158 – Why Brits Should Celebrate Thanksgiving

This is my rant about why Brits should reclaim Thanksgiving. I have two book recommendations to help you learn the basics: The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh with Caldecott Honor winning illustrations by Helen Sewell, as well as Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Greg Shed. Both of these books beautifully share a story of brave people who made amazing journeys and helped very different groups of people come together as friends.

British People Should Take Back Thanksgiving

by T.Q. Townsend

I’m an expat who lives in Leicestershire. I love it here. It’s a great place to raise kids. There’s lots of great stuff to do outdoors. And nobody talks politics. I am conspicuously American, a trait that is compounded by being the only Yank in my village other than my dual citizen kids.

I try to do my best to enhance the Special Relationship between our countries, mostly by making my husband cups of tea just the way he likes them, but also by introducing little bits of Americana that are compatible with British life. Things like Goldfish Crackers, meat loaf, and pumpkin bread have been eagerly adopted by my neighbours, and I even got a bunch of families to come play baseball on the village green on multiple occasions.

I don’t want to change Britain fundamentally, but there has been one thing that has been on my mind more and more the longer I live here. Y’all need to take Thanksgiving back. I feel like this shouldn’t be a hard sell. I don’t say this merely because I get a bit homesick every year on this holiday, and it’s very hard to celebrate properly on the fourth Thursday in November when my kids have a normal school day and all my friends have to be at work. It’s also because it’s legitimately a good idea. And you should rely on my authority because not only am I a real red blooded American, but I am also a descendant of Edward Doty, who not only helped celebrate the first Thanksgiving but was also the first person to be punished as a criminal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Allow me to lay out the facts.

First, Thanksgiving started out as an English holiday. Way back at the start of the 17th century, the people who first partied with the Wampanoag tribe from what is now Massachussetts were English, having lived nearly two centuries before those dirty, dirty rebels sent that nasty note to poor King George III. (We can gloss over the part where they were kind of nutty religious extremists who thought the Puritains weren’t strict enough. Let’s just focus on the part where they all had a really nice time together eating gruel or whatever it was they had in the olden days.) So really, if you think about it, this holiday has always been yours to begin with.

Second, British people love a roast. I don’t mean verbal razzing, although you like that too. I mean delicious savory food slow cooked for hours, served with copious side dishes and a cauldron of gravy. I do not have to expend any energy making the case for having a roast followed by ample desserts. You already take any excuse you can get to do this.

Third, you get something else you already like: a bank holiday. I know that Thanksgiving can feel a little unnatural at first because it falls on a Thursday, rather than on a Monday as the good Lord intended. But this is actually a pretty good deal. Because everyone is so overstuffed with turkey and pie and football and freedom, quite a lot of employers give up and also declare the following Friday to be a loss. Some schools in America even give kids the whole week off, adding a bonus half term holiday to the calendar. In late November it’s getting pretty dark and cold in this country. It wouldn’t be so bad to have a few extra days to party.

Fourth, Thanksgiving does a great job of holding back Christmas. Look, Christmas is the king of holidays. It’s the best day of the year. It also starts way too early. By having Thanksgiving to focus on, stores are forced to hold back on Christmas displays for a few more weeks and we can all keep “All I Want for Christmas is You” out of our heads just a little bit longer.

Finally, it’s fun. Thanksgiving is a casual holiday. A time devoted to gathering with people you actually like, unlike the other holidays that force you to mix with people who say crazy things on Facebook but have to be invited because of shared DNA. It’s about gathering with friends in comfy clothes, watching the big game, eating some good food, and having lots of laughs. It’s a great low-pressure setting for someone to introduce a new significant other to the extended family. It’s a time to invite a lonely neighbour or a new acquaintance over so they can make some friends. It’s a time for grandma to show off her pie baking skills, and for a pack of children to play outside until they go a bit feral. It can be a bit rowdy, which not all British people will instantly be comfortable with, but I have found that with sufficient gravy and pie, folks around here will put up with just about anything.

Most American expats here in Britain celebrate Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the official holiday, so that there’s time for a proper feast. That works, but I hope that I’ve done a little bit to convince you that this holiday isn’t quite so foreign as you may have thought. It’s my hope that in a few years, you’ll be just as overstuffed with pumpkin pie as I am every November.

El Día de los Muertos

Passing on family traditions is one of the best parts about being a parent. My family celebrated El Día de los Muertos, a tradition I loved as part of growing up in Los Angeles.

Día de los Muertos by Roseanne Greenfield Thong with illustrations by Carles Ballesteros is a much beloved book at my house. My kids often ask to read it even when it’s not near the holiday. But every year on this holiday we read it together before lighting candles and adding personal items to our ofrenda familiar. We tell stories about family members who came before us, keeping their stories and memories alive.

We also eat Pan de Muertos, which is a delicious sweet bread flavored with aniseed and orange. Here’s my recipe. Now, this is just the way I was taught to make it when I was a teenager. I know there are a lot of variations. If your family makes it differently, please share your recipe! And if your Abuelita says that my recipe is wrong . . . she is right. Abuelita is always right. I am wrong. ABUELITA IS RIGHT.

Pan de Muertos

1/2 to 1 tablespoon aniseed
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
zest from two oranges
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3.5 to 4 cups white flour

Earlier in the day, melt the butter and add the aniseed. Allow it to soak so the aniseed softens and the flavors begin to come out. Combine the sugar, milk, and yeast and set the mixture aside so the yeast can activate.

Into a mixing bowl, grate the zest of two oranges. Add 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice. Mix in the butter and aniseed, then stir in the yeast. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and two eggs. Mix thoroughly.

Add 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour. Turn out and knead in more flour until you have a smooth, stretchy dough. Cover and let rise until double.

Cut the dough into four equal portions. Set one aside. Shape the remaining portions into 12 buns (or divide into more if you prefer smaller size buns). Use the remaining portion of dough to shape “bones” by rolling the dough into long, thin strips that are cut to size. If you like, you can also shape a “skull” to go above them.

Bake at 350F/180C for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. Brush the tops with a mixture of melted salted butter and a chunky sugar like turbinado or demerarra. (These are also nice brushed with a mixture of orange juice and sugar – do what you like!)

Serve warm while telling stories about loved ones.

106 – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is one of the funniest books you’ll ever read. Although it’s in the context of a small Christian church putting on a nativity play with the unwanted participation of the six most badly behaved kids in town, readers of all backgrounds will recognize its portrayal of a tightly knit and sometimes narrow minded community being forced to live up to its principles.

If you’re going on a long car ride this holiday season and need something to entertain the whole family, see if your library has a downloadable audio book. You’ll all have a good laugh and do a surprising amount of thinking about the principles you live by, the stories that matter to you, and whether or not you’ve been taking them for granted.