Thanksgiving

This is my 6^th Thanksgiving in New Zealand and I still think it’s a bit odd to celebrate an American holiday in New Zealand.  Thankfully this year we had Dan’s mom, Bertie, with us to help celebrate.  We rented a holiday house in the town of Paunanui on the Coromandel Peninsula and it was a very relaxed celebration.  Dan was able to find a frozen turkey breast roast in Auckland.  We tried to stick to the traditional menu, but I’ll admit we didn’t go the whole nine yards.  We had roasted potatoes, kumara and pumpkin, garlic bread, salad, turkey with cranberry stuffing and gravy.  We toasted the meal with our last bottle of Rippon Pinot Noir from Wanaka.  We decided to just have Hokey Pokey ice cream for dessert, which I know is a bit of a crime since Thanksgiving is really about the pies.  What I love about having a destination getaway holiday, when no one else is celebrating with you, is that you can have a relaxed stroll down the beach or go visit the local library and read your children some books, because the Kiwis think it’s just a normal Thursday.   My next favorite bit is that fact that I made my divine left over Thanksgiving sandwich and then ate it the next day under an umbrella while sitting at the beach.