Giving Thanks

We have been away from the States for nearly 16 weeks now, and this week was the first time I've actually felt homesick. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year at home, with the crisp weather, leaves changing and falling, time spent with family and friends, delicious fall foods, and Christmas on the horizon. Of course the 2.5 days off work are really nice too. :)  A few weeks ago I RSVP'd us to a Thanksgiving picnic for Americans living in the area, held in the Botanical Gardens of Melbourne, thinking it would be nice to meet some new people and to share some traditional Thanksgiving foods. However, as last week progressed, the weather forecast looked terrible for Saturday, the day of the picnic. I had been in touch with the organizer of the other American "Meetup" that we attended a few weeks ago, and she decided that after looking at the forecast she would host a small Thanksgiving at her place and we were invited!

Saturday rolled around and indeed it rained the entire day (which is a shame because just about every day during the week last week was beautiful), so the decision to opt out of the outdoor picnic looked like a good one. Kristen, the Thanksgiving dinner hostess, did a fantastic job with the turkey, stuffing, green beans, and an amazingly yummy pumpkin pie. We contributed mashed potatoes (my Uncle Bill's famous family recipe made by Erik) and these apple pie cookies that I had seen earlier this week and thought would be a fun addition to the feast.

These were tasty but they needed more filling and less crust in my opinion!

We were thankful to be able to celebrate one of our favorite American holidays while living "Down Under", and perhaps next year we will host a Thanksgiving dinner ourselves.