Turkey Day.

- Leftovers. Mmm, délicieux...  

Thursday's Thanksgiving saw me sent home with much Tupperware, seeing me equally well-fed throughout the weekend. Yay for take-home hospitality. 
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We began celebrating on Wednesday night, post-commerical shooting with a roommates' Thanksgiving Eve's bar "crawl". Lauren & I had been tipped by one of our leads so drinks were on us for the night. (Apparently tipping your dresser is a regular Equity carry-on. We'd both turned it down the first time - I was slightly offended & confused by the gesture as I felt I was just doing my job & the theatre pays for that. I then had chance to discuss it with my 'shop colleagues. Turns out it's actually okay to accept it. Alright then!)
   NB: This is not your regular pub crawl from one pub to the one next door, working your way down Main Street. This involves driving to bar of choice (Pie, in the Fan) & having a drink before the designated safe driver (Emily) drives onto the next (Republic, off West Broad) for another drink & home. Republic was more fun. We talked to a redneck. He called me Mary Poppins. I felt he failed to understand my accent & was not impressed. 

My personal contribution towards the Tg festivities started on Monday. Procuring of baking ingredients for cookies had taken place after I discovered Dollar Tree. Oh, the dangers. It's like being let loose in Poundland or Wilko's or even IKEA. So much stuff for cheap. Yes, we must buy! Now thanks to Meli, re-named as "Seventy Pence Tree". I like it. 
   The decorative element proved tricky. Colouring? Check. Icing Sugar? Hmm...  I knew about frosting here. Indeed, K.Roger's has an entire aisle-side dedicated to the many types of frosting. I spotted "Confectioner's Sugar" but wasn't so sure about that one. Maybe that was just to go in the cake rather than on it. Emergency text messaging to Lauren only yielded confirmation that icing sugar is British. 

   So I started with my bowls of frosting, colouring them up accordingly.

Then Emily stepped in to help. I had been so close to being right. It's Confectioner's Powdered Sugar which I ideally needed. Lucky for me, she had some going spare.

Ta-da! 

'Here we see examples of both frosted & powdered sugar decorating.'

Dinner was held by my fellow costume collaborator, Lynn & her 'sweetheart' Mike. Lynn trained back in the day at VCU & was once Richmond's own theatrical ingénue before crossing over to work backstage. 
   It was a very happening kind of lunch: it's not every day you get to share a turkey with an ex-Broadway star & Wiki celebrity. Betty Ann Grove, Lynn's other guest, first became friends through Lynn's "Second Unfortunate"(husband; the phrasing, it's a Southern thing.) She turned 84 not so long since but is still pretty nimble on her feet. She treated us a wee dance on arrival as well as some good story-telling.

Betty Ann lives down in Church Hill. I knew of the area, that it was near to Shockoe Bottom  but I hadn't realised it was as close by as only a few blocks. Much like its neighbour,

It was a pretty beautiful day outside too.

Church Hill has also seen its old tobacco factories of the 1870s converted into modern-living spaces.
   Betty Ann was one of the first to move into the apartments at Tobacco Row before Church Hill really caught up with the needs of its new residents. 

  The apartments are beautiful inside: wooden beams, french doors adjoining the rooms & so much light brightening up the space.

Over in Henrico County, I met Mike and his golden retriever, Jack as well as Lynn's Maisie (Beagle cross) along with her brand-new addition, Zooey - a little mass of terrier. All three were instantly shooed outside to the verandah to occasionally wistfully glance over the window-sill at the warm, well-fed humans inside.

Very Strange.

    It was a good day to be around dog-lovers as Thankgiving also ties in with the National dog show. Lynn & I had talked a bit about the differences during our time in the costume shop - such as breeds from the British "Gundog" group being classed separately as "Sporting" or "Herding" in the States. 
  There's a difference in grooming standards as well, hence my cry "that's not an English Setter!" with all its clipped-back coat & long tressy feathered ears. Differences aside, I still rooted for the Fieldy as a matter of loyalty, which went on to win its class.


So what do Americans eat on Thanksgiving other than Turkey?
A wee insight for you:

Sweet Potato, Mashed Potato & Turkey.

 

Green Bean Casserole. This is THE dish of the day for me. Tasty. 

Green beans. Mushroom soup. Portobello mushrooms.
Fried onions on top.

Mince Pie & Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream.

We rested between courses. I didn't even get as far as the washing-up as I napped. Wine at one pm followed by good food makes for a sleepy afternoon. Sky the Wire Fox terrier won the National. Macy Day's Parade was on next. 
   I'd heard of it but never quite knew what it was all about. It was fun to watch - with snippets of some of the Broadway shows, musical numbers being played. And then the balloon characters, part of the a yearly tradition with some definite old favourites. (Kermy!  We dug up some history on it.) It's been quite an event right from its origins in 1924, when live elephants were present in the parade.
   By 4pm I was nodding off again so Lynn drove myself and Betty Ann home. I had an additional 'sights of the city' tour on the way. I do like my colleagues' driving tours.

My arrival back at the apartment coincided with the roommates getting ready to head over to Julie's for the "Orphan Thanksgiving" evening. We headed out to Henrico County. Julie had her mom & her two nephews visiting her, plus us & some other theatre folk: Joey, Joel & Kristen from the Rep and Matt (ex-Theatre IV staff.)
    The ratio of food to company and conversation swung in favour of the latter for me. It was good to have time with theatre people outside the building itself! Joey was disconcerted by what he deemed as my British influence over an American event, holding me responsible for the tea party which broke out midway through. Not that I started it! That was Julie's doing when she offered to us, the guests & Matt & I enthusiastically took her up on it. (Discovered "Sleepy Tea" (chamomile & mint) - it comes second to Dreamtime on my List.) 
   All in all, a fun & sociable evening. Heartwarming that people recognised how we wouldn't necessarily have somewhere to go & opened up their homes & family-time to share with us.