Thanksgiving
You may, or possibly may not know, given its low profile here, that our friends across the pond are today celebrating "Thanksgiving".
What's this all about, you may ask, well I shan't bore you with the origins of the tradition, this is something you can find out for yourself. Let's face it, few people here think much about what Easter's all about when they are greedily ripping open their chocolate eggs.
As a basic summing up, it's a bit like Christmas Day, but only the Christmas Dinner bit of it i.e. no presents, decorations or any of the other stuff, just everyone getting together around the table and having a big roast dinner, with of course, a large turkey as the centrepiece. Everyone also has the day off work - it's a bank holiday.
Now I would imagine that for people who have jobs, having to drag themselves out to an office every day, having a Thursday off at this time of the year would be an absolute godsend. Before I retired from full time work I know this was the worst time of year for me. When you think about the absolutely wretched weather we've had, particularly yesterday, which was of the gloomiest, most miserable days I can ever remember, imagine how great if you didn't have to go to work today. I think many people would gladly trade one of the useless bank holidays in the Spring for one today. What a great day it would be, off work, lovely turkey cooking in the background, almost like a dress rehearsal for Christmas.
Certainly in terms of cooking the meal it would be a lot less stressful than Christmas dinner, for the simple reason that there are not all those other things to do. My time is much in demand on Christmas morning itself, as not only is there all the presents to unwrap, there is then all the business of detaching the kids new toys from the packaging, i.e. undoing all those horrible plastic ties, and all the other stuff which has been designed to keep the contents in place. And that's before you get started on assembly, batteries and all the rest, the whole day can go by and there is still the dinner to cook on top of that! Christmas day is hard work.
None of that to worry about on Thanksgiving, you just get on and cook the meal.
When you think how much we've embraced USA culture, it's odd that Thanksgiving hasn't had more of an impact here. Halloween, long a mainstay of the USA calendar is getting bigger every year, and that's not to mention all the other influences on our daily life - McDonalds, The Simpsons, Disney, ten-pin bowling, schools are even having proms now, there's just a few things that spring to mind. Yet Thanksgiving remains little more than a curiosity over here.
So perhaps it's time I helped things along a bit. Now I know that my blog reaches out to a wide range of people across the social spectrum, so I thought that perhaps I'd offer a few ideas for having Thanksgiving on a variety of budgets. I've given each of these a relevant title in order to distinguish between them.
1) The Jeremy Kyle.
Perfect for the family on a budget, or on a low income, the Jeremy Kyle joint won't set you back too much out of your weekly budget. In fact you should not have to compromise at all on your 20 a day Richmond Superkings consumption. It also has the benefit of only taking about an hour and a half to cook, so you don't have to miss any of Jeremy's show, you can still have it ready for lunchtime.
2) The Daily Mail.
Just the thing for middle England, this one will be adorning the tables of 4 bedroom detached properties (complete with conservatories) from Surbiton to St Ives. Classy enough to be served to the family without any feeling of doing things on the cheap, but won't break the bank, which is just as well, considering Daddy's pay freeze at the bank. The perfect joint over which to discuss the pressing issues in the day's paper, e.g. immigration.
3) To The Manor Born
I am delighted to say, that I have had an invitation this evening to the country residence of my fellow peer, Lord Marston, in order to sample this delicacy, purchased this very morning from Fortnum and Mason by his faithful old family retainer, Mrs Bridges. After dining on this fine beast along with various other delicacies, e.g. truffles and foie gras, we shall be retiring to the drawing room with our port and stilton to discuss tomorrow's runners at Ascot, where we shall once again be viewing the days action from the Royal Box. A most satisfactory state of affairs, I am sure you will agree.
So that's about it for my Thanksgiving round-up, I hope this has inspired you all to consider taking up the tradition, whichever option you choose, may I wish you all the best - and thank-you.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Cheers!
