Dia de Gracias, Thanksgiving Day in mexico

We'll be spending Thanksgiving in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit for our 21st time this year. Though I miss my children and their families incredibly at times like this (I prefer to spend a month with them over the Christmas holidays), I must say that we've been blessed to sit at the table with some very wonderful people over the years here in Pacific coastal Mexico.

We supped at a special private dinner party in a favorite intimate restaurant bar, closed just for that purpose, where the holiday meal prepared was every bit as good as my own (doesn't every family think THEIR stuffing is the BEST?!!) We were sent home with more than enough leftovers to satisfy the most avid turkey-stuffing-cranberry sandwich enthusiast! With heartfelt Thanksgiving blessings offered up in rich, heavy Scottish brogue, as one of the best hostesses we've ever known added her special touches of hospitality in such a way that it appeared effortless. Toasts to one another, to friend,ship, to life ~ with all its' glories and pain, to Mexico. Thanks for blessings, for families far away and for each tomorrow we are given.

Many years we've hosted big Thanksgiving spreads at Casa Kaeli or Casa Susana, usually gathering mid-afternoon for a few "botanas" with margaritas, cosmopolitans (my fav!), and icy cervezas before getting serious with the main meal. My basic Thanksgiving dinner has morphed a bit here in the tropics; waldorf salad is simply a beautiful platter of the freshest pina, mango, banana and papaya, drizzled with a bit of agave nectar & sprinkled with chili powder and thinly-sliced jalapenos. Sweet potatoes are gently simmered in coconut milk, mild poblano chilies added to the pineapple, and piloncillo trumps brown sugar. We can't live without the traditional stuffing, but our turkey is something else!! "Drunken", we call it: fresh minced garlic, butter & cognac is rubbed under the skin, then a cumino, chili powder & black pepper rub goes on before it is stuffed and trussed. Around the bird go whole garlic bulbs & big chunks of onions. Chicken broth and sangrita (a spicy orange/tomato mixture, available in the margarita makings section of supermercados) are poured all around it and then the magic happens in the oven. I'm telling it straight here... there is NO BETTER TURKEY GRAVY (no additional seasonings necessary!) & no moister (is that a word??) turkey meat on the planet.

Then there was the Thanksgiving when we found ourselves too busy to make a plan and late in the day realized the day was upon us! Thankfully (how apropo), we made it to one of our favorite restaurants just before they turned out the lights and, even more thankfully, they had just enough turkey left to serve up two more gorgeous plates!

We've been invited where we barely knew one or two of the people who'd be there, and went home late with left-overs and a handful of exceptional new friends!

And then there was the year when OUR THANKSGIVING DINNER HAD NO TURKEY!

Here's the story: in Oregon, before heading to Puerto Vallarta, Greg marinated a turkey for two days in wine and cranberry juice, then smoked it. Actually, he did this twice because the first time he had positioned the cardboard box (that his Little Chief Smoker came in) loosely near the smoker as the Oregon coast wind had made keeping the smoker going quite a challenge. I glanced out the window and notice quite an amount of actual smoke emanating from it, and sure enough: when Greg went out there, the box has caught fire! He quickly removed the bird from the smoker and brought it in, in an attempt to salvage all his hard work. One touch of a finger onto the charred turkey, then onto the tongue made clear there was no salvaging anything... that instant metallic "tang" taste had to be from the glue in the cardboard! So, that night, the turkey... hard work and all, went over the 50' cliff by our house to the ocean below. Not to be deterred, the next day Greg began the process once again, and so the night before our flight a second marinated-and-smoked-turkey shivered in our freezer so it would stay nice and cold for the trip. We would arrive at Casa Susana the day before Thanksgiving!

Of course, It was just our luck to get the RED LIGHT at immigracion in Puerto Vallarta. The inspectors removed all the tape from the cooler, opened it up and took one look at that pathetic, shriveled, grayish naked beast and asked "is it cooked"? Greg answered that it was marinated and smoked, but they didn't want to hear about it or didnt understand. They shoved it toward us and waved us on (no need to worry about confiscation with this one), so we grabbed a taxi and headed to our casa in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle.

The plan for that Thanksgiving dinner had been made months earlier: we would join our good friend from Alaska, Karen Hofstad, at her new hotel in RIncon de Guayabitos for the holiday! Her staff was preparing all the fixin's, we would bring the special turkey, and would spend the night because it was going to be a fiesta grande!. This was many years ago, before we had cell phones, before we even had a phone in our casa, and when making calls from mexican pay phones was usually futile.

Thanksgiving morning, I eagerly stuffed the turkey, thinking of how good it was all going to be... smoked turkey with all the trimmings of home, getting together with old friends for a true fiesta. Our casa filled with smells of holiday wonderfulness, we showered and dressed for the occasion. The turkey came from the oven right on schedule and perfectly browned with a bit of crispness. When I tasted a piece of the dressing, I was in heaven.

We loaded up the old Oldsmobile that we'd bought and kept in Mexico., noticing that first morning how extra hot it felt for late November! With our close friend Marsha, who had come with us from Oregon, were more than ready to roll. But roll we did not! Greg had started up the car without a problem, pero no va! (but, no go!) What the _ _ _ _? He tried again, but nothing. Got out of the car and - lo and behold - the TREADS HAD ACTUALLY FALLEN OFF THE TIRES from sitting in the heat for months!

Seriously. We weren't going anywhere. Ours was one of only two casas on the street back then, nobody around and it was hotter than hell. No phones, no phone numbers to call, no taxis. So, we did what we only COULD do... we ate turkey and stuffing. Karen and everyone up at Villas Buena Vida, on the other hand, ate everything BUT turkey, wondered for a couple of days what became of the Lyons and Thanksgiving turkey, but had a great fiesta grande without missing a beat, in true Mexican style! As they say here in Mexico when there isn't really another explanation: "es diferente!"

This holiday, I want to share some of my photos of Mexico. As we are thankful especially for our own families far away, we are also very thankful for this beautiful people, this culture, and the gorgeous country of Mexico!. May you also be richhly blessed, wherever you are.