Thanksgiving -- English style

Thanksgiving Day in England takes a lot of imagination and scrounging. You have to invent the dinner menu in the minds of the cooks, convince them that pumpkin pie really is delicious, and that you can cook a whole turkey without cutting it into pieces. You have to invent the table decorations from the sticks, twigs, and pinecones you find on the grounds. Scrounge up a few baskets from the closet corners, raid the frige for fruits and veggies, bunch them all together and lay them out on the white paper table clothes that have been taped together. Next you stuff the paper napkins in the paper cups, set out glass plates, place 5 kernals of corn on each plate, fill the chairs with hungry missionaries and a few invited guests and.......VOILA!! You have Thanksgiving -- English style. (and of course it helps if you have Christmas lurking in the background.)

Before dinner we shared a brief history of the holiday including the story of the 5 kernals of corn. We asked them each to write (on the paper table cloth) 5 things they were thankful for. During the meal they had a chance to share one of them. They came up with very interesting and different thoughts.

There were some temple missionaries from the USA who joined with us for dinner.

The cooks outdid themselves. The entire meal was outstanding including this scrumptious array of desserts!

And best of all......we just showed up and when the meal was over we left the dishes to them. It will be a rough day when I have to once again be responsible for food!!!! We hope all of you had a wonderful day and that the magic of Christmas is now beginning to float around!!!