Jason xx
 |
| It's Thanksgiving in the good old U S of A |
What's this all about, you may ask, well I shan't bore you with the origins of the tradition, this is something you can find out for yourself. Let's face it, few people here think much about what Easter's all about when they are greedily ripping open their chocolate eggs.
As a basic summing up, it's a bit like Christmas Day, but only the Christmas Dinner bit of it i.e. no presents, decorations or any of the other stuff, just everyone getting together around the table and having a big roast dinner, with of course, a large turkey as the centrepiece. Everyone also has the day off work - it's a bank holiday.
Now I would imagine that for people who have jobs, having to drag themselves out to an office every day, having a Thursday off at this time of the year would be an absolute godsend. Before I retired from full time work I know this was the worst time of year for me. When you think about the absolutely wretched weather we've had, particularly yesterday, which was of the gloomiest, most miserable days I can ever remember, imagine how great if you didn't have to go to work today. I think many people would gladly trade one of the useless bank holidays in the Spring for one today. What a great day it would be, off work, lovely turkey cooking in the background, almost like a dress rehearsal for Christmas.
Certainly in terms of cooking the meal it would be a lot less stressful than Christmas dinner, for the simple reason that there are not all those other things to do. My time is much in demand on Christmas morning itself, as not only is there all the presents to unwrap, there is then all the business of detaching the kids new toys from the packaging, i.e. undoing all those horrible plastic ties, and all the other stuff which has been designed to keep the contents in place. And that's before you get started on assembly, batteries and all the rest, the whole day can go by and there is still the dinner to cook on top of that! Christmas day is hard work.
None of that to worry about on Thanksgiving, you just get on and cook the meal.
When you think how much we've embraced USA culture, it's odd that Thanksgiving hasn't had more of an impact here. Halloween, long a mainstay of the USA calendar is getting bigger every year, and that's not to mention all the other influences on our daily life - McDonalds, The Simpsons, Disney, ten-pin bowling, schools are even having proms now, there's just a few things that spring to mind. Yet Thanksgiving remains little more than a curiosity over here.
So perhaps it's time I helped things along a bit. Now I know that my blog reaches out to a wide range of people across the social spectrum, so I thought that perhaps I'd offer a few ideas for having Thanksgiving on a variety of budgets. I've given each of these a relevant title in order to distinguish between them.
1) The Jeremy Kyle.
 |
| Available at places like Iceland, probably. |
Perfect for the family on a budget, or on a low income, the Jeremy Kyle joint won't set you back too much out of your weekly budget. In fact you should not have to compromise at all on your 20 a day Richmond Superkings consumption. It also has the benefit of only taking about an hour and a half to cook, so you don't have to miss any of Jeremy's show, you can still have it ready for lunchtime.
2) The Daily Mail.
 |
| OK, it's frozen, but they might start doing fresh ones if it catches on. |
Just the thing for middle England, this one will be adorning the tables of 4 bedroom detached properties (complete with conservatories) from Surbiton to St Ives. Classy enough to be served to the family without any feeling of doing things on the cheap, but won't break the bank, which is just as well, considering Daddy's pay freeze at the bank. The perfect joint over which to discuss the pressing issues in the day's paper, e.g. immigration.
3) To The Manor Born
I am delighted to say, that I have had an invitation this evening to the country residence of my fellow peer, Lord Marston, in order to sample this delicacy, purchased this very morning from Fortnum and Mason by his faithful old family retainer, Mrs Bridges. After dining on this fine beast along with various other delicacies, e.g. truffles and foie gras, we shall be retiring to the drawing room with our port and stilton to discuss tomorrow's runners at Ascot, where we shall once again be viewing the days action from the Royal Box. A most satisfactory state of affairs, I am sure you will agree.
So that's about it for my Thanksgiving round-up, I hope this has inspired you all to consider taking up the tradition, whichever option you choose, may I wish you all the best - and thank-you.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Cheers!
Jason xx
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