Thanksgiving in Ecuador

Because we always have work and school on Thanksgiving, I tend to celebrate it on the following Saturday. It's hard to wait, knowing that everyone else is having turkey and stuffing on that Thursday, but Saturday is just so much easier and more peaceful for us. I did it once on the weeknight - ended up buying ingredients from a restaurant and reheating - but I admit that I like (LOVE) preparing the menu myself, so we went back to doing it on Saturdays.

This guy doesn't look so nice but he tasted really really good.

Homemade - everything from scratch - even the onion rings! Scrumptious!

It's almost time for lunch.

Great-grandma Ali brought Agustin a chocolate car. The wheels were gone (eaten) before I could even turn on my camera!

I love making pumpkin pies!

Yesterday we had turkey (Andres makes a killer bird - with orange juice and his special blend of spices), Apple Almond Stuffing (it was good, but I think I prefer the basic recipe I usually make), mashed potatoes and gravy (my childhood favorite), green bean casserole (using this Food Network recipe - man was this the best ever - got sooooo many compliments!), corn (from a can - it's the only way, people!), deviled eggs (I forgot these last year and had quite a disappointed crowd), and pumpkin pie. I also made a relish tray with the little I had in the fridge - I have relish tray ingredients on my grocery list now because honestly - the relish tray is sometimes the best thing!

Andrés's great-aunt was sick (I think she caught the cold I am still trying to get over), so she didn't come, and Laura and Checho were out of town, so it was our family, the grandparents, Great-Grandma Ali, and Gaby and Bati. A good crowd!

Andres's Pinterest-inspired wheat rolls.

We spent the day listening to Christmas carols. I was planning to decorate tomorrow but Agustín isn't sure yet - he thinks we should save the decorating for December, so we'll have to see how he feels about it when he wakes up tomorrow. We looked at past December Daily albums, and Gaby and Bati played board games (Trouble and Compatibility) with the kids.

There's a Halloween theme in there - a ghost on the door and a Jack O´lantern.

It was a really nice day. Bati made us Mimosas, Andrés had hot apple cider, and even though there was a blackout in the entire north of the country and we lost power for almost four hours, the kids were fine since Bati stayed longer into the night (even though we could barely see). It helped that the carols kept going - thank goodnesses for battery-operated speakers and a fully-charged iPod!

Once the power came back, the kids got to making some comics. Agustín is working on his Mr. Creck series (about a stick figure guy who always - ALWAYS - has a problem with getting blown up by a bomb, a la Coyote and Road Runner a bit), and little brother Nico couldn't get left behind.

If you look closely, you can see an ant (with a leaf on his back), walking across the bottom of the page!