a glimpse into a family thanksgiving

this thanksgiving was the first time in the last three years that i was stateside. two years ago, i was eating solo at a fancy restaurant in prague celebrating thanksgiving with a nice juicy duck. last year, i was eating swine with a couple of brazilians, a couple of italians and a chilean who were strangers a week before in a beach restaurant in brazil. this year, i spent some time with my mom's side of the family. the location may not have been exotic and the food may have been conventional. but, that is what made it a good thanksgiving.

of course, the eating got started, not with eating, but with drinking. we had to have the bubbly. here's the appetizer table:


and oh yeah, lumpia. crispy fried pork lumpia to be exact. addictive. i think i ate half of this platter.


here's our thanksgiving table.


the stuffing.



my cousin joe's favorite: creamed corn. corn and lots of cream = corn heaven.


green beans with mushrooms. one needed to have fiber, after all.


yams.


and the bird:


juicy goodness.


and gravy.


here's my plate. yummy goodness.


oh of course we also had dessert. my auntie brought pinoy dessert. the top one was rice-based with lots of sugar. the bottom one was called turon - fried banana wrapped in a wonton-like paper with lots of sugar.


jello.



and yeah, the dessert i brought. i would like to say that i baked this cake. but that would make me a liar. so i won't. but this berry blossom cake from susina bakery was DA BOMB!



and finally, this was what we should be thankful for. at least, according to my cousin's kid:


personally, i was thankful to have a fun family who loves to eat, drink, and gossip (not necessarily in that order). like my cousin liza says, "that's our thing."