LDB Thanksgiving Dinner
This month, rather than challenging myself, I've been training my stomach for December 25th. It's a very important part of the Christmas countdown to avoid trouser buttons popping off at a result of sudden bingeing. Roughly 17% of casualties admitted to A&E on Christmas Day are grannies with flying button related injuries*. I say train the belly with mini binges from now until the big day. The Americans have the right idea by eating anything that will accompany roast turkey in the last week of November. It is part of a very clever public holiday which they've called Thanksgiving - a name given by grannies who have escape aforementioned injuries on Christmas day**.
I am on the mailing list for Lions Drink Bellinis, a fab social group offering "fun, social and affordable nights out in Bristol". When the invite for Thanksgiving dinner came through I snapped it up, especially considering it was being headed up by the two American members of the group. In lieu of buying a ticket, guests were asked to bring along a dish of their choice. I opted for Pumpkin Pie. However having never tasted, let alone baked, one I was to have no idea how successful my attempt would be until the night, bit risky eh? Plus I was told the day before that one of the American lads was also making one. Oh the pressure...
Thanksgiving is traditionally a family oriented holiday, food is cooked & enjoyed at home with family. So, in true American style, we were 30 people sat around a long table at the Rainbow Café Restaurant in Clifton, conversation bubbling and the aroma of roast turkey wafting it's way through the hungry crowd. Further down there was a buffet of turkey, ham, macaroni cheese (yes, that's what i said!), mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, red cabbage and home made gravy. Although each person brought just one dish each there was enough food there to feed a small army. And I haven't even listed the desserts yet. Along with my pumpkin pie was pecan pie, apple pie and chocolate chip cookies. Hello there food coma!
In addition to learning about quirky American eating habits I met some great people. Amongst the guests were a couple who enthralled me with their passion for travel & a group of ladies offering up their single male friends to eachother in a bartering style, that's my kind of currency!
The BBC Food Pumpkin pie recipe I followed did me proud (see pic). Now I have a few additions to the Christmas feast this year - mac cheese and pumpkin pie (not together of course...although ya never know with these American fellas...)
Some other events run by this fabulous group include cider tasting, steak nights, wine & cheese workshops & fondue evenings - as you can probably tell a lot of these are centered around food and drink, fab fab fab.
* This isn't an actual fact but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true.
** This isn't true either.
http://www.lionsdrinkbellinis.com
Image: Jo Guy
