Thanksgiving in a Box

photo by Emi

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. It's not all apparently wrapped up in frantic consumerism nor blind patriotism nor any particular religion, though of course you can find all those qualities if you look hard enough. For most, however, Thanksgiving is about food and family, and being grateful. Basta.

Thanksgiving doesn't exist in Italy and maybe because of the already daily emphasis on food and family, they don't really get the point. I miss it, and this year I've decided to celebrate it for the first time over here, inviting a mix of ex-pat Americans and enthusiastic Italians. Problem: where to find all those important Thanksgiving ingredients? I did some scouting and came across cranberry sauce and pumpkins- essentials yes, but the fare stopped there. No need to panic, however, for:

I received the best care-package of my life yesterday.

Fortunately, I planned well-enough in advance to request some of those indispensable and unavailable-in-Italy Thanksgiving supplies. My parents put together an adorable and heart warming package of goodies that was a joy to receive and contained all the essentials to recreate a Texas Thanksgiving in Milan.

The Inventory:

• 4 bags Texas pecans (for stuffing and other treats)
• 2 bags dried cranberries
• 1 bag brown sugar (essential)
• 1 bottle Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 1 can Chipotle peppers
• 1 box graham crackers (for pie crusts)
• 1 shaker of Allspice
• 1 can condensed milk

It was better than Christmas, everything we pulled out of the box was accompanied by squeals of delight: "Oh! Oh look! BROWN SUGAR!!... and what's this? Woooowwww!!! ALLSPICE!" It was a dream come true, the promise that Thanksgiving could and would happen for me this year. I would like to start off the season by officially giving thanks for my parents, for understanding my spirit, and sending me Thanksgiving in a box.