I'm truly thankful!

They say that thanksgiving feast was first celebrated in 1621, by the pilgrims of the Plymouth colony along with 90 Wampanoag Indians. The Pilgrims had suffered through a devastating winter in which nearly half their number died. Without the help of the native Indians, everyone would have perished. After the first harvest, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and praying.

This year I decided to do a traditional thanksgiving dinner for me and my friends, where the turkey was the king of the dinner.

Roasting a turkey is not a piece of cake, and I really had to do some research. I'm talking about cooking a 15lb (~7kg) turkey, which means 2-3 days thawing in the refrigerator, plus 5 hours in the oven! Holy cow!

The night before I brined the turkey using some spices.

 

Many Americans would say the dinner is "incomplete" without a bread-based stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, mashed potatoes, dumplings, corn on the cob or hominy, deviled eggs, green beans or green bean casserole, peas and carrots, bread rolls, cornbread or biscuits, rutabagas or turnips and a salad.

Well, I decided to do some mashed potatoes

green beans

and stuffing (basicamente são migas)

 

First course completed! And it was a success! The turkey was very tasty and juicy. hum..

 

For dessert, several pies are often served, particularly apple pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie and pecan pie.

And the chosen one was: the pumpkin pie..with eggnog ice cream (you should taste the yolks and nutmeg...It’s very unique!). So rich, so good!

 

Because of the amount of food, the Thanksgiving meal is sometimes served midday or early afternoon to make time for all the eating. I did the same.

So what do you think about the food? Have you already tried the Thanksgiving meal? I was really proud of mine! ;)

kiss,kiss
JB*

PS1: The meal was served with Californian wine but we finish with the perfect Porto wine.

PS2: And of course, who had Thanksgiving dinner, has leftovers too;)

Black & White

Hey guys!
I have to confess that when I started this blog I wasn’t sure if I would have enough posts to pick your attention. But when a girl like me meets a new place, I have to explore every-single detail! It’s been fantastic searching for new places and scan the American lifestyle.
Thank you for being part of my journey here!

So, for this post, I would like to drag you to a different neighborhood: Manchester, which is located on the north side of James river. Manchester used to be an active port where tobacco and coal were shipped out and a great number of slave ships entered.
It’s a place with a lot of mills, railroads and nice and huge metal structures. it seems to me it's the perfect place to shoot in black&white, isn't it?
I don’t usually shoot in B&W...I hope I did a good job. Do you like it? ;)

kiss, kiss

JB*

a special place..

Death is a delicate subject; it happens to everyone, yet we rarely discuss it. Gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, political preferences or social status are irrelevant. Bottom line: we all die.
My journey here in the U.S., away from my family and friends, is giving me extra time to think… I've been thinking about my beloved ones and how much I miss them and also about my life: what I built so far and what I'm able to do in the future – and yes, it's quite stressful. But you know, sometimes you need to put your life in perspective and check if you are living it the way you want or if you are following the right path…
Last weekend, I went to an ancient cemetery, dated 1849, here in Richmond. It’s a big, big rural garden with a lot of holly trees, that’s why is called Hollywood Cemetery. The cemetery is placed on a hill and it has a magnificent view of the river. wow! It was a great day for meditation...

kiss,kiss

JB*

PS: Don't forget to follow me on soblushed facebook page. :D