about "hard cider" and when he asked what it was I said "alcoholic cider!". His reply was "......so.....just cider then? :p "

We would take cider (american), warm it with cinnamon sticks in it and add rum. Delish!

I also have what looks to be a delicious Fall Apple Sangria "recipe". I've not tried it yet but I can tell by the ingredients that I'll love it (as I'm more partial to cold drinks than warm ones for some reason).

I don't really know what's in sangria, but I went to a wedding celebration once where someone had kindly donated some wine coolers, and some of them were sangria.  I found them rather nice, and I found myself rather tipsy.  It was a good day 'til I realized I drove myself there.   

Just been looking up Apple Cider - and that was an excellent explanation.

In the UK cider always means alcoholic. 

I would like to do Thanksgiving on the actual day, and during the daytime.  And as people will be driving to us (or at least I hope some will come!) then a non alcoholic version is excellent.  Cloudy apple juice with cinnamon, served warm - now, who is not going to like that?

I don't really know what's in sangria, but I went to a wedding celebration once where someone had kindly donated some wine coolers, and some of them were sangria.  I found them rather nice, and I found myself rather tipsy.  It was a good day 'til I realized I drove myself there.   

OUCH! haha

Sangria can vary but it's usually wine based. Was going to post a link to the sangria I had, but when I was doing a search to find it on my pinterest, I found a bagillion (exaggeration) amazing looking sangria recipes and now I have to share the whole search (sorry, not sorry). Hope it works when you click on it! If not, just search "fall sangria". There's even a pumpkin spice one! The caramel apple sounds good too!

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=fall%20sangria&rs=typed&term_meta[]=fall%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=sangria%7Ctyped

I've just been looking up turkey hats on Amazon!!!  Who knew there were that many different ones!  Will have to get one.

I would like to do Thanksgiving on the actual day, and during the daytime.  And as people will be driving to us (or at least I hope some will come!) then a non alcoholic version is excellent.  Cloudy apple juice with cinnamon, served warm - now, who is not going to like that?

Exactly!  Man... now I want some!    Make sure you get the most "natural", unprocessed apple juice you can find for this.  And, really, if it's in your budget, get some Red Hots.  You'll love it. 

OUCH! haha

Sangria can vary but it's usually wine based. Was going to post a link to the sangria I had, but when I was doing a search to find it on my pinterest, I found a bagillion (exaggeration) amazing looking sangria recipes and now I have to share the whole search (sorry, not sorry).

...

There's even a pumpkin spice one! The caramel apple sounds good too!

Caramel apple!  That's another warm beverage I like.  One of the coffee shops I used to go to had a hot caramel apple cider.  They'd spice the cider with cinnamon, warm it, do a spiral of whipped cream on top, and then drizzle it with caramel sauce.  I loved those.  I don't think it was Starbucks, ... I think it was Caribou Coffee.

I've just been looking up turkey hats on Amazon!!!  Who knew there were that many different ones!  Will have to get one.

If you want to be more "authentic", you could get a Pilgrim's hat.  Kids would actually make those as school crafts.

Edit:  By this I mean the one associated with the Puritan costume.  It's a tall black hat with a narrow brim, and has a 'belt' around it.

Found some pilgrim hats - but I think I would look like a leprechaun in one.  Of course, me with a big turkey on my head is going to look very sensible, isn't it!

Found some pilgrim hats - but I think I would look like a leprechaun in one.  Of course, me with a big turkey on my head is going to look very sensible, isn't it!

I did actually hesitate to mention the Pilgrim hat because I very much like the idea of the turkey hat.