THANKSGIVING IS BOOKED!

The Thanksgiving dinner we have planned for this Thursday at Baracca & Burittini is COMPLETELY BOOKED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! That's very exciting for us, as we weren't thrilled about having it at a restaurant in the first place, but now that the place will be filled with our friends, we think it will be lots of fun. We got all kinds of neat things donated for door prizes and quiz prizes including a free cruise, books on Trieste, jewelry, cloth shopping bags, coffee... Now we just have to make sure the games are good.

I'm going to go to the Association now to plan those, in fact. I am all about Trivia. Mauro says he has something up his sleeve too, and Nino, he'll be there, helping out. So my first priority (according to Mauro's wife) is to keep those two on track (ciacole non fa fritole, as they say!-- Chat does not make pancakes!!). I'll let you know how it goes.

Our friend Anna is going to keep the kids busy. I will be insisting on the hand turkey making station (as long as I can make one, too).

The menu for that night is going to be the kind of Thanksgiving my mom dreamed of but we kids never let her have. The Bon Appétit Thanksgiving complete with fancy recipes from the magazine. We just wanted the staples: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie. She would be delighted to know that our dinner will include Pumpkin Gnocchi (I can pretty much vouch for every American living in Trieste. We're okay with this one as we tend to love all things pumpkin). There will be turkey, of course, but I doubt we'll have to witness any arguments about who exactly will have to carve the dang thing. Of course this means that there will be no turkey sandwiches the next day, but no clean-up either.

For dessert there will be some kind of delicious specialty of the house. But, a few of us Americans are bringing American pumpkin-based desserts as well. John is making a pumpkin pie, Elizabeth is making some kind of pumpkin bar, and I am making pumpkin bread.

If you DO decide to get yourself a turkey to cook up over the weekend, however (just for the leftovers) may I suggest calling my friend, REMO? You should tell him for how many people and that you want to throw the entire thing in the oven. He'll understand. Tell him Karoline, the American, sent you. By the way, my turkey from Remo last year was the best turkey I have EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I'm not kidding.

See you Thursday. I am already making my list of things to be thankful for.

Gobble gobble!