If you build it... they will come.

That's a little how I felt this morning when Nuria called me at 9:45am to say that when she went to pick up our chicken the butcher had been able to get a turkey for us! So it turns out that if you "cook it" (ie. stuffing etc.) it will come! ;) We raced to stuff the turkey and get it to the bakery before the oven was too cool to cook it properly. It was 11:30am when we dropped of the turkey and at 3:00pm it was done. Slow cooked in a wood-stove oven--delicious! It don't think it's ever turned out this great before! Jesus and Antonio added their own "Spanish" touch before dropping off at the bakery: a bit of olive oil, chicken broth and a can of beer over and in the bird. Boy was it good! Everything else turned out fabulous as well, although, my poor friend, Sarah got sick at the last min. and couldn't make it.

We decorated the piso in full Thanksgiving style as you can see in the picture. All the decorations are thanks to my mom. She sent them four years ago for my first Thanksgiving in La Roda and Jesus and Antonio have stored them under lock and key to use every year. :) They made clear that the decorations were on LOAN to me this year so I've got to be sure to put them away properly for next year... maybe you could send me my own, eh mom?

One funny story I have to share. We know a guy who thinks he knows quite a bit about English and America and everything in general. Well the other day someone was mentioning Thanksgiving, referred to by my friends as "el dia del pavo" (turkey day) and he very snobbishly said, "Ah, that's right, Thursday is San Heeving in the U.S."! San Heeving is more or less what Thanksgiving sounds like if someone from Andalucia tries to pronounce it... But of course the very thought of a "Saint Heaving" makes me laugh out loud--a.) because it's so completely Spanish: all holidays must be related to a Saint (even if it's an invented one); b.) because we stuff ourselves just as much as the turkey on Thanksgiving and "heaving" isn't totally out of the range of possibility! ;) Pretty funny.

Happy San Heaving everyone!!!!