Thanksgiving — Thursday 24 November

Thanksgiving, or Thursday the 24th of November as far as england is concerned, was awaited by the whole flat with great anticipation. We'd been planning american night/thanksgiving for about a month, and finally bought everything for it on... thursday afternoon. I was in class. We found a turkey on wednesday, but no one really wanted it, given that two out of the three americans involved in planning were vegetarians. So Jessi pushed for a chicken, which Conor took responsibility for while asking Josie about every step of the process.
I made my mom's macaroni and cheese, with some confusion as to how much anything I should use. We had to go to aldi to get a baking tin (casserole dish) to put it in because we only have one big one, and the chicken went in that. It ended up being a blue silicon dish, which was distressingly floppy.
What I remember of the preparation went like this:
"Is this enough vegetable broth?" "No, make a little more."
"Where's the can opener?"
"I need the mixed herbs." (That happened a lot. We in flat one believe in mixed herbs.)
"Hey, I'm out of milk. Can I use anyone's?" "Not mine, it's little! Use his, he's got loads."
"I put the stuffing where in the chicken?!"
"There are granules in the gravy!"
"This looks suspicious." "Taste it, it's good." "Hey, it IS! Hey, try this!"
"What- what are you doing! Don't eat it yet, we're not ready!" "Hey, snitching is a thanksgiving tradition. And no forks, either." "Yeah, our hands are clean." "Says you." "It doesn't matter! It's a tradition!"

Yup. No one used a recipe, and, in spite of the slapdash planning, everything turned out really well. All the food had its flaws, but it didn't matter. It was basically american thanksgiving preparation without the politics. So... Wow, better.
In all honesty, though, it was everything thanksgiving should have been. It was being with the people that I love and eating food. Lots of food. And even if the potatoes were lumpy (saga-style) and the gravy had a few granules left in it, and the stuffing had a few dry spots, and the green bean casserole was made with smashed up funions instead of crispy onions, and the macaroni was a little undercooked... It didn't matter. We were all together, eating, being friends, and having a good time even if the rest of the day was less than stellar.
I didn't take any pictures, and the ones that did get taken are mostly of people being excited about food. For most of them, you kind of had to be there.

We took a picture that is apparently classic, but I can't remember having seen it before. I think it's a rockwell.
Clockwise from the top: Adam (sort of behind Josie), Josie, Lauren, me (that beer isn't mine, in case you wondered), Conor took the picture, Jessi, Felicity.

I believe this is the original.

The food:

From left: chicken (held), green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese.