hotel Thanksgiving
Perhaps you are wondering whether it is possible to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner in a hotel room 2,700 miles from home. Well, Eric and I are here to tell you that yes, my friend, it is possible.
For one thing, we did get a hotel room with a refrigerator and a microwave. You can't do a lot of cooking with just a microwave, but it's better than nothing.
Then I wandered the shopper-stuffed aisles of the Super Wal-Mart in town for quite awhile, pondering my microwavable-feast options. There was a pre-cooked turkey breast that I could have warmed up, making for a traditional meal. But my husband, strangely enough, doesn't like turkey. He tolerates it when necessary, but he doesn't really enjoy it. Why feed him a meal he doesn't like just because it's tradition? So instead I chose a microwavable "bourbon-glazed pork meal." And since instant reheated mashed potatoes and gravy sounded yucky, and reheated canned green beans likewise, I went ahead and dispensed with traditional foods altogether. French bread from the bakery, salad from the produce section, fancy cheeses from the deli, and wine. And, of course, a pie, and canned whipped cream. Some things I can forgo, but Thanksgiving is NOT Thanksgiving without pie. Paper plates and cups and a corkscrew, too. Because nothing says classy like wine out of a styrofoam cup.
And you know what? It really wasn't bad. The pork was not the best pork I've ever had, but it wasn't bad at all. Salad and cheese and French bread and wine are reliably tasty. And the sweet potato pie? Surprisingly good! The crust wasn't as tasty as it would have been if I'd made it from scratch from my mom's recipe, but the filling was really good. Apparently in the South, even the Wal-Mart bakery knows how to make a good sweet potato pie.
And of course, the best part of the meal wasn't the food, although that was nice. It was sitting with my husband, being thankful for the love we have, his job that puts food on our table (even if it is Wal-mart food on paper plates in a hotel room this year) and our beautiful daughters--not to mention the loving families we both come from, and who are willing to watch our kids so we can have time together.
Even here in a hotel room, blessings abound.
For one thing, we did get a hotel room with a refrigerator and a microwave. You can't do a lot of cooking with just a microwave, but it's better than nothing.
Then I wandered the shopper-stuffed aisles of the Super Wal-Mart in town for quite awhile, pondering my microwavable-feast options. There was a pre-cooked turkey breast that I could have warmed up, making for a traditional meal. But my husband, strangely enough, doesn't like turkey. He tolerates it when necessary, but he doesn't really enjoy it. Why feed him a meal he doesn't like just because it's tradition? So instead I chose a microwavable "bourbon-glazed pork meal." And since instant reheated mashed potatoes and gravy sounded yucky, and reheated canned green beans likewise, I went ahead and dispensed with traditional foods altogether. French bread from the bakery, salad from the produce section, fancy cheeses from the deli, and wine. And, of course, a pie, and canned whipped cream. Some things I can forgo, but Thanksgiving is NOT Thanksgiving without pie. Paper plates and cups and a corkscrew, too. Because nothing says classy like wine out of a styrofoam cup.
And you know what? It really wasn't bad. The pork was not the best pork I've ever had, but it wasn't bad at all. Salad and cheese and French bread and wine are reliably tasty. And the sweet potato pie? Surprisingly good! The crust wasn't as tasty as it would have been if I'd made it from scratch from my mom's recipe, but the filling was really good. Apparently in the South, even the Wal-Mart bakery knows how to make a good sweet potato pie.
And of course, the best part of the meal wasn't the food, although that was nice. It was sitting with my husband, being thankful for the love we have, his job that puts food on our table (even if it is Wal-mart food on paper plates in a hotel room this year) and our beautiful daughters--not to mention the loving families we both come from, and who are willing to watch our kids so we can have time together.
Even here in a hotel room, blessings abound.
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